India e-Arrival Card Website Not Working Before My Flight

Before assuming the site is completely down, I'd check whether you're using the correct official website.

There are quite a few third-party sites that look like government websites when you search for "India arrival card." I would only use the Indian government portal. The official Indian Visa Online website currently provides the e-Arrival Card facility and identifies it as a free Indian Immigration service.

If the page itself is loading but the submission isn't working, I'd try:

• Chrome or another current browser
• Incognito/private browsing
• A different device
• Mobile data instead of Wi-Fi
• Clearing cached browser data
• Checking that the passport information matches exactly
• Trying again later rather than making repeated submissions

I'd also keep your valid passport and OCI card ready for travel regardless of the website issue.

The important distinction is that the e-Arrival Card is arrival information, not an Indian visa. The official portal says foreign nationals and OCI/eOCI cardholders can submit it online within 72 hours before arrival.

If the portal remains unavailable close to departure, I'd verify the current procedure directly with the relevant official Indian immigration/airport authority rather than relying entirely on another traveller's experience.

I had a different experience. Mine submitted without any problem, but my brother couldn't get past the captcha for almost a day.

He was using an Android phone, while I completed mine on a laptop. Eventually he used a different browser and it worked.

If you're travelling with your wife and child, remember that you need to pay attention to each person's details. I wouldn't assume that completing one person's form covers everyone travelling together.

Also check the timing carefully. The official information says the e-Arrival Card can be completed within 72 hours before arrival, so if your arrival is September 10, make sure you're actually inside that window when submitting it.

I would take screenshots of any error messages if the problem continues. They may not solve the issue, but at least you'll have a record showing that you attempted to complete the form.

I wouldn't pay anyone who claims they can "fix" the e-Arrival Card for an emergency fee. The official Indian Visa Online site specifically says the e-Arrival Card is a free service of Indian Immigration.

I had almost the same problem when I travelled from the UK earlier this year. The e-Arrival Card page kept timing out when I was using my home Wi-Fi.

What eventually worked for me was switching from my laptop to my phone and using mobile data. I also stopped using the browser's saved information and opened a private/incognito window.

One thing I noticed is that the e-Arrival Card is separate from the OCI itself. I initially thought there was some problem with my OCI because the form wasn't accepting the information, but it turned out to be a website/browser issue.

I would keep trying periodically rather than doing it repeatedly every few minutes. Also make sure the passport number, nationality and name are entered exactly as they appear on the passport.

I don't know what the current airport procedure is if someone genuinely cannot submit the form because of a technical problem, so I wouldn't rely on being able to complete it after landing without checking the current official instructions.

For reference, the official portal describes the e-Arrival Card as arrival information, not a visa. So I wouldn't treat the website problem as though your OCI or entry permission has suddenly become invalid.

I flew from Dubai to Bengaluru a few weeks ago and experienced several "Service Unavailable" messages during the evening.

Later I learned that many travelers were reporting similar issues at the same time, so it seemed more like a temporary server problem than an individual account issue. I waited until early morning (India time), and the website loaded much faster.

If the website still doesn't work, you could also check whether the official Su-Swagatam app is working, since some travelers have reported success using it when the website was experiencing issues. It's also a good idea to keep screenshots of any error messages in case you need to explain the situation to your airline or immigration officials. Requirements and procedures can change, so I'd still verify the latest guidance before traveling. 

My issue turned out to be different.

I was traveling from Sydney and the website looked broken, but the actual problem was one of the uploaded files. My passport image exceeded the size limit even though there wasn't any clear error message.

After compressing both my passport scan and photograph, I started a fresh application in Chrome and it finally submitted successfully.

You may want to double-check:

• Passport image size
• Photograph dimensions
• File format requirements
• Internet connection
• Browser cache

The portal isn't very good at explaining what's causing the error, so sometimes it looks like the whole website has stopped working when it's actually rejecting part of the application.