India simplifies visa regime; tourist visa renamed as visitor visa
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has simplified the national visa regime by reducing categories from 13 to nine and streamlining application forms. A key change includes renaming 'Tourist Visa' to 'Visitor Visa' to accommodate a wider range of travel purposes.
Why it matters
These administrative reforms aim to improve ease of travel and business operations for foreign nationals visiting India.
New Delhi Government of India has simplified its visa regime by reducing the categories from 13 to nine and making the visa application forms leaner by up to 70%, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Wednesday (November 11, 2026). Significantly, the “Tourist Visa” has been renamed “Visitor Visa”, reflecting a broader range of permitted purposes beyond conventional tourism, the ministry said. A specific provision, Production Investment Business Visa, has been carved out for foreign subject-matter specialists, engineers and technical personnel engaged by Indian companies in activities such as installation and commissioning, quality checks and essential maintenance, production, IT, training, supply-chain development, plant design and bring-up, senior management and technical support, including transfer of know-how, technology and services.
Also covering this story
One other newsroom covered this event. We read that version too.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in