How to Obtain e-Visas for India and Cambodia

Japanese passport holders cannot enter either India or Cambodia with a passport alone; a visa is required.

Both countries offer electronic visa systems. However, their online application systems can be somewhat quirky, and entering all the required information may take more effort than expected.

India

If you are entering India through one of the major designated airports or seaports, you can apply for an e-Visa.

The application contains a large number of questions, and simply completing the seven or eight pages of required information can be quite a task.

The system sends and saves your data to the Indian server each time you complete a page. However, the connection may occasionally be interrupted during the process, and the information you have carefully entered can be lost.

As a result, an application that might take about an hour if everything goes smoothly can sometimes end up taking one or even two days — a surprisingly frustrating process.

Applying by yourself will save you the service fee charged by an agency. However, considering the amount of time and effort involved, using a visa application service may also be worth considering.

For those who wish to apply on their own, please refer to the following:

India e-Visa Application Website

How to Complete the India e-Visa Application Form (Japanese)

The application guide provides clear instructions on how to complete the form.

Please also be careful when applying online. There are websites that look like official Indian government or embassy websites but are actually private visa application services. They can be very misleading, so make sure you are using the official website when applying by yourself.

Cambodia

Compared with the Indian application, Cambodia’s e-Visa application has fewer questions and is generally easier to complete. However, entering your date of birth can be surprisingly tedious.

The date field initially displays the current year, and you have to click through the calendar until you reach your year and date of birth. Since there is no simple drop-down menu for selecting the year, the older you are, the more clicking you have to do. As you may need to enter dates in several places, it can become rather tiresome.

On the positive side, the connection is generally stable, and there are not too many questions. So although your fingers may get tired from all the clicking, the application itself does not take very long.

※There is also information that, when the calendar appears, you can click the “year” at the top to select your birth year directly.

Please try this when filling out your application.

For instructions on completing the Cambodian visa application, please refer to the following:

Cambodia e-Visa Application Website

How to Complete the Cambodia e-Visa Application Form (Japanese)

As with India, there are several websites that look like official visa application sites. Please make sure you are using the official website before entering your personal information or making a payment.