INDIA: Biometric Enrolment Required for Indian Visas from the UK

August 24, 2016


The British High Commission of India has announced that from 19th August, biometric enrolment is now mandatory for individuals applying for Indian visas from the UK under the following categories:

  • Employment visa
  • Journalist visa
  • Missionary visa
  • Project visa
  • Research visa
  • Student visa
  • Visit visa

Please be advised that biometric enrolment for the visit visa will apply only to Pakistani nationals.

Biometric enrolment has been introduced as an aid to assist the Indian government in tackling identity fraud by protecting the identities of genuine applicants.

The biometric enrolment is a quick and simple process, which involves a facial image of the applicant being taken by a digital camera, and their fingerprints taken by digital scanner. This will take place at the time of the submission of the visa application, meaning that the applicant will need to be physically present at the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) to complete their application. A list of the 14 IVACs can be found here.

The only individuals exempt from the biometric requirement are those under the age of 12 years and those over the age of 70 years.

Our advice

Individuals planning to apply for any of the visas listed above from the UK, must attend the IVAC in person to provide their biometric details at the time of application submission.

For further information on Indian immigration please email us at [email protected].