Consular Services (Introduction & General Information)

Introduction and General Information

The Embassy of India, Asmara, started functioning in August 2019.  Its efforts to be fully functional were hampered by fallout of the COVID-19. 

The Embassy of India in Asmara covers whole of Eritrea.

All foreign nationals, including children, require visas to enter India.
All foreign nationals travelling to India from African countries should carry valid yellow fever vaccination certificate.  The applicant must have taken vaccination 10 days prior to date of travel/application.

The Embassy of India in Asmara issues Tourist, Entry, Business, Student, Medical and other types of visas to the Eritrean nationals and to other foreign nationals also residing in Eritrea on production of certificate of residence.

Processing of visa applications from non-Eritreans, especially those not ordinarily residing in Eritrea, may take one week or longer. Those who are unable to produce the certificate of residence issued by the concerned authorities as proof of long-term residence in Eritrea (minimum two years), will have to submit a separate fax form and an additional fax charges for making a reference to the Indian mission in their country. In certain categories, the reference is compulsory, irrespective of the term of residence in Eritrea.

Visitors to restricted/protected areas need special permits and for this purpose an additional form is to be submitted. It can be ascertained from the Embassy of India, Asmara whether the places intended to be visited fall in the category of restricted/protected areas.

Each visa application is considered on its merit and the Embassy may ask for additional information at any stage during the processing of the application. The fact that an application has been accepted, does not guarantee that the visa will be granted.
Visa fees are non-refundable even if visa is declined. The Embassy reserves the right of deciding the duration of visa irrespective of the fees tendered at the time of making application.