India Work Visa Requirements 2026: Employment Visa, Project Visa, and EOR Limits

Why India Work Visa Rules Matter to Foreign Employers

India’s work authorization framework is one of the strictest among major economies. Unlike the EU’s portable work permits or the UK’s sponsored skilled-worker routes, India’s system ties every foreign employee to a single sponsoring entity, enforces a hard salary threshold, and imposes registration obligations within 14 days of arrival. For foreign companies extending their teams into India — whether sending an existing expat on assignment or relocating a senior hire — understanding these rules is the difference between a smooth onboarding and a compliance incident that derails the project.

If you are hiring Indian nationals remotely from outside India, work visa rules do not apply. Those employees work from Indian soil under Indian employment law and are handled through your own entity or through an Employer of Record. This guide is specifically about foreign nationals — non-Indian citizens — who need authorization to physically work in India.

The Three Visa Categories Foreign Employers Encounter

India issues several visa categories, but only three are relevant for work-related purposes: the Employment Visa, the Project Visa, and the Business Visa. Each has distinct eligibility, duration, and activity limits.

Employment Visa

The Employment Visa is the primary work authorization for foreign nationals engaged by an Indian entity in an ongoing employment relationship. It applies across sectors — technology, manufacturing, consulting, finance, academia — and is the correct category for senior executives, specialists, and employees relocating to India for more than a short project.

Who qualifies:

• Foreign nationals sponsored by an Indian company, firm, or organization
• Skilled professionals with documented expertise not easily available in the Indian workforce
• Foreign nationals drawing gross annual income above INR 16.25 lakhs (roughly USD 25,000)
• Certain exempted categories (ethnic cooks, language instructors, performing artists, sports coaches) without the salary floor

Key features:

• Initial grant: 1 year, multiple-entry
• Renewable: Annually, up to 5 years in most cases
• Tied to a single employer — the sponsoring Indian entity
• Allows the holder to reside and work in India full-time

Project Visa

The Project Visa is a narrower category carved out for foreign workers in specific sectors — historically power and steel — deployed to execute a defined, time-bound project. It was created to give industries importing specialized technical labour for turnkey projects a more flexible alternative to the standard Employment Visa.

Who qualifies:

• Skilled and highly skilled workers coming to execute a specific project in eligible sectors
• Individuals whose engagement is tied to a single project rather than ongoing employment
• The visa is project-specific — the holder cannot work on any other project of the same company or a different company

Key features:

• Valid for the duration of the project or 1 year (whichever is shorter)
• Can be extended up to a maximum of 5 years, subject to approval
• Not a substitute for Employment Visa for general roles

Business Visa

The Business Visa permits short-term entries for non-employment business activities. It is routinely misused — both by employers and travellers — to perform what is functionally work, and this is the single most common source of visa violations for foreign companies operating in India.

Permitted activities:

• Attending meetings, conferences, negotiations
• Exploring investment opportunities, setting up a business
• Visiting existing subsidiaries or joint-venture partners
• Technical discussions and contract negotiations

Explicitly prohibited:

• Drawing a salary from an Indian entity
• Performing work that an Indian employee would otherwise do
• Replacing an employee on leave or vacancy
• Long-term presence in a single role

Business Visa holders staying for more than 180 days in a calendar year must also register with FRRO.

The Salary Threshold: INR 16.25 Lakhs / USD 25,000

Since 2009, India has maintained a minimum salary threshold for Employment Visa eligibility. The current requirement is that the foreign national must draw a gross annual income above INR 16.25 lakhs (approximately USD 25,000), computed on the total remuneration package.

What Counts Toward the Threshold

The salary calculation is generous compared to comparable regimes. It includes:

• Base salary and fixed allowances
• Perquisites like rent-free or concessional accommodation
• Employer-provided vehicle and driver
• Schooling allowance for children
• Medical insurance and related benefits
• Bonus and incentive components

This matters because if you are paying a relatively modest base salary but providing substantial housing in Mumbai or Bengaluru, the imputed value of the accommodation counts toward the threshold.

Exemptions

The salary floor does not apply to:

• Teachers at educational institutions (a separate lower threshold applies)
• Ethnic cooks at restaurants and foreign missions
• Non-English language instructors and translators
• Foreign-language performing artists under contract with Indian cultural organizations
• Sports coaches engaged by national or state-level sports bodies
• Honorary workers at registered NGOs drawing stipends up to INR 10,000 per month

For any commercial or corporate role, assume the threshold applies.

Required Documentation for Employment Visa

The applicant typically submits the following at the Indian mission in their home country:

Processing times range from 5 business days (straightforward applications from low-risk countries) to 4-8 weeks (first-time applicants from prior-reference-category nationalities).

