Overview
- The Ministry of Home Affairs announced the consolidated nine-category framework on Wednesday, saying main categories were cut from 13 to 9 and sub-categories from 49 to 23 while application fields were reduced by about 65–70%.
- The old Tourist Visa is now the Visitor Visa split into V-1 for short, 30-day multiple-entry visits and V-2 for longer or repeat visits with one-, five- or ten-year validity options and a special six-month multiple-entry mountaineering provision.
- Student visas are streamlined into S-1 for school, undergraduate and postgraduate study and S-2 for doctoral and research work, with eligible Study in India enrollees able to seek an e‑S1 valid up to five years or the length of their course.
- The medical system separates conventional treatment (M-1) and AYUSH treatment (M-3) with matching attendant visas (M-2 and M-4) and one-year, multiple-entry defaults, while business visas are divided into B-1 for long-term licence-based activity and B-2 for short-term contracts including a Production Investment Business Visa that replaces the old e‑B4 route.
- The changes are being implemented through IT upgrades that the MHA says will allow visas to be issued under the new rules by the end of 2026 and travellers should continue to use the existing e-visa portal until the technical rollout is complete.