India cuts visa categories to nine, trims application fields

India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has reduced the country’s main visa categories from 13 to nine and subcategories from 49 to 23, while cutting application-form fields by 65% to 70%, the ministry said. It is updating its information technology systems to put the revised framework into operation, with visa issuance under the new system expected to begin by the end of 2026.

The ministry said the changes consolidate categories for similar travel purposes to make it easier for applicants to identify the appropriate visa. The nine categories are Business, Diplomatic, Work, Journalist, Medical, Official, Student, Visitor and Miscellaneous visas. The government said it had considered visa systems in other countries and global standards when developing the revisions.

The former Tourist Visa has been renamed the Visitor Visa and divided into V1 and V2 subcategories. V1 covers short visits for activities including business meetings, medical consultations, wellness retreats and short courses; it is valid for 30 days with multiple entries. V2 covers longer visits and has validity of one, five or 10 years, depending on eligibility. Mountaineering is also permitted, with a six-month...