Centre eases visa rules, reduces categories and shrinks forms by 70 per cent

New Delhi: The central government has significantly simplified the process for foreign nationals to obtain an Indian visa. The Union Home Ministry stated that the number of main visa categories has been reduced from 13 to 9 and sub-categories from 49 to 23. Along with this, the number of fields to be filled in visa application forms has also been reduced by 65 to 70 per cent so that applicants do not face any difficulty.

According to the Home Ministry's statement, the objective of these changes is to ease the entry process for foreign tourists, medical patients, students, researchers and businesspersons. To implement this new system, the ministry is updating its computer systems and visas under the new rules will start getting issued by the end of this year.

Under the new rules, the former tourist visa has been renamed as 'visitor visa' and divided into two parts, V-1 and V-2. The V-1 visa will be available with multiple entries for 30 days, during which short business meetings, medical consultations or short-term courses can be pursued. For long-term visits and mountaineering, there will be a V-2 visa, the duration of which can be one, five or ten years.

Business visas have also been divided into two categories, B-1 and B-2. B-1 will be for setting up long-term industrial or business establishments, while B-2 will be granted for short-term contracts, conferences, sports and film-related activities. A special facility for obtaining a production investment business visa through the e-visa platform has also been provided for foreign experts invited by Indian companies to install machinery or provide technical assistance.

Student visas have been divided into S-1 and S-2. The S-1 visa will be for school, graduation and post-graduation studies, while the S-2 visa will be issued for PhDs, research work and academic exchange programmes. Students taking admission through the 'Study in India' portal will get a multiple entry visa for the duration of their studies or a maximum of five years.

The central government has taken this decision after studying the systems of developed countries. Earlier in October 2025 also, the government had reduced visa categories from 22 to 13 and sub-categories from 63 to 49.

Key developments

• Main visa categories reduced from 13 to 9 and sub-categories from 49 to 23
• Information filled in visa application forms reduced by 65 to 70 per cent
• Tourist visa renamed as 'visitor visa'
• Business and student visas divided into two main categories each
• Visas under the new system to be issued by the end of 2026