Hey fellow travelers! 🙂
I’m heading to India in January with a tourist multi-entry ETA (is it still called an e-visa?).
First things first, if I’ve understood correctly: I can enter and exit India as many times as I want, as long as my total stay doesn’t exceed 180 days in a full year and no single stay goes over 90 days.
Okay, that’s the theory.
Now, how does it work in practice?
I plan to spend 3 months in India (Rajasthan, then the Ganges Valley up to Varanasi, then Sikkim), then head to Nepal for another 3 months (Kathmandu, Pokhara), and return to India for 3 more months before flying back to France.
But here’s the thing—I’ve got the impression (maybe I misunderstood) that renewing the Indian visa has to be done in Kathmandu or Pokhara, and only in one of those two Nepali cities.
Yet, on *Le Routard*, I thought I read that you just need to "cross the border and come back," meaning you can enter Nepal at any border point, which would be way more practical...
Imagine someone who wants to spend 6 months in northern India and starts from Shimla—they’d have to travel all the way to Kathmandu, then back to Shimla, crossing a big chunk of Nepal just to renew their Indian visa. That seems pretty convoluted, especially since the northwest border with India is so far from Kathmandu.
I used this example because I originally wanted to spend 6 months only in northern India, and while waiting for clear answers, I’ve planned an alternative route (the one I described at the start of this post).
Could someone explain exactly how this Nepal border crossing thing works for renewing an Indian visa (and getting another 90 days, within the 180-day annual limit, of course)? How long does it take? How much does it cost?
Can’t wait to hear from you, and thanks in advance for your valuable insights! 🙂 !
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