e-Tourist Visa, 5 year category
Five years sounds like a long visit. The visa is multiple entry, but India still caps you at 180 days in the country per calendar year.
This is the instrument most often described as a retirement solution for India, and it is not one. Five years of validity sounds like a long stay. In practice it produces a rhythm of winter visits and summer exits, because the 180 day ceiling is counted per calendar year across all tourist visas, paper and electronic, and it cannot be extended inside the country.
Programme snapshot
| Item | Current rule |
|---|---|
| Main audience | Tourists, family visitors, people attending short yoga or cultural courses |
| Route family | Visitor |
| Validity | 5 years from electronic travel authorisation grant |
| Stay per entry | 180 days, subject to the annual cap below |
| Threshold | None |
| Renewal | Fresh application after expiry |
| Settlement | None |
| PR clock | None |
| Citizenship clock | None |
| Family | Each person applies individually |
| Local employment | No, and no study or journalism either |
| Tax headline | Non-resident visitor. Indian-source income still needs advice |
| Processing | Online, typically 72 hours |
Application flow
- Confirm you are eligible by nationality. The five year category is not open to every passport.
- Apply at indianvisaonline.gov.in with a photograph and passport page.
- Pay the fee, which varies by nationality.
- Receive the authorisation, usually within 72 hours.
- Complete the e-Arrival Card before boarding. Mandatory since 1 October 2025.
- Arrive by air or at a designated seaport. Land entry is not permitted on this visa.
- Track your days. The ceiling is 180 days in the calendar year, not 180 days per entry.
Good fit
A retiree who wants to spend the winter in India and is content to leave each spring. Someone visiting family annually without needing to work, study or hold a local lease. A person attending short courses in yoga or Indian music over several years.
Poor fit
Anyone who wants continuity of residence, a twelve month lease, a local bank account or a driving licence. Anyone planning to work remotely from India for months at a time. Anyone who cannot afford to leave when the 180 days run out.
Watchpoints
- The 180 day cap is per calendar year, not per visa. All tourist visa stay, paper and electronic combined, counts toward it. A five year visa buys five separate allowances, not five years of residence.
- It cannot be extended in India. There is no FRRO extension for tourist stays. Overstaying is an offence with a fine and an exit record.
- Land entry is barred. You must fly in or use a designated seaport. Arriving overland from a neighbour is refused at the border.
- Remote work is not a permitted purpose. Working for a foreign employer while in India on a tourist visa is widely done and is still a technical breach of the visa conditions.
- Study and journalism are excluded. Short yoga or cultural courses are tolerated within the visitor purpose. Enrolling in a degree or reporting does not fit.
- No dependants and no local employment. Each traveller applies on their own file, and no one on this visa may take an Indian job.
Sources
- Indian Visa Online, e-Tourist Visa categories and stay conditions. Checked 2026-10-22.
- Consulate General of India, San Francisco, tourist visa guidance including the 180 day annual cap. Checked 2026-10-22.
- Bureau of Immigration, e-Arrival Card requirement. Checked 2026-10-22.