Dummy Ticket for Papua New Guinea Visa: What ICA Asks For and How to Show Your Return Flight

Papua New Guinea is not a place most Indian travellers apply for on a whim. People go to see relatives working in the mining and gas sector, for church and volunteer trips, for trekking on the Kokoda Track, or to attend a conference in Port Moresby. Whatever the reason, the visa file is small but strict about one thing: ICA wants to see that you will leave. Below we set out what ICA publishes, how Indians actually apply, which routes reach Port Moresby, and where a held reservation fits. Each rule carries a footnote pointing to ICA or another official source, collected at the bottom.

PNG entry at a glance for Indian passport holders

Who needs a visa for Papua New Guinea?

Everyone who is not a PNG citizen. The difference between nationalities is only how you get it. ICA runs a visa-on-arrival list, and holders of those passports can also use the online Easy Visitor Permit for 30 or 60 days.^[2][3]

When we checked in October 2026, the list covered Canada, the UK, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Israel, the UAE and a long run of Pacific nations such as Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. It also includes some territories, and Chinese diplomatic and official passports. ICA notes that mainland New Zealand, French and US passports are not eligible.^[3] India is not on it. Neither are Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.

So if you hold an Indian passport, plan for a visa issued before departure. Do not book a non-refundable fare expecting to sort things out at Jacksons International Airport. Indians living in the Gulf, the UK or Australia are in the same position, because eligibility follows the passport, not where you live.

How do Indians apply: online or through the High Commission?

This is where ICA's own material is a little untidy, so read both sources.

ICA's Visitor visa web page says that holders of visa-on-arrival passports "may lodge an application via the electronic visa portal", while everyone else, or anyone who prefers not to use the portal, should submit the paper application form downloadable from the same page.^[1] The 2025 Visa Information Booklet, however, says visitor visa applications "must be submitted online" and lists "Tourist (Own itinerary)" and "Visiting Relatives" among the classes available on the eVisa portal.^[2]

In practice that gives you two routes to try:

• The eVisa portal at evisa.ica.gov.pg. ICA warns that applications must go through its own website "and not through any third party websites".^[2][7] If the portal lets you select a tourist class with an Indian passport, this is the quicker option.
• The paper "Application for Entry Permit" form, lodged with a PNG mission. ICA lists a PNG High Commission in New Delhi among its overseas missions.^[2] The form itself is on the Visitor visa page.^[1] The Australian High Commission in New Delhi confirms it stopped issuing PNG visas once that mission opened, and that applicants from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh should send them to the PNG High Commission instead.^[8]

Our view: try the portal first, and if it refuses your nationality or class, ring the High Commission before you post anything. Contact details on third-party sites are often years old, so take the address from the Australian High Commission's notice or ICA's own missions list, and confirm it by phone before you courier a passport.

The ICA document checklist, quoted

ICA's 2025 booklet lists the documents for each visitor class. For the two classes Indian travellers use most, the list is short:^[2]

• Tourist (Own itinerary): "Request Letter from applicant"; "Copy of valid passport bio page"; "Copy of travel itinerary (confirm onward/return ticket) and guarantee that applicant is financially secure".
• Visiting Relative: the same three items: request letter, bio page, and the itinerary with onward or return travel plus financial security.
• Tourist (Tour package): a letter from a tour agent registered with PNG's Tourism Promotion Authority and Investment Promotion Authority, the bio page, and the itinerary showing onward or return travel.
• Business, short-term single entry: a letter from a PNG-based sponsor, the bio page, the fee, and "Evidence of return/on-going ticket".

On top of that, ICA's general rules say every applicant must be of good health and good character, and a medical certificate or police clearance "may be required on request", depending on the purpose and length of the visit.^[2] For a two-week holiday that is rare, but keep the possibility in mind if your trip is long.

The request letter carries more weight than people expect. Use it to say who you are, why you are going, where you will stay, who pays, and the dates in and out. Then make sure the flight document says exactly the same thing.

What does "confirm onward/return ticket" mean for your flight document?

The exact phrase on ICA's list is "Copy of travel itinerary (confirm onward/return ticket)".^[2] The document requested is an itinerary, and the words in brackets tell you what it has to prove: that you have a way out of PNG. ICA does not define whether the itinerary must be paid for, and we could not find any ICA page that says either "reservation accepted" or "paid ticket only".

Here is how we would read it, honestly:

• For the visa application, a verifiable reservation carrying your name and a live booking reference shows the full route in and out. That is an itinerary in the ordinary sense, and it lets you avoid paying for a long-haul fare before you know the outcome.
• But "confirm" can be read strictly. If an officer or the High Commission tells you they want a paid, issued ticket, a held reservation may not satisfy them. In that case buy a refundable fare, or one with a low change fee, rather than arguing.
• For business visas, the wording is "Evidence of return/on-going ticket", which leans further toward a real ticket.^[2] Ask your PNG sponsor what ICA has accepted from their previous visitors.

Whatever you submit, call it a "flight reservation" or "itinerary" in your request letter. Never describe a held booking as a purchased ticket.

How do you fly from India to Port Moresby?

There is no nonstop flight from India. You will connect, and the connection point matters both for the look of your itinerary and for transit visas.

Air Niugini, PNG's national carrier, lists these international points in its own flight search: Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong, Brisbane, Cairns, Sydney, Nadi and Honiara. Its homepage also promotes a direct Port Moresby–Narita service, and a new Port Moresby–Auckland route with three flights a week from 17 November 2026.^[11] The same search box accepts Indian departure cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Kochi.^[11] None of those is on Air Niugini's own network, so the India sector of such a journey is flown by another airline.

