- The earlier October 2025 reform cut categories from 22 to 13 and sub-categories from 63 to 49.
- V-1 is a 30-day, multiple-entry option.
- Study in India enrollees may receive e-S1 for up to five years or their course duration, whichever is shorter.
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India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced on November 11, 2026, that visa application forms will require 65–70% fewer fields and that a new Visitor Visa is planned to replace the Tourist Visa. The changes affect foreign nationals applying to visit India for tourism and other short-term purposes, as well as people seeking medical, student or business visas.
The revised categories are not yet being used for visa issuance. The ministry is updating its IT systems and expects visas under the new framework to begin by the end of 2026. It has not set a specific issuance date.
Foreign applicants will face fewer form fields when the rollout begins
The paperwork reduction concerns the fields and information requested in application forms across the reorganized visa categories. The ministry has not promised shorter processing times.
The framework cuts the number of main categories from 13 to nine and the sub-categories from 49 to 23. It groups travel purposes under Business, Diplomatic, Work, Journalist, Medical, Official, Student, Visitor and Miscellaneous visas.
This follows an earlier round of changes in October 2025. At that time, the government reduced main categories from 22 to 13 and sub-categories from 63 to 49.
The ministry described the latest framework as “more compact, coherent and responsive to the requirements of foreign nationals visiting India.” The application fields will be reduced across the revised groupings, though the individual fields being removed have not been specified.
V-1 covers short visits; V-2 adds longer stays and mountaineering
The planned replacement category is divided into two options based on the purpose and duration of a visit. V-1 is for short-term activities; V-2 allows longer visits and includes mountaineering.
| Option | Activities and validity |
|---|---|
| V-1 | Business meetings, medical consultations, wellness retreats, short-term medical treatment and short courses in Indian languages, music, art and craft. Granted for 30 days with multiple entries. |
| V-2 | Activities covered by V-1, plus mountaineering. Validity options are one, five or 10 years, depending on eligibility. |
| Mountaineering | A six-month visa with multiple entries. |
The longer validity choices are subject to eligibility. The announcement does not specify which nationalities qualify for each option.
Medical, student and business categories separate different purposes
The revised framework also reorganizes routes for patients and attendants, students and researchers, and business travellers:
- Medical: M-1 covers treatment outside AYUSH systems, while M-3 is for AYUSH treatment. Both categories, including e-visa versions, have a default one-year validity with multiple entries. M-2 is for attendants of M-1 holders; M-4 is for attendants of M-3 holders.
- Study and research: S-1 covers school, graduate and postgraduate education. S-2 covers PhD and research scholars, visiting faculty, foreign research students, scientific and anthropological expeditions, internships, exchange students and other specified academic activities. Foreign students enrolled through the Study in India portal may receive a multiple-entry e-S1 valid for up to five years or the duration of their course, whichever is shorter.
- Business: B-1 covers longer-term, licence-based activities, including establishing industrial or business ventures. B-2 covers shorter, contract-based work, including production investment business, conferences, sports, performing arts and films. Specified foreign subject-matter specialists, engineers and technical personnel engaged by Indian companies may use a Production Investment Business route under B-2 through the e-Visa platform. That provision was previously handled under the e-B4 nomenclature.
Applicants should keep using current procedures until the system is ready
The ministry is working on the technology changes needed to put the revised framework into operation. Its stated target is to begin issuing visas under the new system by the end of 2026, without a specific date for the transition.
Until the system is operational, applicants should follow existing visa procedures.
