To apply for a visit visa for India from Pakistan, you need a Visitor Visa, because tourist visas and e-Visas are not available to Pakistani nationals.1Ministry of Home Affairs. Details of Visas Granted by India The visa lets you meet family or friends in up to five specified cities for a maximum of six months, with any single stay capped at three months.2Ministry of Home Affairs. Visa for Pakistani Nationals Every application goes through prior security clearance by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, which takes anywhere from 15 to 90 days, so start early.3High Commission of India, Islamabad. Important Points to Note for All Visa Applicants
Which Visa You Actually Need
India does not issue tourist visas, e-Visas, employment visas, or intern visas to Pakistani citizens.1Ministry of Home Affairs. Details of Visas Granted by India For a personal visit to relatives or friends, the Visitor Visa is the route. Business travel goes on a Business Visa, treatment at a recognized Indian hospital on a Medical Visa, and visits to religious shrines fall under a separate 1974 bilateral protocol.4Evacuee Trust Property Board. Pilgrimage Visa
If you also hold a passport from a third country, you still have to apply on your Pakistani passport. Both passports are submitted in original, and the visa is stamped on the Pakistani one.1Ministry of Home Affairs. Details of Visas Granted by India
Step One: Get a Sponsorship Certificate From Your Host
Before you touch the application form, your host in India has to complete a Sponsorship Certificate. This is a formal declaration in which the host accepts responsibility for your conduct during the visit and for your timely departure.5High Commission of India, Islamabad. Sponsorship Certificate for Pakistani National
The certificate must be attested by a verifying officer in the host’s district. Eligible officers include District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, Sub-Divisional Magistrates, Tehsildars, Block Development Officers, Station House Officers, Group-A officers of the central or state government, and principals of government colleges or schools.5High Commission of India, Islamabad. Sponsorship Certificate for Pakistani National Your host also provides their full name, residential address, and a copy of a utility bill as proof of address. The form is filled out in duplicate.
Once attested, the original certificate has to travel from India to you in Pakistan by post so that you can submit it with your application. This is the single step that most often stalls people, so arrange it first.
Step Two: Fill Out the Online Application
The application form lives on the Indian Visa Online portal.6Indian Visa Online. Indian Visa Online It asks for detailed personal and family information, including the birthplaces of your parents and grandparents, and it requires you to disclose every previous visit to India with exact dates and locations. You will also need two references: one person in India and one in Pakistan.
Enter each city you intend to visit into the designated fields, up to a maximum of five. The visa will be printed with exactly those cities, and you cannot legally travel outside them once inside India, so accuracy at this stage matters. After you complete the form, the system generates a Web File Number that tracks your application from then on. Keep it somewhere safe.
You will also upload a digital photograph in JPEG format. Check the portal’s size and format requirements before uploading, because a non-compliant photo will hold up the application.
Step Three: Submit the Application and Wait for Clearance
Print the completed form and submit it through the authorized channels. Applications go through the High Commission of India in Islamabad or through designated drop-box services run by courier companies such as TCS and Gerry’s. Walk-in submission at the High Commission is not accepted for all visa types.7High Commission of India, Islamabad. Medical Visa and Medical Attendant Visa
The visa fee under the 2012 bilateral visa agreement is PKR 100 per application for all visa categories.8High Commission of India, Islamabad. Visa Fees Courier drop-box service charges are separate and vary.
After submission, the file goes to the Ministry of Home Affairs for security clearance. That step alone can take up to 90 days. The High Commission is explicit that acceptance of your application does not guarantee a visa, and that the government can refuse without giving a reason.3High Commission of India, Islamabad. Important Points to Note for All Visa Applicants Do not submit until you can be without your passport for the full window; withdrawing the passport during clearance is treated as a rejection.
You can track progress online using your Web File Number.
Polio Vaccination Certificate
Because Pakistan is one of the countries where polio has not been fully eradicated, travelers heading to India must receive a dose of the oral polio vaccine or the injectable polio vaccine between four weeks and 12 months before departure. Keep the vaccination certificate with your travel documents. If you are traveling on short notice and have not been vaccinated within the required window, vaccination counters at Pakistan’s international airports can administer the dose before you fly.9Polio Eradication Initiative. Polio Vaccination and International Travel
Reasons Applications Get Rejected
Most rejections come from avoidable paperwork problems rather than security flags. Incomplete forms, incorrect details, and typographical errors get applications refused outright. Suppressing facts, or submitting forged or misleading documents, leads to automatic denial. A history of overstaying or violating visa conditions on a previous visit to India counts against future applications.3High Commission of India, Islamabad. Important Points to Note for All Visa Applicants
Withdrawing your passport during the clearance period is also treated as a rejection, which catches people who need the passport back for work travel and underestimate the 90-day timeline.
What the Visa Restricts After You Arrive
Entry and exit are limited to designated checkpoints. Pakistani nationals can fly into Mumbai, New Delhi, or Chennai, or cross by land or rail at Attari on the Punjab border. You must leave through the same type of checkpoint your visa specifies. A visa-on-arrival option exists at Attari for a single entry with a 45-day stay, again limited to five places.2Ministry of Home Affairs. Visa for Pakistani Nationals
Inside India, you are confined to the cities printed on the visa. A day trip to a city that is not listed is not permitted. Violations can lead to detention, deportation, and disqualification from future visas.2Ministry of Home Affairs. Visa for Pakistani Nationals
You must also register in person with the local Foreigners Registration Office within 24 hours of arriving in each listed city, under the Foreigners Order of 1948. Some visas carry an “Exempted from Police Reporting” designation that waives this, but those are uncommon for Pakistani visitors.10Ministry of Home Affairs. Regulations Applicable to Foreigners in India Keep every registration receipt with your travel documents; authorities may verify that you are staying at the address your host provided during the sponsorship process.