India has cut its main visa categories from 13 to 9 and renamed the Tourist Visa as the Visitor Visa, the Government of India announced on November 11, 2026. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) implemented these changes starting August 27, 2026, aiming to streamline visa processes for foreign nationals.
Visitor Visa Sub-categories and Validity Periods
The new Visitor Visa has two sub-categories. The V-1 Visa allows multiple entries for up to 30 days and covers tourism, business meetings, medical consultations, wellness retreats, short-term medical treatment, and short courses on Indian languages, music, and art. The V-2 Visa extends validity to one, five, or ten years
depending on approval and includes all activities under V-1 plus mountaineering, which has a separate six-month multiple-entry permit.
Medical Visa Categories and Attendant Provisions
The Medical Visa scheme now includes four sub-categories: M-1 covers treatment other than AYUSH therapies, and M-3 specifically covers AYUSH treatment systems. Both are generally valid for one year with multiple entries. Attendants of M-1 and M-3 holders receive M-2 and M-4 visas, respectively, facilitating longer-term medical travel and follow-up care.
Student and Business Visa Restructuring
Student Visas are divided into S-1 for school through postgraduate education and S-2 for PhD candidates, research scholars, visiting faculty, internships, and exchange programs. Students admitted through the Study in India
portal may receive an e-S1 Visa valid up to five years or the length of the course, whichever is shorter, with multiple entries.
Business Visas are split into B-1 for long-term business ventures and B-2 for short-term contracts, conferences, sports, performing arts, and film-related activities. Foreign technical experts, engineers, and specialists can apply under B-2 for production-related work via the e-Visa platform, replacing the previous e-B4 category.
Application Form Reduction and Implementation Timeline
The Ministry of Home Affairs has reduced visa application form fields by 65-70% across all categories to lessen the documentation burden while maintaining key information. This simplification aims to enhance administrative efficiency, enabling
officials to focus on application review rather than paperwork.
The revised visa categories and processes have been adopted following a review of global visa practices and aim to eliminate overlapping visa definitions. The MHA is updating its IT systems to support the new framework, with visas under the simplified regime expected to be issued by the end of 2026.
Currently, the e-Visa system supports 172 countries under 13 sub-categories, and the updated scheme will extend these provisions under the new categories.
Impact on Visitors and Business Travelers
The reduction from 13 to 9 main visa categories and from 49 to 23 sub-categories will lower confusion for
visa applicants. The renamed Visitor Visa accommodates multiple travel purposes under one category, allowing tourism combined with business or medical visits. The longer validity options for Visitor and Medical visas facilitate extended stays with multiple entries.
Students benefit from longer multiple-entry visas tailored to their academic programs via the Study in India portal. Business professionals, including foreign technical experts and engineers working on production or technical assignments, have easier access using the e-Visa platform’s updated categories.
The Government of India designed these reforms to make the visa regime more compact and responsive to the needs of foreign nationals while promoting
sectors such as tourism, education, healthcare, and business.
