Do Emirati passport holders need a visa for India?

By Simran Raheja · Product Manager · SEO and Content, Tripmojo · Updated September 2, 2026 · Reviewed by Simran Raheja

Yes, and Emirati passport holders have two routes where most nationalities have one. India grants a visa on arrival to just three nationalities, Japan, South Korea and the UAE, but the Emirati case carries a condition the other two do not: it is open only to those who have already obtained an Indian e-Visa or a regular paper visa at some point. On a first trip to India, the route is the e-Visa applied for online.

Quick facts

Travel authorisation

Visa required: Yes
e-Visa: Available, the UAE is entry 163 on the eligible list
Visa on arrival: Only if you have previously held an Indian visa
VoA terms: Up to 60 days, double entry, non-extendable
VoA airports for Emiratis: Nine, three more than Japan and Korea get
Nationalities with VoA: Japan, South Korea and the UAE only
e-Visa entry points: The two government sites give different counts
e-Visa limits: Non-extendable and non-convertible

Entry requirements

An Emirati passport valid at least six months from the date of arrival, which the visa portal applies to accompanying children as well as adults.
For a first trip, an e-Visa applied for online at indianvisaonline.gov.in and an Electronic Travel Authorisation granted before you fly.
For the visa on arrival, evidence that you have previously held an Indian e-Visa or a regular paper visa, since the facility is written around that history rather than around the passport alone.
Arrival at one of the designated entry points if you are travelling on an e-Visa. The portal’s authorised checkpost schedule lists 36 airports, twelve land ports and 38 seaports, the last headed as being for cruise tourists, and an e-Visa admits you only through those.

The visa on arrival is a second-trip facility

India’s own visa portal answers this directly. Asked whether a traveller can get a visa on arrival at Indian airports and seaports, it replies that the facility "is only for the nationals of Japan, South Korea and UAE (only for such UAE nationals who had earlier obtained e-Visa or regular/paper visa for India)". The parenthesis is the whole story: Japanese and South Korean nationals qualify on nationality, Emirati nationals qualify on nationality plus a prior Indian visa.

So a first visit runs on the e-Visa. The UAE sits at entry 163 of the 174 entries eligible for it, the application is made online, and you wait for the Electronic Travel Authorisation to be granted before travelling. The portal is explicit that for every eligible nationality other than the three above, waiting for that grant is the only route.

Once you have that first Indian visa behind you, the visa on arrival becomes available for later trips. It is worth keeping the old passport or a copy if the visa was issued in one, since the facility turns on a history that has to be demonstrable rather than merely true.

