I arrived in India in September 2026, landing in Delhi after a British Airways night flight!
India can be a complicated place to enter, so I thought I’d write this post for anyone else who is arriving in India and is wondering about visas, flights, transfers and what to bring. This New Delhi airport arrival guide is based on my personal experience!
What do you need for visiting India?
- Book your flights: I booked direct from London Heathrow to Delhi with British Airways. I had a lot of Avios points so paid around £450 for return flights in premium economy. Many other people on my Gadventures tour booked with Qatar and Emirates, although I decided not to due to possible flight interruptions in the Middle East.
- Get your visa: apply for the India visa on the official website. It took me about 45 minutes to fill out the whole application (much more on this below!).
- Fill out an arrivals card: this is seperate from the visa and needs to be filled out before you board your flight. I actually didn’t know this existed until I checked in!
- Bring a pen: there’s currently another form to fill out, that’s about Ebola, that you’ll be given on your flight!
- If you are travelling from a yellow fever risk country, you will need your yellow fever vaccination certificate.
What to do before travelling to India
Get your e-visa
Once your flights are booked, it’s time to fill out your e-visa! The India e-visa for UK citizens (and many other countries) is a long form needing info about every country that you’ve visited in the last 10 years.
This is the official site for applying for an India eVisa.
My problem was that I’ve visited about 60 countries in the last 10 years! I spent a while filling information out on the form, and was then faced with an error message: country limit is 20.
I went back through and removed any not in my current passport and that India probably wouldn’t care about. I made sure to keep any South Asian countries that I’d visited recently (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal) on the list. The most important thing is to NOT lie if you’ve visited Pakistan. You can visit India after Pakistan – you may be questioned – but do not lie about it.
I had to include some other info, such as both my parents’ full names and places of birth and my religion (atheist wasn’t an option!); and lastly, a passport photo of myself was needed – I had to quickly find a suitable white background!
I sent off my visa and crossed my fingers, and received confirmation of my visa the following day.
Print your visa off; I was asked to see a paper copy at the airport in the UK and in Delhi.
Online arrivals card
I had no idea that this existed until I checked in!
When I got to Heathrow airport, I tried to go to the self-check-in counters to drop my bag off. I was told that I needed to get my visa checked by a person, so I went up to the check-in desk.
The check-in assistant reminded me to do the online arrivals card, which isn’t part of the visa process (this was actually the first time I’d heard about it!).
I found the India arrivals card online here and filled it out before going through security. It took me a few minutes and asked questions like my passport number and what countries is been to in the last 6 days. I then downloaded it onto my phone and forwarded it to myself on WhatsApp.
Bring a pen for the on-plane form to fill out – more on that in a moment!
On the Plane
When we were in the air, the flight attendants came around with the current India health declaration form. This is due to Ebola outbreaks in Africa recently. It asked us for information about where we’d visited and if we had any health issues. This is what I needed a pen for!
BUT that being said, this is actually also supposed to be filled online! It’s the Air Sudiva 2.0 Self Decleration Form. On the plane, they asked if we’d filled it out already (referring to the online form) and when we said no, they gave us one. So it’s probably best to fill it out online, but in my experience it’s not completely necessary (which, of course, could change!).
When we landed, I turned on my Holafly SIM so I had data immediately. I’d need this later! You can get 5% off Holafly by clicking on this link.
What to expect arriving in India
After I landed at Delhi airport, I followed the signs to immigration.
Delhi airport Immigration
I just followed the crowd, although I detoured for a moment to a fingerprint kiosk for first-time visitors.
I popped my fingerprints into the machine, but it then told me to go to the immigration queue – which everyone else had just walked straight to, so I’m not sure if this saved me any time!
There were three queues, the eVISA queue is the correct one if you’ve already got your visa. I’d heard that the Delhi airport immigration queue could be long, but it was non-existent when I arrived early in the morning!
I needed to show my passport, VISA, arrivals card and health form, and my fingerprints and photo were taken again. Then I was allowed into the country!
