Canada has a lot of beautiful places to offer, and any Canadian knows that. Yes, it may be cold and all, but a breathtaking scenery can be found both in warm and cool climates. But what do you do when you run out of places to travel to? You can start searching for other destinations, of course. While I primarily focus on Canadian destinations I do still tend to get out of the country at least a couple of times each year and encourage other Canadians to do the same.
Visiting India
One of the best suggestions is India. There are plenty of reasons to go there. You get rid of the cold, for one. Also, India has a lot to offer, especially culturally speaking. Most people can go as far as saying that India is one of the richest countries when it comes to culture and spirituality.
Another reason is that you can get there very easily. When you travel from Canada to European or Asian destinations, you need to get your documents in order. It’s not as you can simply get on a plane, and off you go. There is more to it than that. However, India is among the countries that allow the release of online visas, which makes the entire process easier, faster, and cheaper than going through consulate proceedings. Consider checking out my packing tips as these apply for all sorts of travel.
How can a Canadian get an Indian e-Visa?
The process is quite straightforward. Just to get a general idea, you can receive an Indian e-Visa in as little as 18 hours. The visa is valid 30 days starting your arrival date. However, you cannot get an online visa if you travel by cruise ship. If you want to go to India by sea, you will have to go and apply for one at the Indian consulate in Canada. The Indian e-Visa is valid only if you land on one of the 16 listed airports: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum, and Varanasi.
The steps you need to follow will take just a few minutes and are very easy to accomplish. Here is what you need to do:
- The documents you need are a valid passport, a recent digital photo of yourself, a passport scan of the information page, and a credit/debit card or a Paypal account.
- The application also contains a series of personal questions that you have to answer truthfully
- After you filled in the form and uploaded the pictures, you just have to hit submit.
I don’t know about you, but it beats sitting in line at the consulate, don’t you think?
How much does it cost?
As far as price is concerned, the fee is different depending on nationality. For Canada, there is a $50 fee. The service fee differs depending on the processing time you choose. You can opt for the Standard Processing (3 business days) that costs $35, but you can also opt for the Rush Processing (1 business day), for which you have to pay an extra $30, or Super Rush Processing (18 hours), which adds $65 to your bill.
The price for the e-Visa is refundable as long as the application has not been submitted to the Indian Government. After that, you cannot get your money back. As you can see, the process is fast and easy. All you have to do is choose a particular destination in India and pack a bag. That will take longer than the actual application for your Visa.