- Afghanistan launched a 30-day tourist e-visa portal for $123.71, applicable for Kabul airport arrivals.
- Indian citizens remain eligible but may find better value at the Mumbai consulate with zero fees.
- The system requires a Letter of Invitation and does not support business or student categories.
(KABUL, AFGHANISTAN) — Afghanistan launched an e-visa portal in early 2026, opening a new online route for foreign tourists, including Indians, to obtain a single-entry tourist e-visa valid for 30 days.
The online visa costs $120 USD plus $3.71 processing fee (total $123.71 USD). Applicants receive a PDF e-visa by email after they complete the process on the official E-Afghans portal.
The launch gives travelers a digital option for tourist entry, but it comes with limits. Afghanistan accepts the e-visa only for arrivals at Kabul International Airport, and it does not honor the document at land borders, though travelers may exit anywhere.
Under the system, travelers must use the visa within 3 months of issuance. Once they enter Afghanistan, the visa allows a stay of 30 days.
Applicants use the online portal by selecting a Tourist visa and choosing the 3 months validity option. They then upload a passport photo page scan, a personal photo with a white background that matches the stated specifications, and a Letter of Invitation (LOI).
After that, they add a digital signature and pay the fee. Approval follows by email with a PDF e-visa.
The system does not currently offer visa-on-arrival. It also does not offer other e-visa categories, leaving travelers who need business, work or student visas to apply through an embassy or consulate instead.
Impact on Indian Travelers
For Indian citizens, the new arrangement creates a mixed picture. Indians are eligible for the e-visa, and the official portal and guides do not note any explicit nationality-based restrictions on their use of the system.
Yet Indian applicants also have another path that may prove more attractive in some cases. The Consulate General of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Mumbai issues a single-entry visa with 3-month validity/1-month stay free for Indian citizens, with an expedited option priced at +$50.
For others, the same consular route costs $80 (+$50 expedited). That price difference gives Indian travelers a reason to compare the new online option with the older consulate route before they apply.
The contrast is plain. The e-visa costs $123.71 USD and limits entry to Kabul International Airport, while the Mumbai consulate route offers some Indian travelers a zero-fee single-entry visa and, in some cases, potential multi-entry business options for as long as 3 years.
That is the catch for Indian applicants. The e-visa opens a straightforward digital route, but it does not automatically offer the best value or the most flexibility for Indian citizens who can still use the Mumbai consulate.
Tourism-Focused System With Limits
The online system appears aimed at tourism rather than a broader reopening of all visa channels. Afghanistan has not introduced visa-on-arrival under the current arrangement, and it has not extended the e-visa model to business, work or student travel.
That distinction matters for travelers planning anything beyond a short tourist trip. Anyone seeking a business, work or student visa must still go through an embassy or consulate rather than the e-visa portal.
The requirement for a Letter of Invitation (LOI) also shapes the process. Even though the e-visa is digital, applicants must still gather supporting documents before they can submit the online form.
For Indian travelers, the listed document set for either the e-visa or a consulate application includes a valid passport with at least 6+ months validity and blank pages, proof of a return ticket, hotel bookings, bank statements, travel insurance, Indian ID or address proof, and health or vaccination certificates.
The LOI sits alongside those materials as a required upload for the e-visa application. Without it, an applicant cannot complete the online submission as described in the current process.
Validity, Entry Rules and Extensions
The validity terms also require attention. The visa holder must enter Afghanistan within 3 months of issuance, but the stay period begins only after entry and lasts 30 days.
That timing means travelers must coordinate their application date with their flight plans. A person who applies too early could shorten the useful window for entry, even though the stay itself still runs for 30 days after arrival.
Because Afghanistan accepts the e-visa only at Kabul International Airport, airline planning also becomes part of the visa decision. Travelers who intend to enter by land cannot use the online tourist e-visa for that purpose.
Exits, however, are more flexible. The rules described for the new system permit travelers to leave from anywhere, even though the e-visa itself is not valid for land-border entry.
For some visitors, that airport-only rule may not matter. For others, especially those weighing regional overland travel or more complex itineraries, it may tilt the decision toward a consular visa if that route better matches their plans.
Indian applicants face that calculation more directly than many others because the consular route in Mumbai carries no visa fee for them on the standard single-entry visa. An expedited decision adds +$50, but the base comparison with the e-visa remains stark.
The consulate option also offers room for longer-term business travel in some cases. The available consular choices include potential multi-entry business visas valid for up to 3 years, a category not available through the current e-visa portal.
Travelers who choose the e-visa and then want to remain in Afghanistan beyond the initial one-month stay must take another step. Extensions beyond 1 month require an application to Kabul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
That requirement leaves the online tourist visa as a narrow product by design: a single entry, one month of stay, airport arrival only, and tourism as the stated use. Anyone with broader travel or professional needs must look elsewhere.
How the Application Works
Even so, the system marks a change in access. Afghanistan now offers a formal online tourist application route through the E-Afghans portal, giving prospective visitors a process that does not begin at a diplomatic mission.
The application sequence itself is simple on paper. A traveler chooses the tourist category, selects the 3 months validity option, uploads the passport scan, personal photo and Letter of Invitation (LOI), signs digitally, pays the fee and waits for the PDF visa by email.
What the system does not do may shape traveler choices as much as what it does. It does not provide visa-on-arrival, it does not cover non-tourist categories, and it does not remove the need to gather documents such as hotel bookings, financial records and health paperwork.
No recent policy changes exclude Indians from using the e-visa. The system targets tourism broadly, and Indian citizens remain eligible to apply through the online portal.
That point may reassure travelers who feared the digital launch might have screened out certain nationalities. At the same time, eligibility alone does not answer the practical question of which route an Indian applicant should choose.
Cost, entry point and visa type all differ between the two paths. A tourist who plans to fly into Kabul International Airport for a short visit may decide the e-visa offers convenience, while an applicant seeking lower cost or other visa options may still favor the Mumbai consulate.
Afghanistan directs online tourist applicants to the official E-Afghans e-visa portal. Those who want consular processing can turn to the Mumbai consulate for details on visa issuance.
For now, that leaves travelers with a clear but limited new tool. Afghanistan has opened an e-visa door for tourism, but for Indian applicants especially, the older consulate window in Mumbai may remain the more economical and flexible way in.
