India plans to cut visa categories from 13 to 9 and reduce application form fields by 70%

The Union Home Ministry is planning a major overhaul of India's visa system, with the number of main visa categories set to come down from 13 to nine and application form fields to be reduced by around 70 per cent.

The proposed changes are aimed at simplifying visa applications, removing outdated procedures and making the system more efficient for applicants and officials processing their requests.

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Officials said on October 4 that the decision followed a comprehensive review of the Visa Manual, 2019. The exercise is intended to rationalise the existing framework and bring India's visa system in line with global norms.

The government also plans to reduce the number of visa sub-categories from 49 to 23, consolidating several existing classifications.

Visa application forms to become shorter

Alongside the reduction in visa categories, the Centre plans to remove approximately 70 per cent of the fields in visa application forms.

The move is intended to eliminate overlapping, repetitive and unnecessary questions that applicants currently have to answer.

The revised forms are expected to make the application process simpler and more user-friendly, while also reducing the possibility of errors by applicants and officials handling visa applications.

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However, the reduction in application fields will not mean that security checks or background verification requirements will be relaxed. The government intends to retain the essential information required for these checks.

Changes follow high-level review

The overhaul was formalised after a high-level review meeting held in August. Officials decided to introduce extensive amendments to different chapters and Appendices I and II of the Visa Manual, 2019.

The revised guidelines are expected to apply uniformly across all the remaining visa categories and sub-categories.

For applicants, the proposed changes could mean fewer visa classifications to navigate and shorter application forms with fewer repetitive questions.

The reduction in categories is also expected to streamline the visa framework for authorities by consolidating overlapping classifications and removing procedures that are no longer required.

However, the revised framework is yet to be implemented. The final guidelines and details of how the changes will apply to individual visa categories are awaited.