Kolkata Entry Requirements

Kolkata greets you at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, where the first lungful of air carries the smell of monsoon-damp earth and heavy humidity. Fluorescent tubes buzz above the immigration hall, mixing with the soft scuff of rubber soles on polished tile. Officers in pressed khaki sit behind glass, fingertips clicking keyboards beneath the pale glow of monitors. Most nationalities glide through the e-gate system. Yet lines balloon during festival weeks when incense drifts in from roadside shrines and dhaak drums thump somewhere beyond the terminal. Keep passport, visa (or e-visa printout), and arrival card crisp, ink runs in the sticky heat. Past baggage reclaim the doors slide apart and sound slaps you: taxi touts shouting rapid Bengali, yellow Ambassadors honking, and the sudden slap of humid Kolkata air thick with diesel and phuchka spice.