India cuts visa categories from 13 to 9, application form fields reduced by up to 70%
India has overhauled its visa system, reducing the number of main categories from 13 to nine and simplifying application forms by up to 70%. The changes aim to boost tourism, medical travel, and student arrivals by streamlining the administrative process.
Why it matters
This policy shift is designed to make India more competitive as a destination for international business, education, and medical tourism.
The Centre has simplified India’s visa regime, reducing the number of main visa categories from 13 to nine and sub-categories from 49 to 23, while cutting the number of fields in visa application forms by 65-70% to simplify the process for foreign nationals, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Wednesday.The changes, aimed at boosting foreign tourist arrivals, medical value travel and foreign student arrivals, are also intended to reduce overlap between visa categories and make the framework easier to navigate for visitors, patients, students, researchers, investors and business professionals, the ministry said in a statement.Vistor visa catgeoryThe erstwhile Tourist Visa has been renamed Visitor Visa to reflect a broader range of permitted purposes beyond conventional tourism. It has been divided into two sub-categories, V-1 and V-2.
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India Simplifies Visa Regime and Reduces Application Paperwork by 70 Percent
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