# What visa fees for Indians actually did in 2026: the mid-year scoreboard

> Ten destinations checked against official sources on 19 August. Two are free, one rose, one is a proposal, and Japan left Indians out of a global rise.

- Published: 2026-08-19
- Author: VisaGyan (VisaGyan)
- Canonical: https://visagyan.in/visa-fees-for-indians-what-changed-2026
- Official sources:
  - https://www.in.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/Visa.html
  - https://www.immigration.gov.lk/pages_e.php?id=60

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Half of what Indian travellers read about visa fees this year describes someone else's passport. Here is the scoreboard as of 19 August 2026, every line checked against the issuing authority: two destinations at zero, one real increase, one proposal, and one global rise that Indians were quietly left out of.

<DatasetTable datasetKey="visa-fee-changes-2026-indians" caption="Visa fees for Indian passport holders — status on 19 August 2026, with the date each figure last changed" />

## The three patterns worth seeing

**Southeast Asia is competing on price, and the price is zero.** Sri Lanka made its tourist ETA free on 25 May, Malaysia's exemption runs to the end of the year, Thailand's exemption holds while the 30-day cap waits on the Royal Gazette. Three of the cheapest destinations for an Indian passport now cost nothing at the consulate — and the whole cost sits in flights and stay.

**The West is drifting the other way, slowly.** The UK moved the Standard Visitor visa to £135 in April. The US kept $185 but changed the rupee arithmetic in May: at ₹98 to the dollar the MRV fee costs more rupees for the same visa. Schengen has been at €90 since June 2024.

**Reciprocity beats headlines.** Japan raised fees worldwide on 1 July, and the coverage in Indian media reported the increase faithfully — without noticing that the Embassy's own page lists ₹500 for Indian nationals against ₹8,650 for everyone else applying in India. That is not a discount anyone advertises; it exists because of a bilateral facilitation arrangement, and it is why [the Japan fee story](/japan-visa-fee-500-rupees-for-indians) reads differently here.

## What the table does not include

Service fees. Every free ETA and every ₹500 government fee still comes with a VFS or BLS charge where the route runs through a centre, and those are set by the contractor, not the government. The gap between the two is where most "the visa cost me more than you said" complaints come from — the three-column breakdown for the US route is in [US visa fees from India](/us-visa-fees-from-india), and the full comparison across destinations in [visa fees for Indians in 2026](/visa-fees-for-indians-2026).

We update this table as each figure moves; the date in the last column is when we last checked it against the source.

*VisaGyan is an independent journal, not affiliated with any government or visa centre. Verify the fee with the issuing authority before you pay.*