As at 27 August 2026, an ordinary Indian passport, with no other country’s visa attached to it, gets a visa on arrival in 25 countries. Ten more issue one only if you already hold a visa or residence permit from somewhere else, usually the United States, the Schengen area or Canada. And one country, the UAE, sells a product it calls a visa on arrival that is nothing of the kind. Several countries widely listed as visa on arrival for Indians are not, and the two that moved most recently, Thailand and Nigeria, are still shown the old way on almost every page ranking for this search.
This guide is maintained by Zurich Kotak General Insurance, an IRDAI-registered general insurer in India and part of the Zurich Insurance Group.
How Zurich Kotak fits in: A visa on arrival removes the advance paperwork and leaves cover as the one thing still worth settling before you board, and Zurich Kotak’s Smart Travel plans cover emergency medical treatment abroad, medical evacuation, trip delay and baggage loss up to the limits of the plan you buy. It is bought per trip against the destination, the dates and each traveller’s age, and issued online once those are fixed. Check the geography written on it against your route, because the Asia tiers, Excel up to USD 100,000 and Prime up to USD 500,000, do not stretch to a leg outside that geography.
Last verified: 2026-08-27.
Visa on arrival, visa-free and e-visa are three different things
Confusing these is what gets a traveller refused boarding in India, so read this before the table.
Category | What it means | What you do | What goes wrong |
Visa free | No visa at any point, no fee, no form. | Book the flight and turn up. | Little. |
Visa on arrival | The visa is issued at a counter after you land, usually on payment. | Carry cash or a card, a return ticket and hotel proof. | You land and are turned back at the destination airport. |
E-visa or pre-approval | It must be granted online before you board. | Apply days or weeks ahead. | The airline refuses to board you in India. The worst case. |
A fourth category confuses people more than the other three together: the free-but-mandatory travel authorisation or arrival card. Sri Lanka’s ETA, Malaysia’s MDAC, Thailand’s TDAC and the Maldives IMUGA declaration are officially “not a visa”, which is why headlines call those countries visa-free. Each is a hard requirement you complete before you arrive, and some, Seychelles and Kenya among them, cost money.
Two neighbouring lists finish the picture: visa-free countries for Indians and e-visa countries for Indians .
Visa on arrival countries for Indians: the full list
These 25 countries issue a visa at the border to a holder of an ordinary Indian passport who holds nothing else. Sorted alphabetically.
Fees are in local currency with an indicative rupee figure at 1 USD = INR 95.376 (XE, 26 August 2026). Where a cell reads “check on the day”, the visa on arrival is confirmed but no current fee could be read off that government’s own source. These fees change without announcement and vary by entry point, so a blank is safer than an estimate.
Every counter on this list wants your passport and a confirmed return or onward ticket. The fourth column lists only what that country asks for beyond those two.
Currency note. Fees convert at 1 USD = INR 95.376 (XE, 2026-08-26) and 1 THB = INR 2.91 (2026-08-27). A blank fee cell means no government figure was published, not that entry is free.
Country | Stay granted | Fee | Also bring | Conditions and cautions |
Burundi | 1 month | Check on the day | Nothing further | An online visa is also available |
Cambodia | 30 days | USD 30, tourist Type T (approx INR 2,860) | 6+ months passport validity, one photograph | Cut from USD 36 to USD 30 on 1 January 2025. Pages still quoting USD 36 are over a year stale. E-visa at evisa.gov.kh |
Cape Verde | Not stated | Check on the day | Nothing further | Reconfirmed for Indians by Order No. 244/GMAI/2026, Official Gazette, 23 January 2026. A separate airport security tax is payable online |
Comoros | 45 days | Check on the day | Nothing further |
|
Ethiopia | 30 or 90 days | USD 62 for 30 days, USD 152 for 90 (approx INR 5,915 and 14,500) | Hotel booking | Granted only at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. The official portal evisa.gov.et names seven impostor domains in its own warning |
Guinea-Bissau | 90 days | Check on the day | Nothing further |
|
Indonesia (including Bali) | 30 days, extendable once by 30 | IDR 500,000 (approx INR 2,690) | 6+ months passport validity | Tourism only. Buyable in advance as an e-VOA at evisa.imigrasi.go.id . Indonesia now also requires a separate arrival card within the 3 days before arrival |
Jordan | 30 days | Counter fee not published. The Jordan Pass at JOD 70, 75 or 80 (approx INR 9,450 to 10,780) waives the tourist visa fee on a stay of two nights or more and includes Petra entry | Proof of accommodation | Open to any Indian passport holder. For a real trip the Pass usually costs less than the visa and Petra separately. Buy at jordanpass.jo before arriving |
Laos | 30 days | USD 50 for Indian nationals (approx INR 4,770), per the portal’s own fee calculator | One photograph | 18 of the 33 border crossings are visa-only, so the entry point decides whether this works. Available at three airports, four Friendship Bridges and seven land crossings |
