Medical Treatment Visa for India: How to Apply
India · Asia
Medical Treatment Visa for India
What a U.S. citizen needs for a medical treatment visa to India: the requirements, the exact document checklist with its authentication routing, where to file, what it costs and how long it takes.
- U.S. passport status
- e-Visa
- Visa-free days
- 30 days
- Document route
- Apostille
- Translation
- Required
- Short-stay fee
- $25
- Schengen area
- No
What India specifically requires
A dedicated e-Medical visa with a triple entry, plus a separate e-Medical Attendant visa for accompanying family. FRRO registration within 14 days.
- Entry status for a U.S. passport
- e-Visa required, applied for online in advance
- Official portal
- Indian Visa Online (official)
- Where to file
- At the consulate with jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence.
- Biometrics
- Fingerprints and a facial image are collected for most visa categories.
- Passport validity
- Valid for at least six months beyond your intended departure, with at least two blank pages.
- Fees
- e-Visa fees vary by duration and season, commonly 25 to 80 dollars for tourist categories, plus a bank charge. Regular paper visas cost more.
- Processing
- Employment and long-stay visas take several weeks and require documents to be attested
- Document route
- Apostille
- Translation
- Required into English or Hindi where documents are in another language.
Your document checklist
10 documents. 3 need authentication: 0 federal through the U.S. Department of State and 3 state-issued through a Secretary of State. Route: apostille. All authenticated documents then need certified translation.
- Passport No authentication needed Identity, nationality and the physical book the visa is placed in. How to get it. Renew early. Processing times published by the U.S. Department of State move with demand. Specification. Most countries require validity of at least six months beyond your intended departure. A significant minority require six months beyond entry, and some long-stay visas require twelve to fifteen months. Two blank visa pages is the common minimum; some countries require four. Lead time. Weeks; check current published processing times What goes wrong. Insufficient remaining validity is the single most common reason a traveller is refused boarding at a U.S. airport, before they ever reach the destination.
- Visa application form No authentication needed The core filing. Almost always country-specific. How to get it. Download or complete it on the official portal of the country you are applying to, or the outsourced visa application centre it uses. Never pay a third party for a form that is free. Specification. Usually signed within days of the appointment. Many systems generate a barcoded PDF that must be printed at full size and unmodified. Lead time. Same day What goes wrong. Consular jurisdiction is determined by your U.S. state of residence. Filing at the wrong consulate is an automatic rejection, not a transfer.
- Passport-format photographs No authentication needed Every application. How to get it. Check the destination specification before you sit for them. The U.S. passport photo standard is not universal. Specification. Schengen states generally require 35 x 45 mm with the face occupying 70 to 80 percent of the frame on a light grey or off-white background. The United States uses 2 x 2 inches on pure white. China requires 33 x 48 mm on white. India requires 2 x 2 inches on white. Taken within the last six months in almost all cases. Lead time. Same day What goes wrong. Glasses are prohibited in an increasing number of systems, including U.S. passport photos, and cause automatic rejection.
- Invitation or sponsorship letter No authentication needed Business visits, family visits and some student and work categories. How to get it. From the host company, institution or individual, with their registration or identity details and their commitment regarding your stay. Specification. Several countries require an official, government-issued invitation obtained by the host, not a letter they compose. Lead time. Days to weeks What goes wrong. Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and several others use formal invitation systems where a private letter has no standing.
- Medical certificate or health examination Secretary of State of the issuing state Apostille Translate after authentication Long-stay, work and residence categories in many countries, and immigrant visas everywhere. How to get it. Sometimes any licensed physician on letterhead; often a panel physician the destination designates. Specification. Typically valid 30 to 90 days. Immigrant medicals have their own validity rules. Lead time. 3 to 21 days What goes wrong. Where the destination publishes exact wording, use it verbatim. A generic doctor letter is refused.
- Proof of funds No authentication needed Evidence you can support yourself without working illegally or becoming a public charge. How to get it. Three to six months of bank statements, sometimes stamped or certified by the bank, plus pay slips or a benefit award letter. Specification. Most Schengen states apply a published per-day minimum. Long-stay categories set an annual or monthly figure, often indexed to a local benchmark. Lead time. 1 to 10 days What goes wrong. A large deposit shortly before filing looks like borrowed money and frequently triggers a refusal. Season the balance for several months.