Good to know

Nobody in the Indian government agrees on how many airports an e-Visa admits you through. The visa portal’s checkpost schedule says 36 international airports and 38 seaports for cruise tourists. Its own FAQ, on the same site, says 33 airports and 19 seaports, and a second FAQ answer names five seaports for cruise entry. The immigration bureau then publishes a third figure, 32 airports, and names them: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Goa, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Gaya, Jaipur, Lucknow, Trichy, Varanasi, Calicut, Mangalore, Pune, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Bagdogra, Guwahati, Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, Madurai, Bhubaneshwar, Port Blair, Kannur, Mopa in Goa, Indore and Surat, alongside 35 seaports. Three airport counts and four seaport counts across two government sites. The practical answer is to check that your specific arrival airport appears on whichever list you are reading and, if it is a smaller one, to confirm with the airline before booking rather than to trust a total.
The visa on arrival is not a shortcut for a first visit, which is the opposite of how people read it. Every summary of Indian entry rules lists the UAE alongside Japan and South Korea and stops there, so an Emirati traveller planning a first trip books flights on the understanding that a counter at the airport will handle it. India’s condition is that you must already have obtained an Indian e-Visa or a regular paper visa. The facility rewards a travel history rather than a nationality, and there is no way to acquire that history at the border.
Three nationalities out of the whole world have this at all, so generic advice about India is almost never about you. The portal names Japan, South Korea and the UAE, and says that nationals of every other eligible country must apply online and wait for the authorisation to be granted. That makes an Emirati passport unusually well placed for repeat travel to India and no better placed than anyone else for a first trip, which is a distinction most sources flatten into a single line about visa on arrival being available.
The portal contradicts itself about land borders, and the schedule is the half to trust. Its FAQ answers a direct question about entering India overland on an e-Visa with a flat no, saying you can only come in through the listed airports and seaports. Its own Authorized Immigration Checkposts schedule, on the same site, lists twelve land ports under Entry Points: Raxaul, Rupaidiha, Darranga, Jogbani, Agartala, Gede, Ghojadanga, Haridaspur, Jaigaon, Dawki, Moreh and Attari. The schedule is the operative list and the FAQ text reads as legacy, but a traveller planning an overland entry should confirm with the carrier or the check post rather than rely on either page alone.
Entry is restricted, departure is not, and the gap is wide. An e-Visa admits you through the scheduled points only, which the portal’s schedule gives as 36 airports, twelve land ports and 38 seaports listed for cruise tourists. Leaving is the opposite: the portal says you may depart from any Indian Immigration Check Post, and its exit schedule runs to thirty-four land crossings and five rail check posts that are nowhere on the entry list. So an overland exit toward Nepal or Bhutan is straightforward on an e-Visa you flew in on, while the same crossing inbound has to appear on the shorter entry list.
The counter route has terms, and they are not on the visa portal at all. The e-Visa portal names the facility and stops. The Bureau of Immigration, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, publishes the rest on its visa free regime and visa on arrival page: the visa is valid up to 60 days with a double-entry facility, covers business, tourism, conference and medical purposes including Ayush treatment, is non-extendable and non-convertible, and is not available to holders of diplomatic or official passports. Nothing on the application portal points a traveller to that page, so the sixty-day ceiling and the double entry are easy to miss until you are standing at the desk.
Emirati nationals get nine airports for the counter route where the other two nationalities get six. The immigration bureau lists visa on arrival for Japanese and Korean nationals at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and for UAE nationals at those six plus Cochin, Calicut and Ahmedabad. Three of the additions are the routes Emirati traffic actually flies, which is presumably why they are there. One caution: the bureau’s own content feed serves a version of the same section giving all nine to all three nationalities, so a secondary site quoting nine for a Japanese traveller has copied the wrong rendering. The page addressed to readers is the split one.
A grandparent born in Pakistan closes the counter route, whatever your passport says. The bureau writes that visa on arrival is not available to citizens of Japan, the Republic of Korea or the UAE if the traveller, either parent, or any grandparent on either side was born in or was a permanent resident of Pakistan. The bar reaches back two generations, applies on both the maternal and paternal side, and is part of the facility rather than a discretion exercised at the desk. It does not stop you applying for an e-Visa, but it does mean the airport counter is not your route, and the prior-visa condition above is then beside the point.
An e-Visa cannot be stretched or changed once you are inside India. The portal states it is non-extendable and non-convertible, so a tourist e-Visa does not become a business or medical visa because your plans changed after arrival: you leave and apply again. One thing that is forgiving is a new passport. If your authorisation was issued against a passport you have since replaced, entry may still be allowed on the new one provided you carry the old passport it was issued against.

Frequently asked questions

Can UAE nationals get a visa on arrival in India?

Only if they have previously obtained an Indian e-Visa or a regular paper visa. India limits the facility to nationals of Japan, South Korea and the UAE, and attaches that prior-visa condition to the Emirati case.

What do I do for a first trip to India?

Apply for an e-Visa online and wait for the Electronic Travel Authorisation to be granted before you fly. The UAE is on India’s list of eligible nationalities.

Can I enter India by land on an e-Visa?

The portal’s authorised checkpost schedule lists twelve land ports as entry points, including Attari, Raxaul and Dawki, although an older FAQ answer on the same site still says no. Confirm your crossing before you travel. Departure is unrestricted: you may leave from any Indian Immigration Check Post.

How long is the Indian visa on arrival valid?

Up to 60 days with a double-entry facility, for business, tourism, conference and medical purposes including Ayush treatment. It is non-extendable and non-convertible and is not issued on diplomatic or official passports.

Which airports issue visa on arrival to UAE nationals?

Nine: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Calicut and Ahmedabad. Japanese and Korean nationals get the first six only.

Does Pakistani family history affect the visa on arrival?

Yes. The immigration bureau bars the facility if the traveller, either parent, or any grandparent on either side was born in or was a permanent resident of Pakistan. The e-Visa route remains open.

Can I extend an e-Visa once I am in India?

No. The portal states that the e-Visa is non-extendable and non-convertible, so it cannot be extended or turned into another visa category from inside the country.

My passport changed after the authorisation was issued. Is it still valid?