Liberia | 3 months | Check on the day | Nothing further | An e-VOA: apply online first, collect on arrival |
Madagascar | 90 days | USD 59 for a 61 to 90 day stay (approx INR 5,630). Shorter stays cost less and have at points been free, so check the band | Proof of accommodation |
|
Maldives | 30 days free, extendable to 90 at the Male immigration office | Free | A machine-readable passport with 1+ month validity, a prepaid booking at a registered facility, sufficient funds | The IMUGA Traveller Declaration is mandatory, free, filed online within the 96 hours before arrival. Accommodation must be a registered facility |
Marshall Islands | 90 days | Check on the day | Proof of funds |
|
Mongolia | 30 days | Check on the day | Nothing further | An e-visa is also available |
Myanmar | 30 days on arrival, 28 on the e-visa | Counter fee not published. The e-visa costs USD 50 for tourism (approx INR 4,770), USD 70 for business | Hotel booking | Tourism only, at Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay airports. Check the Ministry of External Affairs advisory before booking |
Palau | 30 days | Free | Nothing further | Introduced 2025. Often called visa-free; in practice a free permission granted on arrival |
Rwanda | 30 days, single entry | Free for Commonwealth nationals, India included | Nothing further | Rwanda admits every nationality on arrival. Authority migration.gov.rw , applications via irembo.gov.rw . The East Africa Tourist Visa (USD 100, approx INR 9,540, 90 days, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda) suits a multi-country trip |
Saint Lucia | 6 weeks | Check on the day | Proof of accommodation |
|
Samoa | 90 days | Check on the day | Proof of funds | Formally an entry permit on arrival rather than a visa |
Sierra Leone | 30 days on arrival, 3 months on the e-visa | Check on the day | Yellow fever certificate |
|
Tanzania (including Zanzibar) | Up to 90 days | USD 50 single, USD 100 multiple (approx INR 4,770 and 9,540) | Hotel booking, and a yellow fever certificate if arriving from an endemic country | The e-visa at visa.immigration.go.tz takes up to 10 days and is the safer route. Both the embassy and the portal publish fake-site warnings |
Thailand | 15 days, non-extendable | THB 2,000 (approx INR 5,740) | Proof of accommodation, proof of funds | Thailand is not visa-free for Indians at present. The 60-day exemption Indians held from 2024 was withdrawn by a Thai Cabinet decision of 2026-05-19, and an approved 30-day replacement does not take effect until it is published in the Royal Gazette. Until then the routes are this visa on arrival, at eligible airports, or a tourist e-visa at thaievisa.go.th for up to 60 days. The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is mandatory on every entry either way |
Timor-Leste | 30 days | Check on the day | Proof of funds | Airport and designated land border |
Tuvalu | 1 month | Check on the day | Proof of funds |
|
Zimbabwe | 1 month single, 6 months multiple | USD 30 single, USD 55 multiple (approx INR 2,860 and 5,245) | Proof of funds | Ordinary Indian passports are in the category that does not pre-apply. You pay at the counter; the e-visa at evisa.gov.zw is optional. For Victoria Falls the KAZA UniVisa at USD 50 covers Zimbabwe and Zambia together |
Visa on arrival, but only if you hold another country’s visa
This is the table competitor lists get wrong most often. These ten appear under “visa on arrival for Indians” as though an Indian passport alone qualifies. It does not.
Country | Stay | What you must already hold | Fee |
Antigua and Barbuda | 30 days | A visa or residence from Canada, the Schengen area, the UK or the US | USD 100 (approx INR 9,540) |
Armenia | Not stated | A visa or residence permit from the EU or Schengen area, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK, the US or Russia, or a physical GCC residence card | Not published |
Bahamas | 3 months | A valid Schengen, UK, US or Canadian visa | Not published |
Bahrain | 2 weeks single, 3 months multiple | A visit visa for the UAE, UK, US, Saudi Arabia or Schengen area, or a US Green Card. GCC residents qualify on a non-labour occupation with 3+ months validity | Not published |
Belize | 90 days | With a Schengen visa this is a visa exemption, not a visa on arrival. Visa on arrival applies to US and Canadian permanent residents and multiple-entry visa holders | Not published |
Egypt | 30 days | A GCC residence permit valid 6+ months, or travel in an organised group of ten or more with return tickets, booked accommodation and a Letter of Guarantee from an Egyptian travel agency. A solo Indian traveller uses the e-visa | Not published |
Guyana | Not stated | A letter of invitation from a sponsor or host | Not published |
Mozambique | 30 days | A printed pre-approval from the Maputo immigration authority (SENAMI), obtained before departure | Not published |
Oman | 14 days | An Australian, Canadian, Japanese, UK, US or Schengen visa or residence permit. GCC residents also qualify | Not published |
Saudi Arabia | Up to 90 days, multiple entry | A two-entry or multiple-entry short-stay visa from the UK, the US or a Schengen member state, excluding Hajj and Umrah visas. One route also requires arrival on a Saudi national carrier | SAR 440, card only, cash is not accepted |
Holding a US visa opens up more than this: see visa-free countries for Indians with a US visa .
