The honest answer: it depends on your case, and that is not a dodge
People searching for "FRRO exit permit fees" want one number. We cannot give you one, and neither can anyone else who is being straight with you — because what you pay is not a fixed ticket price. It is an assessment made on your specific circumstances by the authority handling your case.
What we can do is explain exactly what goes into that assessment, so you know what you are looking at before you walk into it.
You are potentially paying two separate things
This is the distinction almost everyone misses, and it is the reason the numbers people quote online contradict each other.
1. The overstay penalty. If you stayed beyond the validity of your visa or permit, the FRRO assesses a financial penalty under its official schedule before it will clear your departure. This is a government penalty, not a fee for a service. It is tiered — the amount depends on how long the overstay ran and the circumstances behind it.
2. The Exit Permit itself. This is the clearance that lets you leave lawfully, applied for through the e-FRRO portal. Whether a charge attaches to it, and how much, is set by the authorities and is separate from any penalty.
Someone who overstayed by four months and someone who lost their passport two days before a lawful departure are both applying for an Exit Permit. They are not paying the same thing, and a single quoted figure would be wrong for at least one of them.
On top of both, there may be a professional fee if you use a consultant. That one is not set by the government — ask for it in writing before you engage anyone.
Why we do not publish the penalty table
We deliberately do not reproduce the tiered penalty amounts on this site. Two reasons, both practical:
- The schedule is set by the government and changes. A figure that was right last year can be wrong today, and an out-of-date number on a page like this does real damage — people budget against it, then get a different assessment at the counter.
- The band you land in is not something you can look up. It turns on the length of the overstay and the circumstances, which is a judgement made on your file, not a lookup table you can apply to yourself.
You will find sites that publish a confident-looking table. Treat it the way you would treat a stranger quoting you a tax bill: possibly right, possibly two years stale, and not something you should plan around.
What the law itself sets as the ceiling
There is one figure worth knowing, because it is statutory rather than administrative.
India's immigration law was consolidated by the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which came into force on 1 September 2025 and repealed four earlier statutes — including the Foreigners Act, 1946, which most older articles online still cite. Under the current Act, remaining in India beyond the validity of a visa or permit can carry imprisonment of up to three years, a fine of up to ₹3,00,000, or both.
Two things to hold on to about that number:
- It is a statutory maximum for prosecution, not a standard administrative penalty. It describes the ceiling of what a court could impose, not what a routine overstay assessment looks like.
- It is the reason a straightforward overstay is worth regularising properly rather than improvising. The administrative route exists precisely so that most cases never approach that end of the scale.
If you are reading this because you have already overstayed, our guide to visa overstay consequences in India covers the non-financial side — re-entry implications and what actually happens at departure.
What drives the figure in your case
From what the process looks like in practice, the assessment turns on:
- How long the overstay ran. This is the main driver. Days, weeks and months are treated differently.
- Whether it was a lapse or a pattern. A single overrun after a refused extension reads differently from a stay that continued for a year without contact with the authorities.
- Whether you came forward. Approaching the FRRO yourself is a materially different posture from being identified at the airport on your way out.
- Your documentation. A clean explanation with evidence — a hospital record, a rejected extension, a stolen-passport police report — is part of the file the assessment is made on.
- The visa category and your circumstances. These feed into how the case is handled.
None of this is a formula you can apply yourself. It is, however, the list of things worth having in order before you start.
How to find the number that actually applies to you
- Start the e-FRRO application. The portal is the system of record. Fees and penalties surface as part of the process against your specific case.
- Ask the FRRO directly. Your jurisdictional office is the authority on your file. If you are unsure which office that is, our FRRO jurisdiction finder will tell you.
- Get it confirmed before you commit to travel dates. The single most expensive mistake here is booking a flight around a number you found on a forum.
Do not pay anyone claiming to "settle" a penalty outside the official process. Penalties are paid through the proper channel and recorded against your case. A payment that does not appear on your file has bought you nothing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the FRRO exit permit fee?
There is no single published price we can honestly quote. What you pay depends on whether an overstay penalty applies, how long it ran, and the circumstances. Confirm the current amounts through the e-FRRO portal or your jurisdictional FRRO rather than relying on a figure found online.
Is the overstay penalty the same as the exit permit fee?
No. They are separate. The penalty is a government assessment for having stayed beyond your permitted period; the Exit Permit is the clearance that allows you to depart lawfully. A person leaving on an Exit Permit without any overstay is not in the same position as someone who overstayed.
Can I be fined ₹3,00,000 for overstaying?
That is the statutory maximum fine under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, available on prosecution — alongside imprisonment of up to three years. It describes the ceiling, not the routine administrative outcome. Most overstays are dealt with administratively, which is the reason to regularise your status rather than let it run.
Do I pay before or after the Exit Permit is granted?
Where a penalty applies, it is generally resolved as part of clearing your departure — an application can sit unresolved until that step completes. Our guide to Exit Permit delays and rejections covers what holds applications up.
Will paying the penalty stop me being refused entry later?
Regularising your departure properly is the better position to be in, but re-entry decisions rest entirely with the authorities and are made at the time you apply. Nobody can promise you a future outcome.
How long does the whole thing take?
Timelines vary by office and case. Our guide to Exit Permit documents and processing time sets out what to expect and what to prepare.
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If an overstay has put your departure in doubt and you would rather not navigate the assessment alone, our Exit Permit service covers case preparation and liaison with the FRRO.
India Visa Experts is an independent private consulting firm, not affiliated with the Government of India, the FRRO, or any government agency. Penalties, fees and immigration outcomes are determined solely by the relevant authorities and change over time. This article is general information only and is not legal advice.