Indian e-Medical Visa for NZ Passport Holders, Complete Application Guide

What Is the Indian e-Medical Visa?

For companions: Family members or friends travelling with you as attendants apply for the e-Medical Attendant Visa, same portal, different category, same fee. Up to two attendants per medical visa are permitted. The attendant visa is only valid if the medical visa holder is also travelling.

What Documents Do You Need Before Starting the Online Form?

Gather everything below before sitting down to complete the application. The online form times out on abandonment and forces you to re-enter everything.

Passport requirements:

• Valid for at least 6 months beyond your intended departure from India
• At least 2 blank pages for Indian immigration stamps
• Machine-readable (virtually all NZ passports issued since 2006 are fine)
• High-quality colour scan of the biodata page: minimum 10KB, maximum 300KB, PDF format

Passport-style photograph:

The photograph specification is the single most common cause of rejection. Indian e-Visa requires a square format (2 inches × 2 inches, 51mm × 51mm), this differs from NZ passport photos which are rectangular (35mm × 45mm) and will be rejected.

• Square format: 2 inches × 2 inches (51mm × 51mm)
• White or off-white plain background
• Face centred; full face; eyes open; no smile or teeth showing
• No hat or sunglasses (religious head coverings acceptable if face clearly visible)
• JPEG format; minimum 10KB; maximum 1MB
• Recent (within last 3 months)

Get a fresh photo at a photo booth specifying "US visa" or "square format." NZ photo services understand this; budget NZD 15–25.

From Stunning Dentistry (at no cost):

• Formatted medical invitation letter on practice letterhead, signed by your treating clinician, issued within 24 hours of booking deposit
• Letter includes: your full name matching passport, passport number, confirmed treatment dates, nature of treatment, clinic registration and contact details

Other documents to have ready:

• Return flight itinerary (flexible dates at application stage are acceptable)
• Accommodation confirmation (our hotel booking confirmation works)

What Are the 8 Steps of the Online Application?

Step 1, Create account. Go to indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa → "Apply here for e-Visa" → select "New Zealand" as passport country → select "Medical Visa." Create and save your application ID.

Step 2, Personal information. Full name exactly as it appears on your passport, including all middle names and hyphenation. Date of birth, place of birth, nationality (New Zealand), occupation.

Step 3, Passport details. Passport number, date of issue, date of expiry, place of issue. Cross-check every digit against your physical passport.

Step 4, Contact and address. NZ home address, phone number, email. This email must be monitored, visa approval, rejection, and any additional documentation requests come here.

Step 5, Medical details. Enter our clinic's registered name, full Hyderabad address, and treatment dates from your invitation letter. We provide a formatted text block in the invitation letter for you to copy exactly into this section. Do not paraphrase.

Step 6, Family and travel history. Parent names, past Indian visa history, past visa refusals to any country. Answer honestly, false declaration is grounds for refusal and creates a permanent record.

Step 7, Upload documents. Upload the passport biodata scan and the square photograph. Verify file sizes are within limits before uploading.

Step 8, Review, pay, submit. Review every field. Pay by credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express). Submit. You receive a confirmation email with application ID and indicative processing timeline.

What Happens After You Submit?

Applications are reviewed within 3–5 working days (Monday–Friday Indian time, excluding Indian public holidays).

Grant: e-Medical Visa issued as a PDF attached to the grant email. Print two copies. Keep one with your passport for travel; one in your hotel safe on arrival. The PDF is also verifiable by Indian immigration officers via QR code.

Request for additional information: immigration may request clarification within a specified window (typically 7 days). Respond via the portal. Late response results in closure and re-filing fee.

Rejection: communicated by email with a stated reason. See the recovery section below.

What Causes Most Visa Rejections?

Reason 1, Photograph does not meet specifications (~45% of rejections). The square format, white background, no-smile requirement is strict and increasingly automated. Rectangular NZ passport photos, coloured backgrounds, and smiling-with-teeth photos all result in rejection.

Fix: fresh square photo from any professional photo service specifying Indian e-Visa requirements.

Reason 2, Name mismatch between form and passport (~20% of rejections). The Indian system is strict about exact character matching. "Catherine Elizabeth Walsh-Thompson" on your passport must appear identically in the form, not "Catherine E Walsh-Thompson" or "Catherine Elizabeth Walsh Thompson."