The UAE: a product called “visa on arrival” that is not issued on arrival
Dubai is the single most consequential entry on any list of this kind, because the UAE has given a pre-approval product a name that describes a border service, and copying the name without checking the process is what strands people at the gate.
The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs runs a service titled “Visa on arrival for citizens of the Republic of India residing in (America, Britain, European Union countries)”. It grants 14 days, extendable once. But GDRFA’s own published steps are to apply online at smart.gdrfad.gov.ae , wait about 48 hours for processing, and receive the visa by email on approval. No immigration counter issues it.
Both halves of the misreading matter. It is applied for in advance, not granted at the border, so an Indian passport holder who reads “UAE: visa on arrival”, books a flight and turns up without having applied has nothing to present. And it is for Indian nationals residing in the United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union, not for an Indian resident flying out of India.
The fee is published as a bare 253, with no currency printed on either the English or the Arabic page, so we will not guess one for you. Confirm the amount and the currency with GDRFA or ICP when you apply.
This is the whole reason the three-way distinction at the top of this page exists. A label is not a process. Where a country’s own wording and its own steps disagree, follow the steps.
Countries wrongly listed as visa on arrival for Indians
Every row below appears on pages currently ranking for this search, and every one is wrong as at 27 August 2026.
The common claim | The actual position |
“Thailand is visa-free for Indians for 60 days” | Wrong, and the most repeated error on the subject. The 60-day exemption was withdrawn by a Thai Cabinet decision of 2026-05-19. An approved 30-day exemption is not in force until it is published in the Royal Gazette. Until it is, Indians enter on a 15-day visa on arrival at THB 2,000 or a tourist e-visa from thaievisa.go.th for up to 60 days. Pages promising 60 days visa-free and pages promising 30 are both wrong today |
“Sri Lanka gives a free visa on arrival” | Wrong. A free ETA must be obtained at eta.gov.lk before you arrive: free for Indians since 25 May 2026, 30 days, double entry. The Ports Branch does issue one to people who turn up without it, but that is a fallback, not a plan |
“Nigeria gives visa on arrival” | Wrong. Nigeria discontinued visa on arrival under its New Visa Policy 2025, implemented 8 May 2025. A pre-approved e-visa at evisa.immigration.gov.ng is now mandatory |
“Kenya has been visa-free for Indians since 2024” | Wrong. Kenya abolished the visa and replaced it with a mandatory paid eTA, USD 30, obtained online at etakenya.go.ke before travel. Only Indian diplomatic, official and service passports are fee-free |
“Azerbaijan gives visa on arrival at Baku” | Wrong for Indians. The airport ASAN kiosks serve nationalities that qualify, and Indians are not among them. The e-visa must be held before boarding |
“Dubai gives Indians visa on arrival” | Wrong twice over. It is not open on a plain Indian passport, and the product that carries the name is applied for online at smart.gdrfad.gov.ae about 48 hours ahead, not issued at a counter. It is also limited to Indian nationals residing in the US, the UK or the EU. See the section above |
“Qatar is visa-free for Indians, just book any hotel” | Wrong on the hotel. Qatar grants a waiver on arrival, but its Ministry of Interior requires India, Pakistan, Thailand and Iran passport holders to hold a Discover Qatar booking from discoverqatar.qa . Booking.com , Agoda and Expedia reservations are refused at immigration |
“Nicaragua gives visa on arrival” | Wrong as of February 2026. Nicaragua eliminated both the visa on arrival and the substitute-visa programme. Indians are Category C and apply in advance |
“Iran is visa-free for Indians” | Wrong since 22 November 2025. The waiver is suspended and the Ministry of External Affairs issued an advisory on 17 November 2025. A visa is required in advance, including for transit |
Choosing where to go this year? A visa on arrival removes the paperwork, not the risk. A hospital admission in Bali, a cancelled connection out of Addis Ababa or a bag that never reaches Zanzibar costs the same whether or not a visa was involved, and none of it is the airline’s to pay. International travel insurance from Zurich Kotak covers emergency medical treatment, evacuation, trip delay and baggage up to plan limits, and takes a few minutes to buy.
