Treatment at hospitals in India: a guide for patients in Malawi

The Indian medical visa

e-Medical Visa

Malawian passport holders can apply for India's e-Medical Visa online, without attending the High Commission in person to lodge the application. Malawi is entry 95 on the official eligibility list. Unlike most countries we work with, the High Commission says so itself rather than only pointing at the list: it publishes a page confirming that the e-Visa facility was extended to Malawi nationals in February 2016. So two sources agree, which is the standard we hold a page to before publishing it.

Apply on the official Indian e-Visa portal

Indian mission

• The High Commission of India in Lilongwe serves Malawi.
• P.O. Box No. 1482, Plot No. 55, Area-9, Lilongwe.
• Reception is on +265 111 759 337. For consular and visa questions the number is +265 111 755 348, with +265 111 755 337 as an alternate, and the mission publishes the hours those are answered: 12:00 to 13:00, and again 15:00 to 16:00. Consular questions can be emailed to [email protected].
• Because the online route is open to Malawian passports, most patients will not need to attend at all.

Travelling with a family member

Two family members may come with you, each on an e-Medical Attendant Visa tied to your own medical visa. They are applied for on the same portal, and every person needs a separate application, including children. Apply for the attendants at the same time as the patient rather than afterwards. The attendant visa depends on the patient's, so a late application is the part most likely to leave a family travelling apart.

Documents

• For the online medical visa the portal asks for the passport bio page, a recent front-facing photograph on a white background, and a letter from the Indian hospital giving the date or expected date of admission, with six months' passport validity and two blank pages.
• If you apply on paper instead, the High Commission processes the application itself and its conditions are worth knowing in advance. The form is filled in online, but the supporting documents have to be uploaded in colour, the originals brought in for checking, and clear photocopies handed in with the printed form. You will need two colour photographs of 51 mm by 51 mm.
• You have to attend in person for that route, because fingerprints and a photograph are taken as part of the application and cannot be done by anyone else on your behalf.
• One practical point that catches people out: the fee is accepted only in cash, and only in Malawian kwacha. The mission also notes that the fee is not refundable and that paying it does not by itself mean a visa will be issued.
• The mission says a paper application normally takes three working days, and longer where documents have to be verified.

Visa rules differ by country and change often. Once a partner hospital accepts your case we arrange the hospital’s invitation letter and check the current rules with you before you apply.

Getting to India

Airports

Malawi's transport ministry describes two primary international airports, at Lilongwe and Blantyre, and four secondary airports with paved runways at Likoma, Karonga, Mzuzu and Club Makokola. Lilongwe and Blantyre are the two that matter for a journey to India. Which of them suits you better is usually a question of where you live rather than of the connections available, so we look at both when the travel is booked.

Routes to India

• No non-stop service between Malawi and India could be confirmed on an official source, so expect to change aircraft at least once.
• Itineraries from Lilongwe and Blantyre to Indian cities are sold with a change in East Africa or the Gulf, but no airline's own page sets out the routing or the stop count, and that is exactly the detail that decides whether a connection is manageable for someone who is unwell.
• We check the flights and connections available with you at the time of booking, rather than naming a routing here that may have changed by the time you travel.

Before you travel, check your own government’s current travel advice and your airline’s flight status.

Money

Currency

The Malawian kwacha, ISO 4217 code MWK, numeric code 454, divided into 100 tambala.

Treatments we coordinate

Our partner hospitals treat these conditions, among others. Where hospitals publish their own prices we show an indicative range; otherwise ask us for an estimate.

• Heart surgery
• Cancer treatment
• Orthopedics and joint replacement
• Spine and neurosurgery
• Kidney care and transplant
• Liver transplant
• Bone marrow transplant
• IVF and fertility treatment
• Neurology
• Eye surgery
• Cosmetic and plastic surgery
• Bariatric (weight-loss) surgery
• Dental care

Don't see your treatment? Send us your reports and we will ask the right specialists at our partner hospitals.

How it works

1. Send your medical reports.

   Share your reports and scans with us on WhatsApp, by email or through our form. Your doctor can also send them to us.

2. Receive a specialist opinion and cost estimate.

   Specialists at our partner hospitals review your reports. We send you their opinion, the treatment they recommend and a clear cost estimate.

3. We arrange your travel.

   We arrange the hospital's invitation letter for your medical visa and help you with flights, accommodation and airport pickup.

4. Treatment, return home and follow-up.

   We support you during treatment and recovery in India, and we stay in touch after you return home.

Our partner hospitals

We work with partner hospitals across India. Their specialists review the medical information on this website and discuss cases with referring doctors.

• Manipal Hospitals, Bengaluru / Pune / Gurugram / DelhiJCI-accredited
• Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune
• Jehangir Hospital, Pune
• Ramaiah Hospital, BengaluruJCI-accredited
• Kauvery Hospital, BengaluruJCI-accredited
• Aster Medicity, BengaluruJCI-accredited
• Fortis Hospitals, Bengaluru / Gurugram / NoidaJCI-accredited
• Apollo Hospitals, Bhopal / Bengaluru / Delhi / ChennaiJCI-accredited
• Medanta
• Artemis Hospitals

Talk to us about treatment in India

Send us your medical reports whenever you are ready, or ask us a question first. Coordination is free for patients.

For referring doctors

If you refer patients for treatment in India, we work alongside you. You submit the case through our online case form, and a specialist from our partner hospitals can discuss it with you by video call on request. We keep you informed during your patient's treatment and after they return home, so you can continue their care.