Please send TDS your current valid and signed passport. It must not expire within 6 months and must have at least Two blank visa page. If your passport expires within 6 months, you must renew your passport and then we will secure your visa with the new passport.

Please send 1 recent professional passport-type photograph.
Digital and non-passport photographs are not acceptable.
No eye glasses are to be worn for passport photo.
Passport Photo Guide - Click Here

Please send a copy of your round trip airline tickets, or itinerary or e-ticket, or letter of confirmation from a travel agent. The itinerary must show the applicant's name, date of arrival and departure from the country, and flight information. The Embassy does not recommend purchasing your ticket prior to a visa being issued.

Green Card Holders: Applicants who are not Citizens of USA, but hold Long Term US visa or a Green Card should submit a copy of the visa(along with the original visa in passport) or the Green Card. Do not send the original Permanent Residence Card/Green Card.

Short Term Visa Holders: Applicants who are not citizens/residents of the USA and hold a tourist or other short-term visa for the USA should normally apply for Indian visas in the country of their permanent residence.

In case of emergency or special circumstance, an application could be made at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC or Consulates General of India in the USA.

In addition to the relevant visa fee there is a reference fee of $20.00 for reference to be made to the country of their original residence. The processing time in such cases is usually 5-7 working days. (No. Rush processing is available).

Copy of Birth Certificate

Those not born in the US or India should submit a birth certificate or any government document from the country of origin that has parents name, date of birth and nationality. Must be translated into English and notarized.

If the name on the Birth Certificate does NOT match the name on the passport then the traveler will ALSO have to provide a Marriage Certificate or Court Documents to verify the name change.

Proof of residential address in the United States: Please submit a clear copy of applicant's Driver’s License, Major Utility Bill (Water, Gas, Electric. Sewage) or a copy of a valid/current lease containing both the landlord and tenant signatures must be submitted as proof of residence in the Consulate's area of jurisdiction, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and Vermont, Virgin Islands. Address on the document cannot include a P.O Box number and Must Match present address on the visa application form.The following items are NOT accepted: Cell Phone Bill, Phone Bill (landline) Credit Card Statement, Bank Statement, Cable Bill.

A business letter of responsibility is required, to be typewritten on your company letterhead and addressed to:
Consulate of India, Visa Section, New York, NY
The letter must explain all of the following:
Nature of business to be performed
Name and address of reference to be visited
The letter should be signed by an officer of the company other than the applicant.

The business letter must also state the validity of visa applied for (1 Year or 5 Years) and indicate who will be financially responsible for the applicant.

Official Invitation: A letter of invitation from sponsor (either host company or individual) explaining the relationship to the applicant and the purpose of travel. In addition, the letter must indicate the length of stay, place of stay, and contact information. The invitation should also confirm the validity of visa applied for (1 Year or 5 Years).

The Business Letter of responsibility (above) and Letter of Invitation must clearly state the validity of the visa you wish to apply for ( 1 Year, 5 Years or 10 Years ) and the visa application form (below) must match the stated validity in these two letters. If these three items DO NOT match your application will be rejected by the Indian Embassy.

Special Instructions: Persons of Indian Origin applying for a visa for the FIRST time on any passport must submit their Indian passport and a completed Renunciation Form. Persons of Indian Origin who have held an Indian visa in a previous passport must submit the expired/cancelled US passport.

Please note that it is strongly recommended by the Indian Embassy or Consulates that Non-US Citizens apply for the shortest visa duration available. Visa processing time for the 5 year visa, can be greater than a 1 year visa.


Special Fees: apply for citizens of, but not limited to Australia, Czech Rep, Ecuador, France, Iran, Ireland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UAE, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Jamaica, Japan, N. Korea, Maldives, Mauritius, Pakistan, S. Africa, Uruguay.

Please contact TDS to confirm Consular fees for the Nationalities listed above.

A postal money order is required by the Embassy of India. The money order will be obtained by TDS, the consular fee above includes a $5 postal money order fee.

Processing Times

Please Note: Non U.S Citizens who require a reference have a minimum processing time of one to two weeks and some cases may take longer.

Please complete the Indian Governments online application form. (Note you are not applying online, only completing the application). When you have completed the application please print and sign before sending to TDS along with supporting documents.

IMPORTANT RULES TO FOLLOW:

COMMON ERROR (S) TO AVOID

SURNAME - IS YOUR LAST NAME.

GIVEN NAMES (s) - GIVEN NAMES (s) IS YOUR FIRST AND MIDDLE NAMES. YOU MUST LIST THEM ON YOUR VISA APPLICATION EXACTLY AS THEY ARE LISTED IN YOUR PASSPORT.

***Caution Errors on the visa application form CANNOT be fixed, an error of any type WILL result in the application being rejected by the Indian Consulate. If rejected you will be required to complete a new application and resend it to Travel Document Systems. Indian visa applications must be perfect, errors, omissions and mistakes cannot be edited or fixed by Travel Document Systems, please be careful when completing your application to avoid delays.

From the "Indian Mission" drop down list Select USA-New York.

Application forms must be printed on two serarate pieces of paper. Application forms printed back to back on a single page are NOT accepted.

Applicants are required to sign the visa application in two places. On page 1, the applicant must sign COMPLETELY inside the box located under the photo area, if any part of the signature is outside of the box the application WILL be rejected. On page 2, the applicant must sign on the dotted line at the bottom of the page.

The Business Letter of responsibility (above) and Letter of Invitation must clearly state the validity of the visa you wish to apply for ( 1 Year, 5 Years or 10 Years ) and the visa application form must match the stated validity in these two letters. If these three items DO NOT match your application will be rejected by the Indian Embassy.

You must complete the Online Order Form.

The order form gives TDS your name, address, shipping information and payment method. Multiple applicants can be entered using one order form. You only need to complete one TDS order form per request. Please print two copies of the confirmation page. Include one copy with the documents you ship to TDS and keep one copy for your records.

While completing the online order form in this step, you will be asked how you want to pay TDS fees. You may pay our fees online with a credit card or enclose a personal or business check or money order.

Please forward the completed requirements detailed above to:

TRAVEL DOCUMENT SYSTEMS, INC.,
27 West 24th Street, Suite 9D
New York, NY 10010

Urgent applications should be shipped to TDS using only the FedEx Company.
Please use FedEx Priority Overnight. Do NOT ship "First Overnight." This will delay the delivery of your package.

Visas are usually valid for 1 year or 5 years based on consular fee paid. Important: Travelers must leave India on or before the expiration of their visa. Travelers who remain in India beyond the validity of their visa could face detention and significant penalties. If your intended length of stay in India exceeds the validity of your existing visa, you must apply for a new visa.

All Consular Fees and Processing Fees are NONREFUNDABLE, even if a visa is denied or if a visa is issued for a shorter period of time or otherwise issued or returned at a time or on terms and conditions that vary from those sought by the applicant.

Note that for citizens of Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, processing time is a minimum of 21 working days.

Special Pakistan Application: In addition to the requirements above, Special Visa application form is required, please contact TDS.

Special Bangladesh Application: In addition to the requirements above, Special Visa application form is required, please contact TDS.

All information Fees and Costs are subject to change without prior notice.