Overview
- The Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Wednesday that it has consolidated India’s visa framework from 13 main categories to nine and cut sub-categories from 49 to 23 while reducing form fields by about 65–70 percent.
- The former Tourist Visa is now the Visitor Visa with V-1 for short multi‑entry stays of about 30 days and V-2 for longer repeat visits with one‑, five‑ or 10‑year options and a separate six‑month mountaineering rule.
- Student visas were reworked into S-1 for school, undergraduate and taught post‑graduate courses and S-2 for PhD, research and visiting faculty, with e‑S1 options available for up to five years through the Study in India portal.
- Business visas are now B-1 for long‑term, licence‑based activity and B-2 for short contracts, and a Production Investment Business provision fast-tracks technical specialists and engineers for industrial set‑ups.
- The MHA is upgrading its IT systems to deliver the new regime and expects to start issuing visas under the changes by the end of 2026, a move that should ease repeat travel and medical value tourism but may cause short-term processing disruptions for applicants and consulates.