India overhauls visa regime, cuts categories from 13 to nine
India has reduced the number of its main visa categories from 13 to nine and sub-categories from 49 to 23 as part of a major reform aimed at simplifying visa procedures for foreign nationals.
The Ministry of Home Affairs introduced the changes on 27 August 2026, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the guidance of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The latest move follows an earlier rationalisation in October 2025, when the number of main visa categories was reduced from 22 to 13 and sub-categories from 63 to 49.
According to the Indian government, the consolidation is intended to make the visa system more coherent and user-friendly, reduce overlapping categories and facilitate legitimate travel for tourism, business, healthcare, education and other purposes.
Under the revised framework, the former Tourist Visa has been renamed the Visitor Visa, with two sub-categories, V-1 and V-2.
The V-1 visa, valid for 30 days with multiple entries, covers short-term visits, including business meetings, medical consultations, wellness retreats, short medical treatments and courses in Indian languages, music, art and crafts.
The V-2 visa offers validity of one, five or 10 years and covers activities permitted under V-1, as well as mountaineering. Mountaineering visitors will be granted six-month multiple-entry visas.
The Medical Visa framework retains separate provisions for conventional and AYUSH-based treatment. M-1 visas cover medical treatment outside the AYUSH systems, while M-3 visas are for AYUSH treatment. Both will normally be issued for one year with multiple entries.
Medical attendants accompanying M-1 and M-3 visa holders will be eligible for M-2 and M-4 visas respectively.
The Student Visa category has also been consolidated into two sub-categories. S-1 covers school, graduate and postgraduate education, while S-2 covers PhD and research scholars, visiting faculty, research students, scientific and anthropological expeditions, internships and exchange programmes.
Foreign students admitted through the Study in India portal may receive e-S1 visas valid for up to five years or the duration of their academic courses, whichever is shorter, with multiple entries.
The Business Visa category has been divided into B-1 and B-2. B-1 covers long-term, licence-based business activities, including establishing industrial or commercial ventures in India, while B-2 covers short-term, contract-based activities, conferences, sports, cultural performances, film production and production investment business.
A specific provision under B-2 has also been introduced for foreign specialists, engineers and technical personnel engaged by Indian companies in installation, commissioning, quality control, maintenance, production, information technology, training and technology transfer.
Such professionals may obtain Production Investment Business Visas through the e-Visa platform, replacing the previous e-B4 visa provision.
Alongside the category changes, the Ministry of Home Affairs has simplified visa application forms across all 23 sub-categories, reducing the number of required fields by 65 to 70%.
The government said the move would reduce the time and effort required from applicants while improving administrative efficiency and facilitating more focused scrutiny of applications.
The revised system will be implemented following updates to the ministry’s information technology infrastructure. The government expects visas to be issued under the new framework by the end of 2026.
India currently offers e-visas to nationals of 172 countries under 13 sub-categories.
The nine main visa categories under the revised system are Business, Diplomatic, Work, Journalist, Medical, Official, Student, Visitor and Miscellaneous visas.
