India has no dedicated digital nomad visa. The closest workable equivalent is the e-Tourist Visa (or e-Business Visa), used informally by remote workers; working for a foreign employer/clients while on this visa sits in a legal grey zone rather than being an officially sanctioned 'nomad' status.
Overall4/10Harder visas than about 75% of cities
Good to know
Good to Know
- Almost no nomad gets true 'visa-free' entry to India — budget time and a small fee for the e-Tourist Visa application before you fly, even for a short Bangalore trip.
- Apply at least 4 days before travel, but don't leave it too late either — ETA approval can take up to 72 hours and airlines often want a printed copy at check-in.
- The e-Tourist Visa is strictly for tourism/casual visits — if your work involves real business meetings, you technically need the e-Business Visa category instead, not e-Tourist.
- Only use indianvisaonline.gov.in — there are many convincing third-party sites charging inflated 'service fees' for what is a simple government application.
- The 30-day e-Tourist Visa is non-extendable, so if you think you might want to stay longer in Bangalore, consider the 1-year multiple-entry e-Tourist Visa instead (max 180 or 90 days per calendar year depending on nationality).
- There is no official 'digital nomad visa' for India — most remote workers use the e-Tourist Visa, but working for foreign clients/employers while on a tourist visa is not explicitly authorized, so this is a commonly-tolerated grey area rather than a legally clean arrangement.
- Visa fees are set and charged in USD by the Indian government regardless of nationality; the INR figures here are approximate equivalents for reference, not the amount actually billed.
- If you plan to stay in Bangalore beyond about 90-180 days in a single stint, you'll need to do a 'visa run' (exit and re-enter) rather than renew in-country.
- Indian tax residency is based purely on days physically present in India during the financial year (April–March) — crossing 182 days can pull your worldwide income into the Indian tax net, so many nomads deliberately stay under that threshold.
- There's no Portugal-style tax break for newly arrived remote workers in India — plan around your home country's tax rules and any India–home-country tax treaty rather than expecting a local incentive.
- Rules around NRI/RNOR status and deemed residency are genuinely intricate and were partly revised for the tax year starting April 2026 — a one-off consultation with an India-qualified tax advisor before a long stay is money well spent.
Who Qualifies Visa Free
- Details
- Nationals of Nepal and Bhutan do not need visas or passports to enter India and may live and work there without any limit of stay, though they must not arrive from or transit through mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, or Pakistan prior to entry.
Countries
- Nepal
- Bhutan
Default Baseline For Most Nomads
- Process
- Fully online application via the official Indian government e-Visa portal. Apply a minimum of 4 days before arrival (up to 30 days ahead for the 30-day visa, or up to 120 days ahead for the 1-year/5-year visa). Requires a digital photo, passport bio-data page scan, and online fee payment (plus a bank transaction surcharge). Approval (ETA) typically issues within 48–72 hours and must be carried (many airlines require a printed copy) and matched with biometrics captured on arrival.
- Mechanism
- e-Tourist Visa (e-TV / ETA)
- Entry Points
- e-Visa holders must arrive by air or sea at one of the designated international airports (Bengaluru/Bengaluru Kempegowda International Airport is one of them) or seaports — not usable for land border crossings.
- Not Eligible
- Not available to Pakistani nationals/those of Pakistani origin, diplomatic/official passport holders, laissez-passer holders, or those endorsed on a parent's/spouse's passport.
- Not Extendable
- The e-Tourist Visa is non-extendable and non-convertible to another visa category after arrival.
- Eligible Nationalities
- Approximately 165–166 countries/territories, including the US, UK, most of the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Gulf states, are eligible to apply online.
Duration Options
30-day e-Tourist Visa
- Visa fee
- ₹2,375
- Entries
- Double entry
- Validity
- 30 days from date of first arrival in India
1-year e-Tourist Visa
- Visa fee
- ₹3,800
- Validity
- 365 days from date ETA is granted, multiple entries
- Max Stay Per Calendar Year
- 180 days (90 days for some nationalities not on the extended list)
5-year e-Tourist Visa
- Visa fee
- ₹7,600
- Validity
- 5 years from date ETA is granted, multiple entries
- Max Stay Per Calendar Year
- 180 days (90 days for some nationalities not on the extended list)
India does not offer visa-free entry to nomads from the vast majority of countries. The default baseline for most nomads (US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, etc.) is the e-Tourist Visa (a pre-approved Electronic Travel Authorization, ETA), not a true visa-free or visa-on-arrival scheme. Two countries — Nepal and Bhutan — are the exception and may enter without a visa or passport.
Official Source
Visa On Arrival Note
A separate, much more limited Visa on Arrival (VOA) facility exists only for nationals of Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates at designated airports — this is not the general nomad pathway.