- Certified marriage certificate Secretary of State of the issuing state Apostille Translate after authentication Spouse and family visas, dependants on a work or study visa, and joint financial evidence. How to get it. Certified copy from the county clerk or state vital records office that recorded the licence. Specification. Usually within three to six months of issue for visa purposes. Lead time. 3 to 20 days What goes wrong. A church or celebrant certificate is not a civil record and will be rejected.
- Certified birth certificate Secretary of State of the issuing state Apostille Translate after authentication Identity, nationality and proof of family relationships for dependants and family-based applications. How to get it. Order a certified long-form copy from the vital records office of the state or county of birth. Specification. Many authorities require issuance within the last three to six months even though the underlying facts never change. Lead time. 3 to 20 days What goes wrong. Hospital souvenir certificates are never accepted.
- Travel or health insurance No authentication needed Mandatory for the Schengen area and for a growing number of long-stay categories. How to get it. Buy a policy that names the destination, states the coverage limit and includes repatriation of remains. Specification. Schengen requires a minimum of 30,000 euros of medical cover valid throughout the zone for the whole stay. Long-stay categories often require full local-standard cover with no deductible and no waiting period. Lead time. 1 to 3 days What goes wrong. A credit card travel benefit almost never satisfies the Schengen requirement because it does not name the traveller and the zone.
- Flight reservation and travel itinerary No authentication needed Evidence that you intend to leave, and that your stated dates are real. How to get it. A held reservation with a real booking reference. Many consulates accept a reservation rather than a paid ticket, precisely because buying a ticket before a visa decision is a bad idea. Specification. Must show entry and exit within the requested visa validity, with a verifiable PNR. Lead time. Same day What goes wrong. Do not buy a non-refundable ticket before the visa is approved.
- 1 Get the hospital letter The receiving hospital international patient office produces this. Ask them for the exact format the local consulate expects, because they do this every week.
- 2 Assemble medical and financial evidence Referral, records, and evidence you can fund the treatment.
- 3 Apply, including the attendant application in parallel File them together so they are decided together. An approved patient and a refused companion is a bad outcome.
- 4 Register on arrival where required India in particular requires medical visa holders to register with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office within 14 days.
Your action Documents and authentication Government processing
- 1 Obtain a certified original From the issuing authority. Photocopies, scans and souvenir certificates cannot be authenticated.
- 2 Notarise, if it is a private document Letters, affidavits, powers of attorney and diploma copies need a notary acknowledgement first. Government-issued vital records do not.
- 3 County clerk, in some states A handful of states require the county clerk to certify the notary commission before the Secretary of State will act.
- 4 Authenticate at the right level State-issued documents go to the Secretary of State of the ISSUING state. Federal documents, including the FBI Identity History Summary, go to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications.
- 5 Apostille or embassy legalisation Hague Convention destination: the apostille ends the chain. Non-member destination: the document then goes to that country embassy or consulate. For India the apostille ends the chain.
- 6 Certified translation Translate the document together with its apostille or legalisation certificate. Doing this first means paying twice. Required into English or Hindi where documents are in another language.
- 7 File with the right consulate Jurisdiction is by your U.S. state of residence. Bring originals plus a full copy set.
The two expensive mistakes. Sending a federal document such as an FBI Identity History Summary to a Secretary of State, which cannot authenticate it. And translating before authentication, so the apostille certificate is not inside the translation and the whole set has to be paid for twice.
How a medical treatment visa works, anywhere
A visa for travelling to receive treatment, and for the family member accompanying the patient. It exists as a separate category in countries with significant medical tourism sectors, most prominently India, Thailand, Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Mexico. It differs from a tourist visa in three useful ways: it is usually longer, it is usually extendable in-country when treatment overruns, and it carries a companion category so a spouse or adult child can stay for the duration.
The core requirements
- A letter from the treating hospital abroad
- On letterhead, naming the patient, the condition, the proposed treatment, the expected duration and the estimated cost. This is the central document.