FRRO Registration: The 14-Day Rule

Every foreign national entering India on an Employment Visa valid for more than 180 days must register with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) or the local Foreigners Registration Office (FRO) within 14 days of arrival. The registration is done online through the e-FRRO portal for most major cities.

What’s Submitted at FRRO Registration

• Passport and visa
• Proof of employment (contract, sponsor letter)
• Proof of residential address in India (rent agreement, utility bill, employer’s lodging letter)
• PAN card or PAN application acknowledgment
• Three copies of the employment contract terms (salary, designation, tenure)
• Forwarding letter from the sponsoring employer

Why Employers Should Track This

FRRO registration is the employee’s legal obligation, but compliance failures reflect on the sponsoring employer during visa renewal, visit-visa scrutiny for other staff, and broader MHA oversight. A disciplined sponsor tracks the arrival date, schedules the FRRO appointment within the first week, and confirms registration is complete before the end of week two.

EOR Limits for Foreign-National Sponsorship

For foreign companies hiring Indian nationals, an Employer of Record removes the need to set up an Indian entity. But when the employee is a foreign national who needs a work visa, the calculus changes significantly.

What an EOR Can and Cannot Do

What an EOR can do:

• Employ Indian citizens and resident OCI/PIO cardholders under standard Indian labour law
• Provide payroll, statutory compliance, and benefits administration for Indian nationals
• Handle PF, ESI, TDS, professional tax, and Shops & Establishments compliance

What most EORs will not do:

• Sponsor Employment Visas for foreign nationals
• Sign immigration paperwork on behalf of a client’s expatriate hire
• Assume liability for FRRO registration and immigration compliance

The reason is straightforward: sponsoring a foreign national creates immigration-law obligations that extend beyond the standard employment relationship. The sponsor is accountable for the expat’s whereabouts, for withholding taxes correctly, and for exit clearance — exposures most EOR providers deliberately avoid.

When an EOR Can Sponsor Foreign Nationals

Some EORs in India do offer foreign-national sponsorship as a premium service. Before assuming yours will, verify:

1. The EOR operates a genuine Indian entity — not a shell company — with active commercial operations
2. The entity’s business purpose is consistent with employing an expat (a consulting firm sponsoring a software engineer may raise MHA questions)
3. The EOR handles FRRO support end-to-end, not just the initial employment contract
4. Immigration liability is clearly allocated in the master services agreement

If any of these are shaky, you need a different route: set up your own Indian entity or engage a specialized immigration-services firm alongside the EOR.

Common Mistakes Foreign Employers Make

Based on recurring issues we see with companies entering the India market:

Exit Formalities: The Other Half of Compliance

When a foreign employee leaves India, two formalities must be completed before departure:

1. Income tax clearance — For stays over 120 days, foreign nationals may need an Income-Tax Clearance Certificate (ITCC) under Section 230 of the Income-tax Act before departure, unless exempted
2. FRRO exit endorsement — The jurisdictional FRRO may require an exit endorsement, especially for long-term residents

Neglecting these causes issues at immigration desks and affects future visa applications.

How Omnivoo Handles India Work Visa Compliance

Omnivoo’s primary service is EOR employment for Indian nationals, which is what most foreign companies entering India need. For clients with foreign-national sponsorship requirements, we partner selectively rather than universally.

For Indian-national hires: Omnivoo handles the full employment lifecycle — contracts, payroll, statutory compliance, benefits — without any visa considerations. These hires are Indian residents working under Indian labour law.

For foreign-national expats: We assess the engagement with the client upfront. If visa sponsorship is required, we either route through our own Indian entity (for qualifying cases) or connect clients with specialized immigration counsel who coordinate directly with Omnivoo on employment terms. We do not pretend to sponsor when the underlying structure doesn’t support it, and we are transparent about what we can and cannot do.

Key Takeaways

• India’s work visa system is strict: every foreign employee is tied to a single sponsoring employer
• The Employment Visa is the primary route for ongoing work; salary must exceed INR 16.25 lakhs / USD 25,000 per year except for narrow exemptions
• Business Visas do not permit employment — this is the most common violation
• FRRO registration within 14 days of arrival is mandatory for Employment Visas over 180 days
• Project Visas are narrow, sector-specific, and tied to a single defined project
• Most EOR providers do not sponsor foreign-national work visas; verify with your provider before committing
• Exit formalities (ITCC, FRRO endorsement) matter as much as entry ones

Planning to deploy staff into India or hire an Indian team? Omnivoo handles the full employment lifecycle for Indian nationals through our EOR and connects clients with trusted immigration counsel when foreign-national sponsorship is required. Get started with Omnivoo and hire your first India employee in days, not months.