The home ministry said this rationalisation was being undertaken to boost foreign tourist arrivals, enhance medical value travel and foreign student arrivals.
The Centre has simplified India’s visa regime, reducing the number of main visa categories from 13 to nine and sub-categories from 49 to 23, while cutting the number of fields in visa application forms by 65-70% to simplify the process for foreign nationals, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Wednesday.
The changes, aimed at boosting foreign tourist arrivals, medical value travel and foreign student arrivals, are also intended to reduce overlap between visa categories and make the framework easier to navigate for visitors, patients, students, researchers, investors and business professionals, the ministry said in a statement.
Vistor visa catgeory
The erstwhile Tourist Visa has been renamed Visitor Visa to reflect a broader range of permitted purposes beyond conventional tourism. It has been divided into two sub-categories, V-1 and V-2. “The category has been organised into two sub-categories, V-1 and V-2, so that applicants may select a visa suited to the nature and duration of their proposed visit,” the statement said.
The V-1 visa covers short-term activities such as business meetings, medical consultations, wellness retreats, short-duration medical treatment and short-term courses in Indian languages, music, art and craft. It is granted for 30 days with multiple entries.
The V-2 visa is intended for longer-duration visits, with validity of one, five or 10 years, as specified. It covers activities permitted under V-1 and mountaineering. For mountaineering, a six-month, multiple-entry visa will be granted.
Modifications to business visa
The Business Visa category has been consolidated into B-1 and B-2. B-1 covers long-term, licence-based business activities, including foreign nationals seeking to establish industrial or business ventures in India. B-2 covers short-term, contract-based activities, including production investment business, conferences, sports, performative arts and films.
A specific provision has also been made for foreign specialists, engineers and technical personnel engaged by Indian companies in activities such as installation and commissioning, quality checks and essential maintenance, production, IT and ERP ramp-up, training, supply-chain development, plant design and technical support, the government said. Such personnel may be granted a Production Investment Business Visa under the B-2 category through the e-visa platform. This was earlier granted under the e-B4 visa nomenclature, it said.
Student visa consolidated
The Student Visa category has also been consolidated into two broad sub-categories. S-1 covers school, graduate and postgraduate education, while S-2 covers PhD and research scholars, visiting faculty, foreign research students, scientific and anthropological expeditions, internships and exchange students, among other academic activities.
For students enrolled through the Study in India portal, the e-S1 visa may be granted for up to five years or the duration of the academic course, whichever is less, with multiple entries.
The government said it had studied visa systems of developed countries and global standards while undertaking the rationalisation. The changes follow an exercise in October 2025, when the main visa categories were reduced from 22 to 13 and sub-categories from 63 to 49.