- A referral or medical records from your home physician
- Establishing that the condition is real and the treatment appropriate.
- Proof you can pay for it
- Bank statements, a financing letter, or confirmation of insurance coverage for treatment abroad, which most U.S. policies do not provide.
- The relationship, for an attendant
- An apostilled marriage or birth certificate proving the connection to the patient.
Where it goes wrong
- Applying as a tourist and then needing to extend for treatment. Extension from tourist status is usually impossible; extension from medical status is usually straightforward.
- Assuming U.S. health insurance covers treatment abroad. Almost none does, and Medicare does not.
- Forgetting the attendant application, or filing it late so it is decided separately.
- Missing in-country registration deadlines.
- Not planning for a longer stay than expected. Build the itinerary around the possibility that recovery takes longer than the brochure says.
Medical Treatment Visa for India: common questions
Do I need a visa for India as a U.S. citizen?
For a short visit, e-Visa, applied for online. But that is not what this page covers. A medical treatment visa is a separate authorisation, and every country requires one for this purpose regardless of what your passport allows for tourism. U.S. citizens need a visa for India. The e-Visa is applied for entirely online through the official Government of India portal and is issued in several durations including 30 days, one year and five years for tourism, plus separate business, medical and medical attendant categories. There are a very large number of lookalike websites charging substantial mark-ups for the same government product; the only official portal is indianvisaonline.gov.in.
Which of my documents need an apostille for India?
For this route we count 3 documents that need authentication: 0 federal and 3 state-issued. India is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille is the whole chain. The routing rule that catches people: your FBI Identity History Summary is a federal record and must be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State, while birth and marriage certificates go to the Secretary of State of the state that issued them.
Do my documents need to be translated for India?
Required into English or Hindi where documents are in another language. Translate after authentication, never before: the apostille or legalisation certificate is itself part of what the receiving authority reads, so it has to be inside the translation. Doing it the other way round means paying for the same translation twice.
How long does a medical treatment visa for India take?
Employment and long-stay visas take several weeks and require documents to be attested On top of the decision itself, budget for the parts people forget: appointment availability, document lead times, and authentication. One to four weeks in most systems, and several countries operate an emergency or expedited channel for urgent cases. Say so explicitly if the case is urgent; consulates do respond.
What does it cost?
The published short-stay fee for India is $25. e-Visa fees vary by duration and season, commonly 25 to 80 dollars for tourist categories, plus a bank charge. Regular paper visas cost more. Usually the same as or slightly above the tourist fee.
Where do I actually apply?
At the consulate with jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence. The official portal is Indian Visa Online (official), run by Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs. Use it directly rather than a third-party site: the forms are free, and paid intermediaries frequently charge several times the government fee for the identical product.
Is there anything specific to India I should know?
A dedicated e-Medical visa with a triple entry, plus a separate e-Medical Attendant visa for accompanying family. FRRO registration within 14 days. India is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so U.S. documents are apostilled rather than legalised, which is a significant simplification. Note the registration requirement: holders of certain long-stay visas, including employment, student and medical visas, must register with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office within 14 days of arrival. India also operates the Overseas Citizen of India card for people of Indian origin and their spouses, which is not citizenship but confers lifelong multiple-entry rights and most residence and economic privileges, and it is by far the most valuable status available to the Indian-American community.
Official sources for India
- Indian Visa Online (the only official portal) e-Visa applications. Beware of lookalike sites charging mark-ups.
- Bureau of Immigration Visa categories, FRRO registration and entry rules.
- Overseas Citizen of India The OCI card for people of Indian origin.
Verified Sep 7, 2026 Primary sources: indianvisaonline.gov.in, boi.gov.in
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This resource is provided free by Federal Apostille as an educational tool. It is not legal or immigration advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by using it. Visa rules, fees, processing times and entry requirements change frequently and often without notice, and individual circumstances change the answer. Always confirm current requirements with the official government source and the specific embassy or consulate that has jurisdiction over your place of residence before you book travel or file an application. Every figure on this site carries the date we last verified it and a link to the primary source.
