‘Comically, profoundly, embarrassingly broken’: US investor takes swipe at India’s e-visa website

American investor Raymond Russell has drawn sharp attention to the shortcomings of India’s e-visa application system, describing the official website as outdated, unreliable and frustrating for foreign users. Taking to social media platform X, Russell detailed a series of technical hurdles he faced while attempting to complete his visa application, calling the portal “comically, profoundly, embarrassingly broken”.

Russell, who invests in early-stage deep technology companies across the United States and India, said the website appeared stuck in the past and repeatedly disrupted basic tasks. “I love India. Anybody who applies for an e-visa to India knows the website is always comically, profoundly, embarrassingly broken. It looks like it was written in 2003, kicks you out randomly without saving your work, won’t charge your credit card until your nineteenth attempt,” he wrote.

Beyond the technical failures, Russell also highlighted what he viewed as baffling design choices. Midway through the application process, he said the website unexpectedly displayed a list of the tallest peaks in each Indian state. “Come on folks, I’m just trying to invest in your country!” he quipped.

He further criticised the restrictive data fields in the travel history section. “You must tell us all countries you’ve visited in the last 10 years, or we may refuse you entry. But you can only tell us max 20 countries,” he said, pointing to what he described as an illogical requirement. Russell also noted that payment options were limited to SBI e-pay and PayPal, both of which, he added, functioned poorly for many international applicants.

Despite the ordeal, Russell took a philosophical view of the experience, joking: “I’ve always thought of the Indian e-visa website as a filtering test: if you can survive it, you’ll be fine in India.”