When will India's simpler visa forms start?

A senior government official told The Hindu, in a report published late on 3 November 2026, that redundant fields would be removed and that the changes were likely from next year. On the date of that report, next year is 2027. A second official said the forms will be made simpler 'in the coming days' and that fields will fall by about 70 percent. The Hindu story does not cite a gazette notification or a published new form, so no start date is in force in that report.

What does the 70 percent cut mean?

The second official told The Hindu that the forms will be leaner and that the number of fields will be reduced by approximately 70 percent, across all 22 visa categories, in line with global standards. That is a cut in fields, not a promise that today's nine-page e-visa becomes a specific shorter page count. The Hindu did not publish the list of every field that will go.

Are foreign tourist arrivals back to the 2019 level?

No. Ministry of Tourism data reported by The Hindu put foreign tourist arrivals at 1.093 crore in 2019, 95 lakh in 2023, around 99 lakh in 2024, and 91.5 lakh in 2025. The 2025 figure is below 2019 and also below 2024. The travel industry has been asking the government for help getting back to the pre-COVID footfall. The Hindu report does not publish a study that pins that gap on the visa form alone.

Will Chinese travellers get an e-visa, and will a Protected Area Permit come with the visa?

Not on the strength of this report. A tourism industry official, who was not named, told The Hindu the sector has requested e-visas for Chinese travellers, a uniform 120-day application window, Protected Area Permits and Restricted Area Permits issued with the visa rather than after arrival, and forms in Spanish, German and Italian as well as English. Those are requests. The Hindu said e-visas with an electronic travel authorisation currently go to 147 countries, and that the notable exclusion is China, besides Pakistan and Afghanistan.

India Set to Simplify Visa Forms From Next Year, Explained

Q: Which fields are going, and what does the form ask now?

The Hindu reported that the 'district' field will go, because there is no global equivalent, and that the 'local address' requirement will be liberalised so a foreign tourist can give a hotel or guest house address in India. It also reported that an e-visa application currently runs into nine pages and asks whether the applicant has ever engaged in 'cybercrime, terrorist activities, sabotage, espionage, genocide, political killing or any other act of violence.' The story does not say that security question is one of the fields being deleted.

India is preparing to shorten the form foreign visitors fill in before they travel. A senior government official told The Hindu that the government is all set to simplify visa application forms and bring them at par with global standards. Redundant fields are to go. The same official said the changes are likely from next year.

A second official described the scale. The forms are being redesigned to drop repetitive fields. In the words that official gave The Hindu: "The visa forms will be made simpler and user-friendly in the coming days. The changes will reflect in all the 22 visa categories, in accordance with global standards. The forms will be leaner and the number of fields will be reduced by approximately 70%."

For hotels, tour operators, guides and anyone in India hosting a guest from abroad, the practical point is narrower than the headline. The Hindu's account is from officials and from industry, in a Vijaita Singh report from New Delhi published at about 11:32 pm IST on 3 November 2026 and updated at about 11:47 pm IST. It does not cite a gazette, a new specimen form, or a switch-on date. Until that exists, the long form is still the form.

The reason the industry is pushing is numerical. Foreign tourist arrivals have not returned to 2019.

The 60-second version

What is planned: Simpler forms, redundant and repetitive fields removed, meant to match global standards. A senior official said this is likely from next year. A second official said "in the coming days," and put the cut at about 70 percent of fields, across all 22 visa categories.
Two fields The Hindu named: "District" goes, because there is no global equivalent. "Local address" is to be liberalised, so a visitor can give a hotel or guest house in India.
What the e-visa asks today: The Hindu said the application runs into nine pages, including a question on whether the applicant was ever engaged in cybercrime, terrorist activities, sabotage, espionage, genocide, political killing or any other act of violence.
Footfall: Ministry of Tourism data in The Hindu: 1.093 crore foreign tourist arrivals in 2019, 95 lakh in 2023, around 99 lakh in 2024, 91.5 lakh in 2025.
Still only requests: A uniform 120-day application window, e-visas for Chinese travellers, PAP and RAP issued with the visa, and forms in Spanish, German and Italian. The Hindu presented these as what the industry has asked for, not as decisions already taken.
Who gets an e-visa now: Electronic travel authorisation under nine sub-categories, for 147 countries. The notable exclusion is China, besides Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some countries have a 30-day application window.

Why 2025 is still short of 2019

The travel and tourism industry has been asking the government to help it recover pre-COVID foreign tourist footfall. The Hindu said that target has not been met.

The Ministry of Tourism figures in that report, kept in the units the paper used:

Year	Foreign tourist arrivals
2019	1.093 crore
2023	95 lakh
2024	around 99 lakh
2025	91.5 lakh

One crore is 100 lakh, so the 2019 figure of 1.093 crore is 109.3 lakh. Set beside that, 91.5 lakh in 2025 is still short of the last pre-COVID year. Arrivals in 2024, at around 99 lakh, were higher than the 95 lakh of 2023 and still below 2019. In 2025 they stood at 91.5 lakh.

That is the comparison The Hindu's Ministry of Tourism numbers support. The report says the industry wants the footfall back, and that officials have described a shorter form as the step now being prepared. It does not measure how much of the gap, if any, the form explains.

What a 70 percent field cut actually means

"Approximately 70%" is a cut in the number of fields, in the second official's sentence. The Hindu does not convert that into a new page count, and the nine-page length it mentions is the form in use now.

