e-Visa, step by step — Kriti & Ludwig

The basics

A 30-day tourist e-Visa typically costs around €10–40, depending on season and exchange rate. Longer-duration visas cost more.
Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your arrival date and have at least two blank pages.
Apply only on the official government site: indianvisaonline.gov.in.

Before you start

The website is a bit bumpy. If clicking "Next" does nothing, try your phone's browser instead. You'll also have to enter some information (passport ID, address) more than once, so plan in about an hour.

Take a screenshot of your Application ID during and after the process. You need it to log back in and to download your visa later.

And throughout the whole form: no umlauts or special characters (ä, ö, ü, ß) — the website can't handle them, so write ae, oe, ue, ss.

The application, step by step

Go to the official portal and click "Apply here for e-Visa".
On the first screen, fill in your passport details. Choose Port of Arrival: DELHI AIRPORT, Passport Type: ORDINARY PASSPORT, and for "Visiting India for" select the e-Tourist Visa, 30 days (e-T1 V) — meeting friends/relatives. (If you're staying longer than a month, pick a longer one.)
Click "Continue" and confirm the popups with "OK".
On the details page: for Religion select what applies to you; for Visible identification marks write "None" or something simple like "Mole on left cheek"; "Have you lived for at least two years in the country where you are applying" — Yes; "Any other valid passport held" — No; for Citizenship/National ID No. use your Personalausweis number.
Click "Save and Continue". If the page comes back with all fields empty, the site rejected an entry — check the red hints on the right, then fill everything in again (usually it was a special character or a missed field).
Work through the next pages the same way, carefully and without special characters.
On the travel page: "Have you ever visited India before" is No for most of you. For Places to be visited enter: DELHI, JAIPUR, KASAULI.
The form also asks for a reference person in India with name, address and phone number. Ask us in the WhatsApp group and we'll send you the details to enter.
On the questions page, tick the No checkboxes.
Photo upload: a JPG on a white background — a phone photo is fine. It must be under 1 MB; you can shrink it at iloveimg.com.
Passport upload: a PDF of your passport's photo page. The file name must be plain — ideally just passport.pdf, no spaces or special characters — and under about 300 KB (shrink at ilovepdf.com). No scanner? The CamScanner app turns a phone photo into a PDF.
Click "Confirm", double-check all your entries, then "Verified and Continue".
Tick Yes, click "Pay Now" and select PayPal — it also takes credit cards, it just doesn't say so. Continue through the popup and pay.
Wait a few seconds for the final confirmation screen — and once more: screenshot / save your Application ID.

After you apply

Once approved, the e-Visa arrives by email, usually within 1–2 weeks. You can also check the status and download it on the portal with your Application ID. Bring a printed copy for arrival, just to be safe.