Employment Visa (E Visa)

The employer-sponsored permit for foreign professionals taking a salaried job with an Indian entity.

This is the only route by which a non-diaspora foreigner can live in India for years rather than months, and nobody enters it on their own initiative. There is no points test and no self-sponsorship. An Indian company has to decide a specific role cannot be filled by a qualified Indian, offer it to you, and carry the paperwork.

Programme snapshot

Item	Current rule
Main audience	Skilled professionals, senior management and technical specialists hired by an Indian entity
Route family	Skilled work
Validity	5 years or the contract period, whichever is shorter
Stay per entry	Continuous while employed
Threshold	USD 25,000 (2026) annual salary floor including cash allowances, per the Startup India guide. The MHA instruction page was not reachable to confirm it
Renewal	Extendable in India at the FRRO while the sponsor still employs the holder
Settlement	None. Staying on another basis requires a switch almost nobody has
PR clock	None. India has no general permanent residence scheme
Citizenship clock	12 years of residence for naturalisation in practice, with no realistic route from this visa
Family	Yes. Dependants get an Entry (X) Visa coterminous with the principal
Local employment	Sponsor only, employer-specific. Change of employer barred during the initial term except between parent and subsidiary
Tax headline	Resident at 182 days in the financial year, or 365 over four years plus 120. Contract-specific, so treat figures as indicative
Processing	3 to 4 weeks recommended, then FRRO registration within 14 days of arrival

Application flow

Secure the Indian job offer. The employer prepares the sponsorship letter, contract and justification for hiring a foreign national.
Confirm the salary clears USD 25,000 on cash pay plus taxable perquisites, not on reimbursed expenses.
Apply at the mission with jurisdiction over your country of origin or habitual residence, then wait three to four weeks. The file may be referred to Delhi, which adds time without warning.
Register with the FRRO within 14 days of arrival. Missing it creates a fine and a record.
Extend at the FRRO before expiry, with a fresh letter from the same employer.

Good fit

A specialist recruited into an Indian company, a manager transferred into an Indian subsidiary, or a technical expert on a project contract. It works when the employer is organised, the role is genuinely specialised, and the salary sits well above the floor.

Poor fit

Anyone self-employed, freelancing or building a life without an Indian employer. A trailing spouse who expects to work. A founder who wants to run their own Indian company. And anyone treating five years as a step toward permanent residence, since there is no second step.

Watchpoints

A business visa cannot be converted into an employment visa inside India. You leave and reapply, which resets the fee and the clock.
The salary floor is tested on arithmetic, not seniority. Cash salary plus taxable perquisites must clear USD 25,000 (2026). A well-titled job with a badly drafted contract fails.
The role must be one no qualified Indian could fill. Routine positions are excluded by policy, and the mission can refuse a sponsorship that ignores this.
Dependants cannot work. An Entry Visa for a spouse carries no employment right. The spouse needs their own employer and visa.
Changing employer is blocked during the initial term. The only exception is a move between parent and subsidiary, and it needs paperwork, not just a new contract.
Five years ends in a discretionary extension, and India has no PR scheme to graduate into. Year five is year one again.

Sources

Startup India, government guide to Indian visas, salary floor and duration. Checked 2026-10-22.
Ministry of Home Affairs, employment visa instructions, referenced but not retrievable on 2026-10-22.
FRRO, registration and extension procedures. Checked 2026-10-22.