What the official did specify is the coverage and the direction:

The change is meant to show in all 22 visa categories, not only in the tourist visa.
The standard the official cited is global standards.
The forms should be leaner and user-friendly.
The design aim, which that official stated separately, is to remove repetitive fields. The senior official's phrase for the same clean-up was that redundant fields would be done away with.

The two timelines in the story are not the same sentence. The senior official tied implementation to next year. Filed on 3 November 2026, that means 2027 unless the government later names another date. The official who gave the 70 percent figure said the forms will be made simpler "in the coming days." The Hindu did not reconcile "next year" and "in the coming days," so both stay on the record. Neither is a notification.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has convened several meetings to liberalise the visa regime further, The Hindu reported. The story does not say how many meetings, or that a cabinet decision has been published.

District, local address, and the nine-page form

Two concrete edits are described, beyond the general promise of fewer fields.

District. The Hindu said fields such as "district" will be done away with because there is no global equivalent. A visitor who does not live in a system that uses that word is being asked for something their own address does not contain.

Local address. The requirement is to be liberalised. Foreign tourists would be able to give the address of the hotel or the guest house where they are staying in India. The Hindu's wording is "hotel or the guest house."

The form as it stands. The Hindu said an e-visa application currently runs into nine pages. Among the questions, it asks if the applicant has ever been engaged in "cybercrime, terrorist activities, sabotage, espionage, genocide, political killing or any other act of violence." That is the present form. The report does not say this question is being removed as part of the 70 percent cut. Anyone applying before a new form is published should expect the current questions to still be there.

Applying still means using the official channel. The Hindu story is not a new set of instructions, and a simpler form has not replaced the one in use.

What India offers now, and what the industry is still asking for

The planned field cut and the industry's extra wishlist are different things. The Hindu keeps them apart, and so does this piece.

What is already on offer. The Hindu said India offers an e-visa, preceded by an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), under nine sub-categories, to 147 countries. The nine, as the paper listed them, are:

e-Tourist, for 30 days, 1 year or 5 years
e-Business
e-Medical
e-Student
e-Transit
e-Film
e-Miscellaneous
e-Entry
e-Production Investment

The application window for some countries is 30 days. The notable exclusion is China, other than Pakistan and Afghanistan, which are also outside that e-visa list.

What industry has requested, and what The Hindu does not report as decided. A tourism industry official, who did not wish to be identified, and the industry more broadly, have asked for four further changes:

A uniform 120-day application window for all countries, instead of leaving some on 30 days.
E-visas for Chinese travellers. That is a specific request on top of the China exclusion above.
The Protected Area Permit (PAP) and Restricted Area Permit (RAP) issued at the same time as the visa, rather than after the traveller arrives in India.
Forms in Spanish, German and Italian, besides English. The official's line to The Hindu was: "We have also requested that other than English, the visa forms should be available in foreign languages such as Spanish, German and Italian. This will enable arrival of more tourists in India."

The PAP geography is not a small add-on. The Hindu said foreigners need a PAP to visit Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar Island, and certain parts of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. Issuing that permit with the visa, which is what the industry is pressing for, would change the sequence. It would not, on this reporting, change the list of places that need permission.

None of the four requests is described as accepted. A reader planning a trip, or a hotel planning for a tour group, should treat the field cut as the government's stated direction, and treat China access, the 120-day window, languages, and simultaneous PAP or RAP as open asks.

What to watch next

A date that is more precise than "next year." The senior official's timeline points to 2027. The 70 percent quote says "in the coming days." The document that settles it is a notified form or an official start date, which this report does not contain.
The actual field list. The test of the 70 percent claim is whether the published form is shorter across all 22 categories, whether "district" is gone, and whether a hotel or guest house is accepted as the local address.
The application window. Industry wants 120 days for every country. The Hindu says some countries are on 30 days today. A uniform window would be a separate decision from deleting fields.
China, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The e-visa plus ETA offer covers 147 countries. The notable exclusion The Hindu names is China, besides Pakistan and Afghanistan. An e-visa for Chinese travellers has been requested. It has not been announced here.
Permits and languages. PAP and RAP issued with the visa, and Spanish, German and Italian forms, are industry requests in the same story. The places that require a PAP are unchanged in the report.

The form is set to get shorter, and the official number attached to that promise is about 70 percent fewer fields, likely from next year. Arrivals, at 91.5 lakh in 2025 against 1.093 crore in 2019, are not back. The China e-visa, the 120-day window, the permit timing and the extra languages are still requests, not the new rule.

This explainer is for information only and is not visa, legal or immigration advice. Apply on the official government channel. Every fact and quote here is from The Hindu (Vijaita Singh, New Delhi, published 3 November 2026 at about 11:32 pm IST, updated at about 11:47 pm IST): the senior official on simpler forms, redundant fields and a likely start next year; the second official on repetitive fields, all 22 categories and an approximately 70 percent cut in fields; Ministry of Tourism arrivals of 1.093 crore in 2019, 95 lakh in 2023, around 99 lakh in 2024 and 91.5 lakh in 2025; the district and local-address changes; the nine-page e-visa and the security question; the Ministry of Home Affairs meetings; the nine e-visa sub-categories and 147 countries; the 30-day window for some countries; the exclusion of China, besides Pakistan and Afghanistan; and the industry requests on a 120-day window, Chinese e-visas, PAP and RAP timing, the places that require a PAP, and Spanish, German and Italian forms. The report does not cite a gazette notification.