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The Government of India has notified 11 more International Ports enabling e-Visa holder foreigners to enter India — nine land ports and two airports.
With this addition, the total number of International Ports allowing entry of e-Visa holders rises to 88, comprising 37 airports, 38 seaports and 13 land ports.
The Ministry of Home Affairs noted that India processes approximately 95% of e-Visa applications in less than 72 hours.
The Ministry framed the step as part of a series of measures to liberalise, streamline and simplify the visa regime while strengthening technological infrastructure for internal security.
The e-Visa is applied for and granted online before travel, so the traveller arrives holding an approved electronic authorisation. A Visa on Arrival, by contrast, is granted at the port of entry itself and is extended by India to only a very small set of nationalities. The distinction matters for security as well as convenience: an e-Visa lets the Bureau of Immigration screen an applicant days before the aircraft boards rather than at the counter. India introduced the online facility in November 2014, initially as an electronic travel authorisation enabling Tourist Visa on Arrival, and it has since been expanded into distinct sub-categories including e-Tourist, e-Business, e-Medical and e-Medical Attendant visas, with varying validity and entry conditions. Crucially, an e-Visa is valid only for entry through a notified International Port — which is why the list of 88 matters. A traveller with a perfectly valid e-Visa cannot use it at an unnotified crossing. Adding nine land ports in one notification is therefore a significant land-border liberalisation, opening e-Visa entry along the Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh frontiers where most Indian land ports lie.
Simple Analogy: An e-Visa is a pre-approved boarding pass for the country; the notified ports list is the set of doors that pass will actually open.
Frames and administers visa policy, notifies International Ports for e-Visa entry, and handles matters relating to the entry, stay and exit of foreigners
The agency that carries out immigration checks at ports of entry and exit; the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 provides for the Bureau to regulate the entry, stay and exit of foreigners, manage IT systems, record biometric data and advise on immigration policy
Develops and manages Integrated Check Posts and facilities for cross-border movement of passengers and goods at designated points along India's international borders
The consolidating statute governing immigration, which came into force on 1 September 2025 and replaced four earlier laws — the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act, 2000. It provides for the Bureau of Immigration and for stricter penalties for violations
Created the LPAI to address security imperatives and develop facilities for cross-border movement of passengers and goods at designated points along India's international borders
Immigration, visas and foreigners are Union subjects, which is why the Ministry of Home Affairs alone notifies International Ports and frames visa categories
The e-Visa regime is one of the two policy levers behind India's inbound tourism numbers, the other being air connectivity; adding land ports specifically serves neighbourhood tourism and pilgrimage traffic
The LPAI's ICPs at crossings such as Attari, Raxaul, Petrapole and Agartala consolidate customs, immigration, quarantine and cargo handling at one facility — the physical infrastructure that a land-port e-Visa notification depends on
The Ministry's own framing pairs liberalisation with 'ramping up technological infrastructure to enhance internal security' — biometric capture, advance passenger information and watchlist screening are what make faster clearance compatible with tighter control
Nine of the eleven new ports being land ports points the liberalisation at India's immediate neighbours, since India's land borders are with Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Government Policies; GS Paper 3 > Internal Security > Border Management
General Awareness > Current Affairs and Government Policy
General Awareness > Current Affairs
Visa policy changes and the new immigration statute are current-affairs staples across Prelims and general-awareness papers
An electronic visa applied for and approved online before travel, valid for entry only through notified International Ports
An airport, seaport or land port notified by the Government of India as a permitted point of entry for e-Visa holders; there are now 88
The agency conducting immigration checks at India's ports of entry and exit, given statutory footing under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025
A consolidated land-border facility housing customs, immigration, quarantine and cargo functions, developed and managed by the Land Ports Authority of India