TGWhat you need to enter India in 2026: three documents
A visa is no longer enough. In 2026 the arrival card and the Air Suvidha 2.0 health form were added — what each one is and when to file it.
A year ago a visa was all you needed for India. Now there are three documents, two of which appeared in 2026. Miss any of them and you are stopped at passport control — or not allowed to board at all.
1. The visa
Always required: there is no visa-free entry to India for Russian citizens. It is arranged online, with no embassy visit. Since the start of 2026 the consular fee for the 30-day tourist visa has not been charged to Russian citizens; the one-year and five-year visas are still charged.
- Arranged in advance, before the trip
- Entry must happen within 120 days of the date of issue
- The 30-day visa allows two entries; the clock starts at the first border crossing
2. The arrival card — e-Arrival Card
The electronic replacement for the paper card once handed out on the plane. Since 1 April 2026 paper forms are no longer distributed, and handwritten ones are not accepted at the border — only the electronic version.
- Filed by all foreign nationals and OCI holders
- Can be submitted up to 72 hours before arrival
- Filed on the government portal; the confirmation arrives by email
3. The health form — Air Suvidha 2.0
The newest document. The Air Suvidha portal was closed in 2023, but the system was brought back in the summer of 2026: India tightened health screening after reports of an Ebola outbreak in Africa.
It is a health self-declaration. Unlike the first two documents, everyone arriving fills it in — Indian citizens included.
- Can be submitted up to 72 hours before arrival
- You must declare countries on the watch list — DR Congo, Uganda, South Sudan — if you visited or transited them in the last 21 days
- Flight details are required: arrival airport, airline, flight number, date and time in Indian time
- You must list the Indian states and districts you are visiting, with dates
- It ends with a verification code: for a non-Indian number it is sent by email only
What else to check
Your passport must be valid for at least six months on the date of entry. This is the usual stumbling block: the passport is technically still valid, but only five months remain — and the trip ends at the check-in desk.
The timing, all together
- Visa — in advance; we suggest 14 days before departure
- Arrival card — within the last 72 hours before arrival
- Health form — within the same last 72 hours
The last two are filed on the eve of the trip, when the suitcase is packed and your mind is elsewhere. We arrange all three together: the visa in advance, the arrival card and the health form on time, and send you the confirmations. All you do is show them at the airport.