India's e-Visa is genuinely convenient — apply online, get approval by email, no consulate trip. But the application form is infamous for fields that make perfect sense in India and none at all to an American. ("Occupation: PRIVATE SERVICE"? "Identification marks"?) Here's the field-by-field translation, plus the traps that get applications rejected.
First: make sure you're on the real site
The only official portal is indianvisaonline.gov.in. Search results are full of lookalike sites with near-identical names that charge steep markups to fill in the same form — some are outright scams. If the site pressures you with fees before you've even started the form, close it.
e-Visa or regular visa?
For most U.S. tourists and short business trips, the e-Visa (eTourist / eBusiness) is the answer: fully online, arrival at any e-Visa-designated airport. You need the regular (sticker) visa instead if you'll stay long-term, work, study, do journalism — or if your entry point isn't e-Visa eligible. This guide covers the e-Visa form; for a paper visa, we handle those too.
Before you start, have ready
Your passport — valid at least 6 months beyond arrival, with two blank pages.
A scan of your passport's photo page (PDF, clear, all four corners visible).
A digital photo — square, white background, face centered. (Same discipline as a passport photo: recent, no glasses, no shadows.)
Your arrival airport and rough itinerary.
For business: a business card and the Indian company's details.
The confusing fields, translated
"Occupation: PRIVATE SERVICE" — the one everyone googles. India's occupation dropdown uses Indian-English categories. Private Service simply means you're employed by a private company — a regular job. Government Service = you work for any level of government. Self Employed / Business = you own or run a business, freelance included. Worker = manual/laborer roles. Pick the closest match; you'll then enter your employer's name and address.
"Identification marks." Any visible distinguishing mark — a scar, birthmark, or tattoo. If you have none, write "NONE." Don't overthink it.
"Educational qualification." Your highest level of education, from their dropdown (e.g., Graduate = bachelor's degree, Post Graduate = master's or higher).
"Religion." A required dropdown. Answer as you identify — there's an "Others" option. It feels odd to Americans; it's standard on Indian government forms.
"Were your parents/grandparents Pakistan nationals or belong to Pakistan-held area?" Answer truthfully. A "yes" doesn't automatically deny you, but it routes your application for additional review — lying, however, is grounds for refusal and future bans.
"Port of arrival." Choose the airport you'll actually land at, and make sure it's on the e-Visa-designated list (all major international airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and more — qualify). Your e-Visa is checked against this. You can depart from any authorized immigration checkpoint.
"Reference in India." For tourists, your hotel works — name, address, phone from your booking. They want a point of contact on Indian soil, not a personal friend.
"Reference in USA." A friend or family member with a U.S. phone number and address.
Names, exactly as in your passport. Given name and surname must match your passport's machine-readable zone. A middle name on the passport goes in the given-name field. Mismatches are a top rejection reason.
Photo and document uploads
The photo upload rejects more applications than any other step: it must be square (1:1), white or light background, face centered and uncovered, recent, no glasses. The passport-page PDF must be sharp and complete — a cropped or blurry scan gets bounced. If your file is over the size limit, compress it rather than screenshotting it.
Fees and timing
The e-Visa fee varies by validity (30-day, 1-year, 5-year) and season — the portal shows your exact amount before payment, in USD. Don't trust fee tables on third-party sites; several exist mainly to add a "service charge" on top.
Apply at least 4 days before you fly — approvals (the "ETA," Electronic Travel Authorization) typically arrive by email within about 72 hours. Print the ETA and carry it; airlines check it at check-in.
The common rejections
Photo not square / busy background / glasses.
Passport scan blurry, cropped, or upside down.
Name entered differently than the passport spells it.
Wrong visa type for the trip's purpose.
Passport validity under 6 months at arrival.
Rather not fight the form?
We prepare and review India visa applications — e-Visa and regular — so they go through the first time: correct category, compliant photo, clean uploads, details that match your passport. See our India visa service or get in touch and we'll take it from here.
Get My Passports is a private company providing passport and visa application assistance and courier coordination where available. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency — Indian or American. Government authorities make all visa decisions and control processing times. Our service fees are separate from government fees.
If you want it done once, correctly — this is what we do.
Rated 4.9 across 259 Google reviews
Preguntas Frecuentes
What does "Private Service" mean on the India visa application?
How early should I apply for an India e-Visa?
Which website is the real India e-Visa site?
