The month before you fly decides how calm your first month in India feels. This guide is the clock. The Document Kit tells you which papers, and Your First Week takes over the moment you land; this one tells you when to do everything that must happen before the plane door closes: the visa and passport checks, the medicines audit, school records, the shipment, the packing, and the one task with a legal clock on it, the e-Arrival Card.
The one hard rule, new for 2026
The e-Arrival Card is mandatory for every foreign passport (including OCI). Submit it free, online, within 72 hours before landing at indianvisaonline.gov.in or the Su-Swagatam app (about 5 minutes, no uploads). Save the QR code offline; you must show it at immigration. Indian-passport holders are exempt. Everything else in this countdown is preparation; this one is law.
The countdown at a glance
T-30 days
Set the move in motion: passport validity, medicines audit, school records, travel-health visit, pet and shipment lead times
T-14 days
Papers, money, phone: document kit complete, banks notified, handset unlocked, photos printed
T-7 days
Pack for your city and season: adapters, hand-luggage medicines, printed copies, offline apps
T-72 hours
e-Arrival Card window opens: file it, save the QR, reconfirm your pickup
T-24 hours
The hand-luggage audit: one pouch with everything that must not be in the hold
Landing day
Hand over to Your First Week: immigration, entry stamp photographed, SIM, transfer
T-30 days · a month out
Set the move in motion
1
Check your passport and visa now, not at check-inSix months' validity beyond arrival and two blank pages. Confirm the visa in your passport matches your role and employer; if anything looks off, this is the week it can still be fixed.
2
Audit your medicinesList every prescription you carry. Get a doctor's letter and enough supply for your first weeks, and check restricted ingredients with your consultant before you fly; some common ones (for example codeine-based medicines) are controlled in India. Keep everything in original packaging.
3
Book a travel-health visitSee your doctor or a travel clinic about a month out, so any recommended vaccinations have time to take effect.
4
Request school records, if you move with childrenTranscripts, immunization records and recommendation letters take schools time to issue. The school search itself starts even earlier; see the Schools & Admissions guide.
5
Confirm the long-lead itemsShipment inventory, insurance and delivery windows with your mover; pet paperwork with your consultant (import permits take weeks); and your temporary accommodation for the first weeks, which IKAN arranges with your employer.
6
Start your document kitOpen the Document Kit guide and start collecting: attested copies, the employer letter, address proof. Future-you, standing at a counter in India, will be grateful.
T-14 days · two weeks out
Papers, money, phone
1
Finish the document kitPassport and visa copies, employer letter, address proof, and 6 to 8 passport photos printed. Every task in your first two weeks asks for some combination of these.
2
Tell your banks you are movingSet travel notices so cards are not frozen on first use in India, and plan your bridge money: cards plus some cash. Carrying over US$5,000 in cash (or US$10,000 including cheques) must be declared at Customs. (Detail: Money & Banking.)
3
Unlock your phoneConfirm your handset is carrier-unlocked and eSIM-capable if you prefer eSIM, so the airport SIM works the hour you land. (Detail: Staying Connected.)
4
Close the home-country loopsRedirect mail, pause or cancel subscriptions and utilities, and arrange a power of attorney if someone handles affairs for you while you are away.
5
If you plan to drive, get your IDPAn International Driving Permit is far easier to obtain at home than from India. (Detail: Driving & Your Licence.)
T-7 days · the final week
Pack for your city and season
1
Pack by season, not by suitcase sizeMonsoon (roughly June to September): quick-dry clothing and a solid umbrella. North-India winter (roughly October to February): real layers, and plan for air-quality days in Delhi NCR. South and coastal cities: breathable cotton year-round. Your consultant will tell you what your city is doing the week you land.
2
Pack the load-bearing itemsType D and Type M power adapters, your passport photos, and prescription medicines with their paperwork in hand luggage, never the hold.
3
Print the paper backupsTwo copies each of visa, employer letter and hotel or address proof. Paper still wins at Indian counters.
4
Load your phone for landingUber or Ola, Google Maps with your city downloaded offline, WhatsApp, your airline's app and Su-Swagatam, all installed while you still have easy connectivity.
5
Send IKAN your final flight detailsFlight number, arrival time, terminal. Your airport pickup and welcome plan are set to it, and your consultant tracks the flight. (What happens at the kerb: Your Airport Transfer.)
T-72 hours · the window that matters
File, confirm, check in
1
Submit your e-Arrival CardThe window opens 72 hours before landing. File it at indianvisaonline.gov.in or in Su-Swagatam, then save the QR offline: screenshot it and email it to yourself. One per family member on a foreign passport.
2
Reconfirm your pickup and first nightsA one-line message to your consultant: flight unchanged, pickup confirmed, accommodation address in hand (you will reuse that address on forms).
3
Check in online and weigh the bagsBoring, decisive, and the difference between a calm airport evening and a frantic one.
T-24 hours · the night before
The hand-luggage audit
1
Build the one pouchPassport with visa, e-Arrival QR (printed or offline), passport photos, medicines with paperwork, adapters, some cash, and the printed copies. If the hold luggage vanished for three days, this pouch would carry you.
2
Charge everything, save every numberPhone, power bank, headphones. Screenshot your consultant's number, your hotel address and your e-Arrival QR so none of it depends on airport Wi-Fi.
3
Read tomorrow's two hours onceSkim the landing-day sequence in Your First Week: immigration, photograph the entry stamp, SIM kiosk, money bridge, transfer. Knowing the order is most of the calm.
The three pre-flight mistakes to avoid: leaving the e-Arrival Card "for the airport"; packing prescription medicines in the hold without their paperwork; and discovering at check-in that the passport has less than six months' validity.
Landing day
Hand over to Your First Week
From the jet bridge onward you are in Your First Week in India territory: immigration with your e-Arrival QR, photograph the entry stamp (its date starts the FRRO clock, 14 days on most work and dependant visas), the SIM kiosk, the money bridge, and your pre-arranged transfer. This countdown's job is done the moment you board; that guide's job begins the moment you land.
Your support
What IKAN does for you
Your consultant runs this countdown with you, one check-in per milestone, so nothing rests on your memory
We arrange your airport pickup and temporary accommodation, and track your flight on the day
We watch the clocks: the 72-hour e-Arrival window before you fly and the 14-day FRRO deadline after you land
Medicines, pets, shipments, schools: we confirm the current rules for your case before you commit to anything
Ready to board? · one-screen check
Passport valid 6+ months, visa checked, two blank pages
e-Arrival Card filed inside 72 hours & QR saved offline
Document kit complete, with 6 to 8 passport photos
Medicines in hand luggage with prescriptions and doctor's letter
Banks notified, phone unlocked, adapters packed
IKAN has your flight details and your pickup is reconfirmed
Board with the pouch in your bag and the QR on your phone, and the hard part of arriving is already done. We are waiting on the other side.
Your IKAN Relocations team