The Australia trap

Routing through Brisbane or Cairns looks natural on a map, but it creates extra paperwork for Indians. Australia lets some nationalities transit without a visa for up to 8 hours if they stay airside and hold a confirmed onward ticket. Indian ordinary passports are not on that list; only Indian official passports are.^[12] So an Indian travelling via Australia needs an Australian visa as well. Unless you already hold one, we would build the reservation through Singapore or Manila instead.

How to build a PNG itinerary that matches your file

Say you live in Pune and your brother works near Lae. You plan to arrive on 6 December and leave on 27 December. A clean file would look like this:

1. Request letter naming your brother, his employer, his address, and the dates 6 to 27 December.
2. Reservation Mumbai–Singapore–Port Moresby on 5 to 6 December, returning Port Moresby–Singapore–Mumbai on 27 December. If he lives in Lae, add the domestic leg or explain in the letter how you will get there.
3. Funds: bank statements, and if your brother is paying, his letter and a copy of his PNG work permit or entry permit.
4. Passport with plenty of validity. ICA does not set a validity rule on the visitor page, but Air Niugini notes that many countries ask for six months beyond your return.^[9] Six months is the sensible target.

Twenty-one nights falls well inside the usual 60-day visitor stay.^[1] Keep the trip comfortably inside it. A reservation showing 59 days invites questions, and any extension must be applied for inside PNG under separate rules.

When should you book the reservation?

Expect the hold to last two weeks at most; the exact length is the airline's call, not ours. That shapes the timing.

• eVisa route: order it a day or two ahead of your online submission, so it is live when ICA opens your file. ICA's stated turnaround is 10 working days when the file is complete.^[2]
• Paper route via the High Commission: book it close to the day you hand in or post the application. If processing runs long and the mission asks for a current itinerary, order a fresh one with the same dates.
• Your travel window: ICA says an entry permit must be used within six months of issue, or it becomes invalid.^[4] Choose travel dates comfortably inside that period.

We'd book the reservation three days before submission, not three weeks. The earlier you book, the more likely it is to have lapsed by the time someone looks.

What happens at check-in and on arrival?

This is the part people forget. A reservation helps with the visa application. It does not get you on the plane.

After the grant, purchase the actual ticket on dates that fit the visa. Air Niugini tells tourist-visa holders they are "strongly encouraged to book a return ticket" before travelling, because immigration often asks for proof you will leave and not having one "could lead to delays or complications" on arrival.^[9] Your connecting airline's check-in staff will also want to see a visa for PNG, and for any transit country that needs one.

Since 1 October 2025, PNG has also used a Digital Arrival Card. You complete it online at pngdac.ica.gov.pg before you arrive, it is free, and ICA stresses that it "is not a visa".^[6] Travellers who miss it can use self-service kiosks at Jacksons International Airport.^[6]

ICA names four designated international ports of entry: Jacksons International Airport, Daru, Wutung (Vanimo) and Kagamuga Airport at Mount Hagen.^[5] Nearly every Indian visitor will arrive at Jacksons in Port Moresby.

Which document suits your situation: reservation, refundable fare or ticket?

Mistakes that slow a PNG application down

• Using a third-party "eVisa" website. ICA specifically says to apply on its own site.^[2]
• Expecting a visa on arrival with an Indian passport. India is not on the list.^[3]
• Routing through Australia without an Australian visa.^[12]
• Dates that differ between the request letter, the itinerary and any hotel booking.
• A name that differs from the passport, such as a missing surname or swapped first and last names. See our name format guide.
• Edited or invented flight PDFs. A PNR the airline cannot find does more harm than having no flight document at all. We do not make fake or altered tickets.

How to check your reservation before you submit

Go to the airline's "Manage booking" screen and type in the booking reference and your surname. Air Niugini's own Manage My Booking page asks for exactly those two things: last name and booking reference.^[10] If the reservation is held on a partner airline, use that airline's page. Check that every name, date and flight number matches your request letter. Our step-by-step guide on verifying a reservation before submission covers what to look for.

How to order a reservation for PNG

1. Choose your route and dates on our booking page, for example Delhi–Singapore–Port Moresby and back.
2. Type each traveller's name exactly as it appears on the passport's bio page.
3. Pay ₹699 per passenger by UPI, card or netbanking through Razorpay. Outside India it is $9, or AED 33, SAR 34, QAR 33, OMR 3.5, KWD 2.75 or £7. Each pair of legs on a multi-city route is charged separately, as the price page explains.
4. Your PDF normally arrives by email some ten minutes later, and the tracking page shows its progress.
5. Look the PNR up on the airline's website before attaching it to the file.

Papua New Guinea visa FAQ

Related reading: Samoa visitor permit and onward tickets, Fiji, Australia visa, New Zealand visa, onward-ticket rules for transits, transit visas, Schengen visa flights, proof of onward travel, hotel bookings for visas, country-by-country flight rules and how visa flight reservations work. Our home page gives the overview.

Sources

All sources last checked: October 2026.

1. PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority, Visitor Visa.
2. PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority, Visa Information Booklet 2025 (PDF): visas, transit, eVisa, processing time, visitor and business visa requirements, fees.
3. PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority, Visa on Arrival (VOA).
4. PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority, Entry and Re-entry Requirements.
5. PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority, Designated PNG International Ports of Entry.
6. PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority, PNG Digital Arrival Card.
7. PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority, eVisa portal: new application.
8. Australian High Commission, New Delhi, Papua New Guinea Visas.
9. Air Niugini, Visas and Passports.
10. Air Niugini, Manage My Booking.
11. Air Niugini, Home page and flight search (route list, Narita and Auckland services).
12. Australian Department of Home Affairs, Travellers eligible to transit without a visa.