Entry may still be allowed on the new passport, but you must carry the old passport the authorisation was issued against.

Other passports for India

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the official sources below on 2 September 2026.

Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, "e-Visa Entry points", served from the bureau’s content endpoint: "Persons holding e-Visa will be allowed to enter into India only through the designated international airports namely, (1) Delhi (2) Mumbai (3) Chennai (4) Kolkata (5) Thiruvananthapuram (6) Bengaluru (7) Hyderabad (8) Cochin (9) Goa (10) Ahmedabad (11) Amritsar (12) Gaya (13) Jaipur (14) Lucknow (15) Trichy (16) Varanasi (17) Calicut (18) Mangalore (19) Pune (20) Nagpur (21) Coimbatore (22) Bagdogra (23) Guwahati (24) Chandigarh (25) Visakhapatnam (26) Madurai (27) Bhubaneshwar, (28) Port Blair, (29) Kannur, (30) Mopa (Goa),(31) Indore and (32) Surat", with entry also provided at 35 major Indian seaports. That is 32 airports against the visa portal’s 36 and its FAQ’s 33, and 35 seaports against the portal’s 38 and its FAQ’s 19. Read 2026-09-02. https://boi.gov.in/boi/getvisaservise/1
Government of India, Indian Visa Online e-Visa portal, FAQ Q25: "Can I get Visa on Arrival(VoA) at Indian Airports/Seaport? Ans- The Visa on Arrival facility is only for the nationals of Japan, South Korea and UAE (only for such UAE nationals who had earlier obtained e-Visa or regular/paper visa for India). For the nationals of all other countries eligible for e-Visa, the e-visa application have to be filled online and the applicant must wait till the confirmation/Grant of ETA for travelling to India." Read 2026-08-31. https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, "Visa free Regime & Visa on Arrival": the facility is for nationals of Japan, Republic of Korea and the UAE "who intends to visit India for a period not exceeding 60 days for Business, Tourism, Conference and Medical purposes including for treatment under Ayush systems"; "VoA is not available to the Citizens of Japan, Republic of Korea and UAE if the foreigner or either of his/her parents or grandparents (paternal/maternal) were born in, or were permanent residents of Pakistan"; provided "to Japanese and Republic of Korea nationals only at Delhi. Mumbai. Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderbad while for UAE national at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Calicut and Ahmedabad"; "valid up to 60 days with double-entry facility"; non-extendable and non-convertible; not available on diplomatic or official passports. Read 2026-09-02. https://boi.gov.in/boi/contents/travelling-to-india/foreigners/visa-free-regime-visa-on-arrival
Bureau of Immigration content feed at https://boi.gov.in/boi/getvisaservise/7, read 2026-09-02, returns the same section listing all nine airports for all three nationalities and omitting both the 60-day limit and the Pakistan-ancestry exclusion. The rendered page carries the split and is the version followed here.
Same portal, list of nationalities eligible for the e-Visa: 174 entries, with the UAE at entry 163. Read 2026-08-31.
Same portal, "Authorized Immigration Checkposts" schedule. Entry Points: "Persons holding eVisa will be allowed to enter into India only through the designated international airports (36)"; "eVisa facility is also been provided for entry at 38 major Indian seaport for cruise tourists"; and a Landport list of twelve, namely Raxaul, Rupaidiha, Darranga, Jogbani, Agartala, Gede, Ghojadanga, Haridaspur, Jaigaon, Dawki, Moreh and Attari. Exit Points separately list airports, thirty-four land ICPs, seaports and five rail ICPs. Read 2026-08-31.
Same portal, FAQ Q11 and Q23, which conflict with the schedule above and appear to be legacy text: Q11 gives "33 designated Airports" and "19 designated seaports" and states "You may depart from any of the Indian Immigration Check Posts (ICPs)"; Q23 answers a question about land-border entry with "No, You can only enter through the designated airports/seaports which are listed on the e-Visa website." Where the two disagree this page follows the checkpost schedule and says so. Read 2026-08-31.
Same portal, FAQ Q10: "e-Visa is non-extendable and non-convertible." FAQ Q22: entry may be allowed on a new passport where the authorisation was issued on an old one, on condition that both passports are carried. FAQ Q12: the passport must be valid at least six months from the date of arrival. Read 2026-08-31.

Entry rules change without notice and the official source is always the authority. Confirm with the embassy or immigration portal before you book.

Explore the India guide →Check another passport →