India's e-Tourist Visa 180-Day Limits

The 1-year and 5-year e-Tourist Visa let you enter India as often as you like, but your days there are capped at 180 in a calendar year. Here is exactly how the count works.

Last verified: September 2026

In short: on a 1-year or 5-year e-Tourist Visa you may enter India any number of times while the visa is valid, but your total stay must not exceed 180 days in a calendar year, and a single continuous visit may not run past 180 days either. The count restarts on 1 January. The visa cannot be extended or converted, so those 180 days are the whole allowance for that year.

Limit: 180 days
Counting window: Calendar year (1 January – 31 December)
Per visit: Continuous stay capped at 180 days
A day counts if: You are in India, arrival and departure days included
Applies to: 1-year and 5-year e-Tourist Visa holders
Legal basis: e-Visa scheme conditions, Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs

The rule

The e-Tourist Visa is a multiple-entry authorisation. The 1-year variant is valid for 365 days from the date the Electronic Travel Authorization is granted, the 5-year variant for five years. Neither figure is your permitted stay. Three points decide most real cases:

The main cap is annual, not per trip. Your aggregate stay in India on an e-Tourist Visa may not exceed 180 days in one calendar year, however many separate entries you make. Ten short visits and one long one are measured the same way.
The window is the calendar year. It runs 1 January to 31 December and restarts on 1 January, whatever date your visa was granted. Visa validity and permitted stay are two separate clocks, and it is the calendar year that governs the days.
A single visit is capped as well. A continuous-stay stipulation applies on arrival, and the days allowed per entry are endorsed on the e-Visa itself. India's registration rules treat 180 days as the line for both measures: a foreign national whose aggregate stay in the calendar year or continuous stay on one visit passes 180 days must register with the jurisdictional FRRO or FRO. On an e-Tourist Visa that is a ceiling rather than a doorway, because the visa is neither extendable nor convertible.

The 30-day e-Tourist Visa is a separate product with a shorter allowance: 30 days from the date of your first arrival in India, multiple entry, and not modelled by the tracker described here. Terms also depend on nationality. Eligibility for an e-Visa is country specific, and the Bureau of Immigration requires a gap of at least two months between two visits on a Tourist (T1) visa for nationals of Afghanistan, China, Iraq and Sudan, for foreigners of Pakistan origin, and for stateless persons.

How to count it

List every India trip that falls in the calendar year, with arrival and departure dates.
Count every day you were in India. Arrival and departure days both count, however short they were.
Add the days across all visits in that year. The total must stay at or below 180.
On 1 January the total restarts at zero. Days never carry forward, and days already spent never come back mid-year.

Because the per-visit cap and the annual cap are both 180 days, one calendar-year counter covers both: no continuous visit can pass 180 days without the year's total having passed 180 first. If you are unsure whether a travel day counts, see what counts as a day for visa purposes.

Example. You hold a 5-year e-Tourist Visa. You arrive on 1 November 2025 and leave on 31 March 2026, then return from 1 July to 30 September 2026.

The first stay is 151 days end to end, but it splits at the year boundary: 61 days fall in 2025 (30 in November, 31 in December) and 90 in 2026 (31 + 28 + 31). The second stay adds 92 days (31 + 31 + 30). Your 2025 total is 61 days, comfortably clear. Your 2026 total is 90 + 92 = 182 days, two days over, even though neither visit came close to 180 days on its own.

Beyond the day count

An e-Visa authorises travel; the immigration officer at the port of entry makes the admission decision. What you may do on it is limited to tourism, recreation, visiting friends and relatives, short-term yoga programmes and short-duration medical treatment, and it cannot be extended or converted once you are there, so build the exit into the plan rather than the extension. Passing your permitted stay is an overstay with its own penalties, covered in overstaying a visa or stay limit. If your case is unusual, confirm the terms with the Indian mission for your country before booking.

AtlasDays tracks India's e-Tourist Visa limits automatically

Log your trips once. The India e-Tourist Visa preset counts your days in India across the calendar year, privately on your iPhone, and warns you as you approach 180 days so the limit does not arrive unannounced mid-trip.

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FAQ

How long can you stay in India on an e-Tourist Visa?

Up to 180 days in a calendar year on the 1-year and 5-year variants, and no single continuous visit may exceed 180 days. The 5-year visa does not raise the allowance; it only lets you keep returning for five years.

Does the 180 days reset when you leave India and come back?

No. Leaving and re-entering starts a new visit but not a new allowance. Only 1 January resets the count, and all visits in the same calendar year are added together.

Does the 30-day e-Tourist Visa have the same limit?

No. It is valid for 30 days from the date of your first arrival in India, with multiple entries in that period, and like the longer variants it cannot be extended or converted.

About this article: AtlasDays provides general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Rules change and outcomes depend on your circumstances, so never rely on it alone: check the linked official source or ask a qualified professional.