Govt streamlines visas for foreign engineers working with Indian firms

The government has revamped the visa approval process for foreign engineers and technical specialists engaged by Indian companies, introducing a digital mechanism to speed up clearances for production-related work.

Announcing the changes on Dec 17, the government said Indian firms can now more easily invite overseas professionals required for activities such as machinery installation, quality checks, training, plant design, and commissioning.

The step is expected to ease operational delays faced by companies importing equipment from abroad, including from China.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade said it has rolled out an online module that enables companies to generate sponsorship letters digitally for inviting foreign professionals under the e-Production Investment Business Visa, also referred to as the e-B-4 Visa.

The module, launched on Nov 29, forms part of broader reforms to the business visa framework to improve the ease of doing business. According to DPIIT, 129 sponsorship letters have already been issued through the new system.

An official said the earlier visa process was “cumbersome and lengthy,” and the shift to a digital platform would substantially reduce timelines.

“Business visitors were coming to India earlier also, but now the visa process has been streamlined and simplified. It is much more structured now,” the official said.

Foreign professionals will rely on the digitally generated sponsorship letters to apply for e-visas before visiting Indian manufacturing facilities. The official added that visa approvals will now take “significantly less” time.

The facility applies to both production-linked incentive beneficiary firms and non-PLI companies. In August 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a circular to address long-standing issues related to employment visas, business visas, and e-PLI business visas.

As per the circular, two categories of activities earlier covered under employment visas were shifted to the business visa route.

These include foreign nationals arriving for installation and commissioning of equipment under supply contracts and those paid fees or royalties by Indian companies.

“Further, a new sub-category of the 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 to be engaged by Indian companies,” DPIIT said.

The department said the experts may be engaged for installation and commissioning, quality checks, essential maintenance, production, IT ramp-up, training, supply chain development for vendor empanelment, plant design and commissioning, and visits by senior management for production investment activities. “Moreover, the existing e-PLI business visa was dispensed with,” it added.

Under the revised system, the Production Investment Visa will be issued as an e-visa through the online visa portal, with Indian companies required to generate sponsorship letters through the National Single Window System.

DPIIT said the e-Production Investment Business registration module on NSWS has simplified application forms and removed the requirement for line ministry recommendations.

It added that auto-population of data and authentication through databases such as the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the GST Network have eliminated the need for separate approvals.

Each sponsorship letter will carry a unique ID to be cited by the foreign professional while applying for an e-visa through a system integrated with NSWS.