Baggage & Leaving the Airport
I picked up my baggage from the carousel, which was all self-explanatory.
Because I was on a G Adventures tour, I’d booked a transfer with them. Payment had left my account, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it hadn’t gone through, as I never received a confirmation email.
I rang the transport provider on Whatsapp (using my Holafly SIM!) and they confirmed that I didn’t have a booked transfer. I then rang G Adventures, who explained that they couldn’t see the booking on their system. I didn’t mind, as I could see the payment on my statement and I knew that they’d refund me (they did automatically in the end), so the guy at G Adventures walked me through booking an airport taxi.
How to get a taxi from Delhi airport
There are official taxi kiosks, where you need to tell your destination, get a price, pay by card or cash and receive a receipt with a one-time passcode. My only flag would be that the passcode may only work for Indian phone numbers; the man on the phone put his own phone number in. I’m sure there must be a workaround for international travellers!
Uber is also available. There’s a special Uber pick-up section, and you’ll get a confirmation with a code to give to the driver. You can pay in card and cash. I didn’t personally take it, so I can’t comment further about how it worked!
It cost me 800 rupees for the 40 minute drive to central Delhi, and I paid by card.
Delhi Airport ATMs
I was wondering is it safe to use atms in Delhi airport before I arrived – and it the answer is, they’re not unsafe, but something went wrong for me!
I tried to withdraw cash at the airport, and I didn’t actually receive it – despite it leaving my bank account! I mentioned this to the man at G Adventures who I spoke to, and he advised that the money would be returned to my account in a few days, which is what happened!
Where to stay in Delhi
Hotels in Delhi city centre
I stayed in the Novotel New Delhi City Centre, which was lovely for a night! It had a rooftop pool and buffet breakfast, and was fairly central in New Delhi. My room was modern, clean and comfortable. It cost me around £80 for a night, and was worth it before a busy trip through India (mainly staying in budget hotels!). Click here to learn more about it.
I also stayed in Hotel Kingston Park. This is much more of a budget hotel, and I did find the bathroom to be a bit wet and damp. But it’s safe, cheap and in a central location! Click here to learn more about it.
Hotels by Delhi airport
There is also a Novotel New Delhi Aerocity, which has similar features to the city centre branch I stayed in. This is much closer to the airport, so is a good option if you don’t want to travel all the way to the city! Click here to learn more about it.
On my way back through Delhi, I stayed at Hotel International, by the airport. It’s arond a 10 minute drive away. The lobby is a bit run down, but the room was quite comfortable and the WiFi worked well. There’s also a restaurant on site which serves some tasty curries (room service is available). If you want somewhere cheap to crash by the airport, this could be a good option! Click here to learn more about it.
What was arriving in India like?
I’m a very experienced traveller, and I found Delhi Airport to be a little intense and complicated than other airports in Asia and around the world! However, English is widely spoken, and with a little patience, it’s not too bad!
FAQs
Do UK citizens need a visa for India
Yes, UK citizens need a visa or eVisa for India. Tourists can usually apply for an eVisa, and mine was approved within 24 hours. I’d recommend arranging this around a month before travelling to India, in case there are delays.
How long does the India eVisa take
The India e-visa application process took me about 45 minutes to complete, and then I got my visa the following day. It can, of course, vary for everyone, and you can apply from up to 120 days before your planned entry date (so I’d recommend applying in advance!).
What is the India arrival card
You need to arrange your India arrival card online by clicking here. This is instant, and you need to have it sorted before you step onto the plane in your home country.
India visa previous countries visited
One of the questions on the India visa application is “what countries have you been to in the last 10 years?”. If you’ve had the luck to visit 20+ countries in the last 10 years, you’ll discover that, when you try to put them all in, you’ll be told you can only include 20!
I think the most important thing is to declare if you’ve been to Pakistan (this doesn’t mean you can’t enter, but they may look at your application more closely); I was also sure to include the other South Asian countries I’d visited. I got rid of some European countries that I didn’t have passport stamps for and I didn’t think they’d get too excited about!
