The Centre has reduced the number of main Indian visa categories from 13 to nine and sub-categories from 49 to 23, aimed at simplifying the country’s visa regime, the ministry of home affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.
Among the changes in the visa regime, the erstwhile Tourist Visa has now been renamed as the Visitor Visa, reflecting a broader range of permitted purposes beyond conventional tourism. “By bringing a wider range of short visits under a clearly identified category, the new arrangement makes visa selection simpler for travelers who may combine leisure with business meetings, medical consultations, wellness retreats or cultural learning, short duration yoga programme. In a separate exercise, the Union home ministry is also moving to simplify visa application forms, reducing the number of fields by 65-70% across all 23 visa sub-categories. The longer-duration V-2 option provides continuity and convenience for eligible repeat visitors, while the specific mountaineering provision addresses the distinct needs of such travel,” the government said in the statement.
The home ministry said that this rationalisation was being undertaken to boost foreign tourist arrivals, enhance medical value travel and foreign student arrivals.
