British travellers holding passports issued by the Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man) and British Overseas Territories such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands are now eligible for India’s electronic visa, according to an update posted on 24 September to the Indian e-Visa FAQ portal. Until now, holders of these documents faced the slower regular-visa process at Indian missions because the e-Visa drop-down list recognised only standard United Kingdom nationality codes. The change aligns with New Delhi’s goal of rebuilding inbound tourism and signals that the Ministry of Home Affairs is progressively harmonising e-Visa eligibility with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) passport-code standards. For British businesses that base regional staff in the Channel Islands or Gibraltar for tax reasons, the update removes a compliance irritant and shortens travel-planning lead times from weeks to days. Travel-management companies should refresh booking engines to accommodate the new nationality codes; failure to do so can trigger system errors when autofilling visa details. Importantly, the expansion does not bypass existing e-Visa security filters: applicants connected to Pakistan, or those with defence or diplomatic passports, remain ineligible and must visit an Indian mission. Indian officials have not yet issued a formal press release, but industry insiders say more micro-nationalities—including certain Caribbean Community (CARICOM) passports—could be added before the peak winter travel season if the pilot proves technically stable.
Source: India Online Visa – FAQ section
