India plans to cut main visa categories from 13 to nine

What the Home Ministry plans

The Home Ministry would cut main visa categories from 13 to nine and sub-categories from 49 to 23, officials said. It would also remove about 70% of the fields in visa application forms, PTI reported. The changes are part of a review of the Visa Manual, 2019, and follow an August meeting on amendments to several chapters and Appendices I and II.

PTI said officials spoke on Wednesday, 4 November 2026. The Economic Times and Business Today dated the briefing to October 4. Officials said the aim is to simplify the system, reduce duplication and bring India's framework closer to global practice.

Business Standard reported that the 70% cut is meant to eliminate overlapping, repetitive or unnecessary information. The simplified rules would apply across all remaining categories and sub-categories.

What changes for applicants

The plan would drop the district field from address details because many countries have no equivalent administrative division. Applicants may be allowed to give a hotel or guesthouse address instead of a separate local contact address.

Business Standard reported that too many classifications can make it hard for applicants to identify the right visa. Tourism representatives have asked for forms in Spanish, German and Italian as well as English, and for protected-area and restricted-area permits to be issued alongside visas so travellers avoid separate applications.

The Economic Times said shorter forms should reduce errors by applicants and by officials processing them. The reduction in fields would not relax security checks or background verification, the newspaper reported.

The tourism backdrop

Foreign tourist arrivals fell to 91.5 lakh in 2025 from 99.52 lakh in 2024, an 8.07% decline, according to tourism ministry data cited by Deccan Chronicle. The 2025 figure remains below the 1.093 crore arrivals in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Deccan Chronicle said the figures show inbound tourism has not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Swarajya quoted officials who linked the overhaul to wider administrative reforms intended to position India as an accessible destination for trade, investment and academic collaboration.

What happens next

Existing visa categories and application requirements continue until formal notification of the revised framework. The ministry has not announced an implementation date. Deccan Chronicle said sources indicated revised procedures could start early next year, while Swarajya said the changes could take effect in 2027.

Final guidelines are awaited and will set out how the changes apply to individual visa categories, the Economic Times reported.