Fix: check every character before paying.

Reason 3, Incomplete or inconsistent medical documentation (~20% of rejections). If the invitation letter does not match the details on your form (dates, clinic name, passport number), the application is flagged.

Fix: copy the text block from our invitation letter exactly into the medical details section.

The remaining ~15% of rejections: past visa refusals not declared, unclear passport scans, expired passports, additional scrutiny cases with no specific stated reason.

What Is the Recovery Pathway If Rejected?

Option 1, Re-apply online with the fault corrected. For photograph or name issues, re-file immediately after correcting. The fee is not refundable on the rejected application; budget the fee again. Allow 3–5 additional working days.

Option 2, File through VFS Global (physical application). VFS Global operates Indian visa application centres in Wellington and Auckland. Appointment-based; 7–14 day processing; approximately NZD 225; direct human review. If e-visa channels repeatedly reject you, this is the fallback.

Option 3, Contact us first. Send us the rejection email before re-filing. Our coordinator team has reviewed more than 1,000 NZ and UK visa applications and can usually identify the fault within minutes.

What Happens at Hyderabad Airport on Arrival?

You fly into Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad (HYD). e-Visa holders use dedicated e-Visa counters at immigration.

Have ready at immigration:

• NZ passport
• Printed e-Medical Visa PDF
• Indian arrival card (completed on the plane)
• First night's accommodation confirmation
• Return flight itinerary

What the immigration officer may ask: purpose of visit (answer: "medical treatment at [clinic name], Hyderabad"), duration of stay, where you are staying, whether you have been to India before. Honest, brief answers.

Typical processing time at Hyderabad for NZ e-Visa holders: 15–30 minutes off-peak; 45–90 minutes during peak arrival windows (most international flights arrive 02:00–06:00 local time).

On clearance: baggage claim and customs. Your SD airport transfer driver waits at the international arrivals exit with a printed sign bearing your name. We send you the driver's mobile number and photograph 24 hours before your flight.

Specialist Scenarios

Minor companions (under 18): each minor needs their own e-Medical Attendant Visa with separate application, fee, and photograph. If one parent is not travelling, a notarised consent letter from the non-travelling parent is required.

Over-75 applicants: no age restrictions on the e-Medical Visa. Travel insurance with dental complication cover becomes more difficult to source at advanced age, we maintain a list of NZ providers with age caps above 75.

Dual nationality (NZ + Indian-origin): if you hold OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) status, you do not need an e-Medical Visa. If you previously held an Indian passport and have not surrendered it, consult with the Indian High Commission before travelling.

Prescription controlled medications (benzodiazepines, opioids, certain psychiatric medications): carry your NZ prescription, original pharmacy label, and a letter from your prescribing physician. This is a customs matter, not the visa itself, but it matters at the immigration desk.

What We Do For You (At No Cost)

• Issue the formatted invitation letter within 24 business hours of your booking deposit
• Review your draft application before you pay the fee, send us a screenshot and we flag issues
• Provide the exact formatted text block for the medical details section of the application form
• Send the driver's name, photograph, and mobile number 24 hours before your flight
• Hold your hotel room booking until e-Visa confirmation
• If rejection occurs: review the rejection email and advise on the recovery pathway

We cannot apply on your behalf (the Indian government requires the applicant to submit personally online), pay the visa fee for you, influence the application outcome, or guarantee approval. The ~95% first-time approval rate we observe on assisted NZ applications is a statistical pattern, not a promise.

People Also Ask

Q: Can I apply for the e-Medical Visa before confirming my treatment booking?

Not productively. The visa is tied to our invitation letter and confirmed treatment dates. Applying before booking produces an application that will likely be rejected or simply waste the fee.

Q: What if my visa expires between my two treatment visits?

The e-Medical Visa is valid for 60 days from first entry with triple entry permitted. For two-visit cases separated by 4–6 months, a second e-Visa application is required for the second trip. This is routine, apply the same way for visit two, and we provide a new invitation letter specifying the second visit dates.

Q: What if my passport is close to expiry when I apply?

Indian immigration requires your passport to be valid for at least 6 months beyond your intended departure date. If you are within 8 months of expiry, renew before applying. NZ passport renewals are available through MBIE; expedited service available in urgent cases.

*Support Hub | Hotel & Transfers | Emergency Support | Ella Watson | May 2026*