Govt streamlines visa processes for foreign professionals, engineers needed by Indian firms

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) The government on Wednesday said it has simplified and streamlined the process for domestic companies to seek e-visas for foreign professionals, including engineers and technical experts, whose services are required for machine installation, quality checks, training, and plant design.

The move is expected to help companies that import machinery from countries such as China. Earlier, certain Indian firms had raised concerns that they were facing issues in getting visas for Chinese professionals whose expertise were needed.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said that it has launched an online module for Indian companies to generate sponsorship letters for inviting foreign professionals for production-related activities under the e-Production Investment Business Visa (e-B-4 Visa).

The module was launched on November 29 this year. The launch of this digital platform is a part of a series of reforms that have been instituted under the business visa regime for improving the ease of doing business in India, it said.

An official explained that the earlier process was cumbersome and lengthy and now the new system will help domestic firms get e-visas for foreign experts in a shorter time period. As of today, 129 sponsorship letters have been generated by Indian companies.

Now foreign professionals will use the letters to apply for visas and visit Indian manufacturing facilities to offer their services, the official said, adding the time taken to grant visas will be significantly shorter now.

“Business visitors were coming to India earlier also but now the visa process has been streamlined and simplified. It is much structured now,” the official said, adding the facility is there now for both PLI (production-linked incentive schemes) and non-PLI beneficiary firms.

In August 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a circular for resolving certain issues related to employment visa, business visa and e-PLI business.

As part of this circular, two activities which were earlier covered under the employment - foreign nationals coming for installation and commissioning of equipment as part of contract of supply of equipment and for which Indian companies pay fees or royalty, are now brought under the business visa regime.

“Further, a new sub-category of Production Investment Visa has been created under the Business Visa regime and called the B-4 Visa for enabling foreign subject matter specialists/ engineers/ technical people being engaged by Indian companies,” the DPIIT said.

The experts are engaged for installation and commissioning; quality check and essential maintenance; production; IT ramp-up; training; supply chain development for empanelment of vendors, plant design and bring-up; and senior management and executives to visit India for such production investment activities seamlessly, it added. “Moreover, the existing e-PLI business visa was dispensed with,” it said.

Now this Production Investment Visa will be issued as an e-visa and has to be applied for in the online Visa portal.

Further, to facilitate the visa application process for e-B-4 visa, Indian companies shall generate sponsorship letters digitally.

For enabling this facilitation digitally, DPIIT had launched the e-Production Investment Business registration module on the National Single Window System (NSWS) on November 29, which can be availed by PLI as well as non-PLI businesses.

“Processes have been streamlined with simpler forms, and the recommendation requirement of the Line Ministry has been done away with,” it said, adding that with this module, Indian companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) can instantly generate sponsorship letters for inviting foreign professionals for production-related activities under the e-B-4 Visa category on NSWS.

The auto-population of data and automatic authentication through existing databases like MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs), GSTN have eliminated the requirement of approval of the line ministry.

The unique ID of the generated sponsorship letter shall be referred to by a foreign professional when he applies for a Visa on the e-Visa portal where the module has been integrated with NSWS through API. PTI RR MR MR