Travel info

e-Arrival Card

This is the form that replaced the paper slip cabin crew used to hand out before landing. It is not a visa, it simply tells immigration who is arriving, and it is free.

You cannot do this early. The form only opens 72 hours before arrival. If you land on Sunday 20 September, that means from Thursday 17 September onwards. It works the opposite way round to the visa.

Where. indianvisaonline.gov.in/earrival, or the official Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app. Anything asking you for a fee is not the official site.

Your address in India. The form asks where you are staying. For everyone arriving on the 20th, that is:

Afterwards. You get a confirmation with a QR code. Save it to your phone, that is all you need at immigration.

If it did not work out, do not panic. Paper cards were abolished in April 2026, so there is nothing to fill in on the plane, but it can still be sorted on arrival in Delhi. You will get in either way. It just costs you an extra queue after a long flight.

Health declaration

Last checked: 6 September 2026

India currently asks every arriving passenger for a short online health self-declaration, on the Air Suvidha portal. It came back in June 2026 as a precaution following a WHO alert. There is no outbreak in India, and the form takes a few minutes.

• Who. Everyone on the flight, Indian passports included.
• When. Within 24 hours of starting your journey, so the evening before or at the airport. Filling it during web check-in is the easiest moment.
• Where. airsuvidha.civilaviation.gov.in. It is free, so ignore any site that charges for it.
• Afterwards. You get an email confirmation. Keep it on your phone in case the health desk asks for it.

This is a temporary measure and may well be dropped again before September.

Check with your airline too

Your airline will also tell you what is currently required, and that is the most up to date source there is, whoever you fly with. Lufthansa's travel regulations checker is a particularly clear one. Do set your own nationality and departure airport rather than using the settings in our link.

eSIM

The wifi at Khas Bagh, the villas and the Delhi places is fine. Still worth having your own data from the moment you land, for the taxi, the group chat and your arrival QR code.

• What we use. Saily. The 10 GB package at €21.49 is plenty for normal use over the trip. The code ALLARI4841 takes $5 off.
• Check your phone first. Nearly every phone from the last few years handles eSIM, but worth a quick look in your settings.
• One thing to know. A travel eSIM gives you data, not an Indian phone number, so text messages and SMS codes will not reach you. That is fine for everything on this trip, just do not rely on SMS.

Uber

Worth setting up at home, since making the account is the slow part.

• Set it up before you fly. A German Visa card or Mastercard works fine in the app.
• Cash works too. If the card ever fails, you can pay cash at the fare the app shows. Drivers often have no change for a 500 rupee note, so keep smaller ones for this.
• Calls. Drivers reach you through the app, so not having an Indian number is no problem.
• When you will need it. Dinner in Delhi on the 26th, outings and the reception on the 27th, the airport or Delhi Cantt on the 28th, and Gurgaon station on 3 October.
• And once for fun. Uber Auto books you a tuk-tuk rather than a car. Worth doing at least once.

Cards

Bring a Visa card or Mastercard. A German EC card (Girocard) will not work in India. Make sure you know its PIN, since you will need it at the ATM.

Cards are often declined on the very first purchase abroad, while the bank checks it is really you. That is normally fixed by approving the alert, so the thing worth doing is making sure you can approve it in your banking app. On a travel eSIM an SMS code will never reach you, so app notifications are what you want, and it is worth checking you can still log in once you are away.