Where these countries are, in short
Southeast Asia carries most of the practical options, and Thailand is the one travellers get wrong. It stopped being visa-free for Indians in May 2026 and reverted to a paid fifteen-day visa at the counter. Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos are the other three with real flight volume from India, and in Laos the entry point matters more than anywhere else on this page.
Africa supplies most of the count and is the best-documented block here. Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Madagascar are the ones an Indian traveller actually reaches, usually via Addis Ababa, Nairobi or Doha. Rwanda is the standout: free, thirty days, open to every nationality. Zimbabwe is the quiet one, because ordinary Indian passports are specifically in the category that pays at the counter rather than applying ahead.
The Maldives behaves differently from the islands readers group it with. It gives a free thirty-day visa at the counter, but only against a prepaid booking at a registered facility and only with IMUGA already filed. Seychelles and Mauritius are not visa on arrival countries at all.
The Pacific grants the longest stays and is the hardest to reach, thirty to ninety days at Palau, Samoa, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and Timor-Leste, all via Singapore, Manila or Australia. The Caribbean is mostly conditional: Saint Lucia is the one genuine entry, while Antigua and Barbuda and the Bahamas need another country’s visa first.
What to carry to the counter
A visa on arrival desk is an immigration checkpoint, not a formality, and the officer can refuse you. Have five things out of your bag before you reach the front.
1. A passport with the validity the destination demands. Six months beyond entry is the common standard. The Maldives is relaxed at one month; Indonesia and Cambodia are strict at six.
2. A confirmed return or onward ticket. The most-checked item, and a one-way booking is the commonest reason for refusal.
3. Proof of where you are staying. A hotel confirmation suffices almost everywhere. The Maldives requires a prepaid booking at a registered facility, and Qatar requires Indian passport holders to have booked through discoverqatar.qa .
4. The fee in a form the counter accepts. Some take US dollars in cash only, some card only. Saudi Arabia’s conditional visa on arrival takes no cash at all.
5. A yellow fever certificate where it applies, meaning Sierra Leone always, and Tanzania if you arrive from an endemic country.
None of the countries in the tables above requires proof of travel insurance at the visa on arrival counter, on the sources checked for this page. Where a country genuinely does make cover a condition of entry, that is that country’s rule and it belongs on that country’s own page. The reason to hold cover is the cost of a medical emergency abroad, not a rule at the desk.
If your shortlist is still open, cheapest countries to visit from India ranks by what a trip actually costs, whatever the visa route.
Frequently asked questions
How many countries give Indians visa on arrival in 2026?
Twenty-five countries issue a visa on arrival to a holder of an ordinary Indian passport who holds no other country’s visa. Ten more issue one only to Indians who already hold a valid visa or residence permit from the United States, the Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Canada or another listed country.
Is Thailand visa on arrival for Indians?
Yes, and that is a recent change most pages have not caught up with. Thailand is not visa-free for Indian passport holders at present: the 60-day exemption Indians held from 2024 was withdrawn by a Thai Cabinet decision of 2026-05-19. Until an approved 30-day exemption is published in the Royal Gazette, Indians enter on a visa on arrival of up to 15 days for THB 2,000, or on a tourist e-visa from thaievisa.go.th for up to 60 days. The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is mandatory either way.
Does Dubai give Indians a visa on arrival?
Not in the way the name suggests. GDRFA runs a service called “Visa on arrival for citizens of the Republic of India residing in (America, Britain, European Union countries)”, but its own published steps are to apply online at smart.gdrfad.gov.ae , wait about 48 hours for processing and receive the visa by email. It is not issued at an immigration counter, and it is only for Indian nationals residing in the United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union, not for an Indian resident flying from India.
Which visa on arrival countries are free for Indians?
The Maldives, Palau and Rwanda. The Maldives grants 30 days free at the counter, but only against a prepaid booking at a registered facility and with the IMUGA declaration already filed. Palau grants 30 days free. Rwanda grants 30 days free to Commonwealth nationals, which includes India.
Can I be refused entry even where there is a visa on arrival?
Yes. A visa on arrival is issued at the discretion of the immigration officer, and the usual reasons for refusal are a one-way ticket, no proof of accommodation, insufficient funds or a passport with too little validity left. Carry a confirmed return ticket and a hotel booking even where the published rules do not demand them.
Do I need travel insurance for a visa on arrival country?
Not as a condition of entry. None of the countries listed on this page requires proof of insurance at the visa on arrival counter, on the sources checked here. The reason to hold cover is financial: emergency treatment, evacuation and trip disruption abroad are paid out of your own pocket unless you are insured.
Last verified: 2026-08-27. Visa rules for Indian passport holders change frequently and often without notice. Confirm your destination’s current position with its embassy, high commission or immigration authority before you book.