Digital Nomad Visa And Tax
- Visa Ease Tier
- low
- Visa Program Exists
- No
- Visa Ease Tier Rationale
- India has no digital nomad visa and relies on a non-extendable e-Tourist Visa capped at 90/180 days per entry requiring visa runs, with complex NRI/RNOR tax residency rules for longer stays.
Tax Notes
- Rnor Status
- An individual will qualify as RNOR if the total stay in India during the relevant tax year is 120 days or more but less than 182 days, and certain other conditions (such as having been a non-resident in 9 of the prior 10 years) are met. RNOR status means only India-sourced income is taxed, while foreign income stays exempt — relevant for someone gradually transitioning back to India.
- High Income Variant
- For Indian citizens/PIOs visiting India, if their India-sourced income (excluding foreign income) exceeds ₹15 lakh, a shorter 120-day threshold can apply instead of 182 days, potentially creating 'Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident' (RNOR) status rather than full tax residency.
- Upcoming Change 2026
- A new Income Tax Bill, introduced in February 2025, took effect from April 1, 2026, overhauling parts of the residency and filing framework. The core 182-day rule was retained unchanged, but deemed-residency provisions for high-income individuals connected to low-tax jurisdictions were tightened, so this area is worth re-checking for any given tax year.
- Alternate 60 Day Rule
- A secondary rule (60 days in the current year plus 365 days over the prior 4 years) can also trigger residency, but this 60-day rule does not apply to NRIs, crew members, or Indian citizens working abroad — for most foreign nomads and Indian citizens who've relocated abroad, the 182-day threshold is what matters.
- Non Resident Taxation
- If you are a NON-RESIDENT INDIAN (NRI), any income that is 'earned' or 'accrued' in India is taxable in India, while income outside of India is not taxable in India. Under 182 days of physical presence in a financial year, a nomad's foreign client/employer income is generally kept out of the Indian tax net.
- Tax Residency Trigger
- An individual is considered a tax resident in India if they stay for 182 days or more in a tax year. This remains the primary criterion for determining residency, and it applies per financial year (April to March), so status must be reassessed annually.
- Special Nomad Tax Regime
- India has no special tax regime, flat-rate scheme, or tax holiday aimed specifically at digital nomads or newly-arrived remote workers (unlike, for example, Portugal's or Greece's regimes). Foreign remote workers rely on general NRI/RNOR rules plus any Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and their home country.
- FEMA Note
- Under India's Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), someone who leaves India with intent to live abroad becomes a 'person resident outside India' and is expected to convert domestic bank accounts to NRO status and use NRE accounts for tax-free repatriation of foreign income — this is a separate framework from income-tax residency and uses its own tests.
Closest Equivalent
- Name
- e-Tourist Visa (eTV) / e-Business Visa
- Stay Limits
- The e-tourist visa is valid for one year or five years, but you can only stay in the country for 90 days at one time, or 180 days if you are from the United States or Japan. Once you reach that time limit, you must leave the country and then return for another 90 or 180 days. There is no limit to how many times you can enter while your visa is valid.
- Renewal Path
- There is no in-country renewal or extension process for most eTV holders; the standard path is a 'visa run' — exiting India and re-entering to reset the permitted stay period, up to the total validity of the multi-year e-Visa. Longer-term options (business visa multi-year validity, or an OCI card for Persons of Indian Origin) exist for those who qualify and want to avoid repeated visa runs.
- Income Requirement
- None published — because this is not a formal digital nomad visa, India sets no minimum income threshold for the e-Tourist Visa. Applicants should simply show a valid return ticket and (occasionally) proof of sufficient funds for the trip.
- Description
- India does not issue a formal digital nomad or remote-work visa. Most location-independent workers in Bangalore enter on an e-Tourist Visa, which technically does not authorize local employment or 'work' but is commonly used for stays of remote workers whose income and clients are entirely outside India. An e-Business Visa exists for business-related activity but does not clearly cover salaried/freelance remote work either.
Fees
- Standard Nationalities
- ₹4,750
- Higher Fee Nationalities US Russia Ukraine
- ₹7,600
Application Path
- Apply online via India's official e-Visa portal before travel
- Choose visa validity: 1-year, 5-year, or (for eligible nationalities) 10-year multiple-entry
- Upload passport bio page, a recent photo, and (for business visa) a business/company letter
- Pay the e-Visa fee online and receive an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) by email
- Print the ETA and present it along with your passport at the Immigration Check Post on arrival
Documents Required
- Passport with at least 6 months validity and blank pages
- Digital passport-style photograph
- Confirmed return/onward travel ticket
- Proof of sufficient funds (may be requested)
- For e-Business Visa: an invitation or supporting letter describing the business purpose
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this visas research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.