6 weeks out: confirm the programme and gather records

Before anything else, confirm the therapy programme, disciplines, session frequency, and what documentation you'll receive. This is also the point to start gathering your child's existing records: recent assessments, current therapy goals, school reports if relevant, and a written summary of your main concerns. Partner clinics use this to prepare before you arrive, so sessions start productively rather than repeating groundwork on day one.

5 weeks out: start the medical visa process

India's medical visa (M-visa) and medical attendant visa (MX-visa, for an accompanying parent or guardian) both require a Visa Invitation Letter, a digital pre-verification the Indian government issues before you can submit the e-visa application itself. Applications can be submitted 4 to 120 days ahead of travel, and most e-visas are processed within about 72 hours, but building in a full week of buffer avoids stress if there's a delay. If your child is the patient, they need their own passport, a child cannot travel on a parent's visa, along with a minor consent form and birth certificate as supporting documents.

  • Confirm who is travelling as the attendant, generally a parent or legal guardian, since the attendant visa is linked to the patient's application.
  • Have the hospital or clinic's invitation letter and treatment details ready, this is required before the VIL can be issued.
  • Apply for both visas together where possible to avoid mismatched timelines.

4 weeks out: book flights and confirm accommodation

With visa applications in motion, book flights and confirm accommodation. If proximity to the clinic matters for your family, particularly with a child who finds transit difficult, this is the point to lock in a location rather than leaving it to the last minute. Ask whether the programme includes accommodation recommendations or arrangements, some do.

3 weeks out: prepare travel documentation and health declarations

India requires the Air Suvidha 2.0 health self-declaration from all international arrivals, a separate step from the visa, submitted online at least 24 hours before travel with a copy carried for immigration. Note this now so it isn't forgotten in the final rush. This is also a good point to confirm any medication your child takes travels with appropriate documentation, prescriptions and dosage details in English are worth having on hand.

2 weeks out: confirm the visa is issued and finalise the itinerary

By this point your e-visa should be confirmed. If it isn't, this is the point to follow up directly rather than wait. Finalise your day-by-day itinerary with the clinic, confirm session times, and ask about the first-day process so you know what to expect on arrival rather than working it out on the ground.

1 week out: pack, prepare your child, and reconfirm everything

Reconfirm flights, accommodation, and the clinic schedule. If your child benefits from knowing what to expect, this is a good week to talk through the trip in concrete terms, what the flight will be like, what the first day at the clinic looks like, what the accommodation will be like. Pack medical documents, prescriptions, and comfort items in carry-on luggage rather than checked bags.

During the trip: settle in before expecting full participation

The first day or two often involves some adjustment, new environment, jet lag, unfamiliar routines. A programme that builds in observation and gentle introduction on day one, rather than expecting full participation immediately, tends to go better than one that doesn't. Keep a simple daily note of how sessions go, this becomes useful both for your own reference and for the written summary you'll receive at the end.

After the trip: the carryover work begins

The trip ending is not the end of the process. A well-run programme sends you home with a written summary and a concrete carryover plan, what to continue practising, how often, and what progress looked like during the block. Share this with your child's therapists or paediatrician at home. The value of an intensive block depends heavily on how consistently that carryover work continues once you're back.