Visa rule, India

India e-Tourist Visa — Each Year

Summary

On India's 1-year or 5-year e-Tourist Visa you may spend no more than 180 days in India in one calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December. All your visits in that year are added together. This limit runs next to the limit for each visit, which is 90 days for most passports. Leaving India and entering again does not give you new days for the year. On 1 January a new year starts with a full 180 days. The e-Visa cannot be extended. The Bureau of Immigration, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, runs the rule.

Limit
180 days
Period
One calendar year, 1 January to 31 December
A day counts when
You are in India for any part of it, including arrival and departure days
Applies to
The 1-year and the 5-year e-Tourist Visa
Sister limit
90 days for each visit, or 180 for US, UK, Canadian and Japanese citizens
Run by
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs

Who it applies to

The rule

India gives the e-Tourist Visa for 30 days, 1 year or 5 years. For the 1-year and the 5-year visa, the Bureau of Immigration publishes this condition: the maximum stay in India during one calendar year should not exceed 180 days. The 1-year visa is valid for 365 days from the date the electronic travel authorisation is granted, and the 5-year visa for five years from that date, both with multiple entries.

A calendar year here is the year from 1 January to 31 December. It is not a period of 12 months counted from your first entry, and it is not the year of validity of your visa. Every day you are in India in that calendar year is added up, across all visits. When the total reaches 180, you have no more days until the next 1 January.

The sister rule, India e-Tourist Visa — Each Visit, runs at the same time. It says that continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 90 days, or 180 days for nationals of the USA, the UK, Canada and Japan. You must respect both. For most passports this means two full visits fill the year. For the four countries with the 180-day visit, one full visit fills it.

The e-Visa is non-extendable and non-convertible, so there is no way to add days from inside India. A stay past the limit must be settled with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) before you leave, and a penalty can follow. An immigration officer at the border looks at your whole situation and can refuse entry.

Why it exists

The 5-year e-Tourist Visa makes it easy to come back to India many times without a new application. The yearly limit keeps that easy access for tourism. Without it, a person could live in India almost all the time by leaving for a day after every visit. With it, a tourist can spend up to half of each year in India, and anyone who wants more must apply for a visa that fits work, study or family life.

Counting the days

You count every day you are in India between 1 January and 31 December of one year, over all your visits. Any part of a day in India is one day.

  1. List every entry date and exit date in the calendar year from the stamps in your passport.
  2. For each visit, count the days from the entry day to the exit day, including both.
  3. If a visit started in the year before or ends in the year after, count only the days that fall inside this calendar year.
  4. Add the visits together. The total must not be more than 180.
  5. Subtract the total from 180 to see how many days you can still use before 31 December.
  6. Check each single visit against the limit for one visit as well.
How Countr counts it. Countr counts any part of a day in India as one day, so arrival and departure days both count. It adds up all days from 1 January to 31 December and compares the total with 180. On 1 January the count starts again at zero. A stay that crosses New Year is split: the days up to 31 December go to the old year and the days from 1 January go to the new year. Both limits run at once, so Countr shows this tracker together with the tracker for each visit. The count is built from what your phone recorded, and the stamps in your passport are what the officer reads.

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Examples

Two visits that fill the year

Jonas, a German citizen with a 5-year e-Tourist Visa, is in India from 10 January to 9 April 2026. That is 90 days. He returns on 1 September and stays until 29 November 2026, which is 90 more days. His total for 2026 is 180 days. He cannot enter India again in December 2026, although his visa is valid until 2030. On 1 January 2027 he has 180 days again.

A stay over New Year uses two years

Sara, a Swedish citizen, enters on 15 November 2026 and leaves on 12 February 2027. The visit is 90 days long. From 15 November to 31 December is 47 days, which count for 2026. From 1 January to 12 February is 43 days, which count for 2027. After this trip she has 137 days left for 2027.

The trap: counting 12 months from the first entry

Mark, a British citizen, enters on 1 October 2026 and stays 92 days, until 31 December 2026. He returns on 1 February 2027 and plans to stay 120 days. He thinks he has only 88 days left, because he counts 180 days in the 12 months from October. The rule uses the calendar year. His 92 days belong to 2026, and in 2027 he starts at zero, so a stay of 120 days is inside both the yearly limit and his 180-day limit for one visit.

Exceptions

Common misconceptions

“The 180 days are counted over 12 months from my first arrival.”
No. The condition speaks of one calendar year. The count runs from 1 January to 31 December and starts again on the next 1 January.
“Leaving India and coming back gives me a new 180 days.”
No. A new entry starts a new visit, but all visits in the same calendar year are added together. Only a new calendar year gives new days.
“With a 5-year visa I can stay 180 days a year for sure.”
The visa allows it, but it does not promise entry. The immigration officer decides at the border each time, and each visit must also stay inside the limit for one visit.
“The year of my visa and the calendar year are the same thing.”
No. A 1-year visa granted on 1 July is valid until the end of June of the next year, and so it touches two calendar years. Each of them has its own 180 days.

Questions and answers

Can I spend 360 days in a row in India by using two calendar years?

No, because the limit for one visit stops you first. A visit can last 90 days, or 180 days for four nationalities. What the calendar year allows is a long stay over New Year, where the days before 1 January and the days after it are counted in different years.

Do the arrival day and the departure day both count towards the 180 days?

Count both. Countr counts any part of a day in India as one day. A trip from 10 January to 9 April is 90 days counted this way.

What happens if I go over 180 days in a calendar year?

You have broken a condition of your e-Visa. You need permission from the FRRO to leave, and a penalty can be charged. It can also lead to refusal of entry or of a later visa.

Do days on an older visa in the same year count?

The published condition speaks of the maximum stay in India during one calendar year and does not explain how days on an earlier visa are treated. The careful approach is to count every tourist day in India in that year, whichever visa you held.

Does a transit through an Indian airport count as a day?

It counts when you pass immigration and enter India. If you stay in the international transit area and do not pass immigration, you have not entered and no day is counted.

Is the limit 180 days or 6 months?

The condition says 180 days. Count days, not months. Six calendar months can be 181 to 184 days, which would be over the limit.

Sources

Other rules for India

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This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.