A tool, not a guide

After you arrive in India on a medical visa: what applies to you

Written by Jay Parve

The visa application is the part everybody writes about. This page is about the part after you land: whether you have to register with the FRRO yourself, who has to report you and within how long, what happens when treatment outlasts your visa, and what the rules say if a different hospital becomes involved.

Answer five questions and you get the sentences the Indian government actually publishes for that situation, each with the page it is on and the day we read it — and, on the change-of-hospital question, the fact that the requirement is published and the procedure is not. For a student changing course, the same office publishes the name of the service, the office that grants it, the web address to use and a deadline, in one sentence. A patient changing hospital is told that permission is required, that it is granted case by case, and that going without it may restrict future travel to India — and not the name of the service, the documents, the fee, the processing time, or how long they have. We show you both, side by side.

This is not visa advice, it is not legal advice and it is not a prediction. It is a report of what named government documents say, with dates. It does not tell anybody what to do, and it cannot tell you what an officer will decide in your case. We are not a visa agent, we are not lawyers, and we do not sell visas, appointments or extensions.

Sources were read on 12 September 2026 and 13 September 2026. Rules change. If you are reading this much later, treat those dates as the warning they are meant to be, and open the links.

Everything this tool can show anybody, unfiltered

Nothing above is hidden from this list; the five questions only decide which of these lines apply to one situation. If JavaScript is switched off in your browser, this is the whole thing.

Every published line we have a source for

registration · If the M-1 Visa is valid for a period of 180 days or less, no registration would be required
“Foreign nationals (other than Pakistan nationals) holding M-1 Visa for a period exceeding 180 days will be required to get themselves registered with the FRRO/ FRO concerned within 14 days of arrival in India. If the M-1 Visa is valid for a period of 180 days or less, no registration would be required.”
The same page states the same rule for M-2 (attendant), M-3 and M-4.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
registration · the trigger is 180 days
“Foreign nationals entering India on a Student, Employment, Medical or Work visa (E3) for missionary purpose where visa is valid for more than 180 days, should register with jurisdictional FRO/FRROs, within 14 days of arrival to India.”
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 12 September 2026
registration · any type of visa
“Foreign nationals entering India on any type of visa (except on Official/Diplomatic passport) will be required to register, if their aggregate stay in a calendar year or continuous stay on each visit exceeds 180 days”
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 12 September 2026
registration · Medical/Medical Attendant visas
“Foreigners (other than Pak nationals) whose Medical/Medical Attendant visas are valid for more than 180 days should register themselves within 14 days of their arrival in India”
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
registration · non-compliance
“shall result in legal consequences or monetary penalty or both.”
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 12 September 2026
registration · confirm with the FRRO directly
If your case is unusual, confirm with the FRRO directly rather than relying on this page alone.
Infirmy, from our After you arrive in India: FRRO registration, who actually has to report you, and the land-border question page — read 13 September 2026
reporting · not beyond twenty-four hours, after the arrival of a foreigner
“The person in charge of hospital, nursing home or any other medical institution shall, as soon as may be but not beyond twenty-four hours, after the arrival of a foreigner, transmit a copy of duly filled in Form III, specifying the particulars furnished by the foreigner, electronically to the Registration Officer”
Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
reporting · shall furnish information in respect of any foreigner taking indoor medical treatment
“Every hospital, nursing home or any other such medical institution providing medical, lodging or sleeping facility in their premises shall furnish information in respect of any foreigner taking indoor medical treatment or their attendant for whom such lodging or sleeping facility has been provided to the Registration Officer in such manner as may be prescribed.”
Government of India — read 13 September 2026
reporting · for a period of one year
“which shall be maintained by the hospital, nursing home or any other medical institution electronically for a period of one year.”
The records the hospital keeps are open to inspection by a Registration Officer, a District Magistrate, or a police officer.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 12 September 2026
reporting · Form III
“REPORT ON FOREIGNERS ACCOMMODATED OR ADMITTED TO BE FURNISHED BY KEEPER OF ACCOMMODATION AND BY HOSPITAL, NURSINING HOME AND OTHER MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS”
(The spelling “NURSINING” is in the gazetted document.)
Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
reporting · the keeper of the accommodation
This is the requirement sometimes referred to as a “C-Form”; the government’s current published rule describes it as an electronic “Form III” submission made by the keeper of the accommodation, not by you.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 12 September 2026
reporting · This is a legal duty on the hospital, not on you
This is a legal duty on the hospital, not on you.
if a hospital, agent, or facilitator tells you that you personally must go and register somewhere as a routine step of a short medical visit, that is not what this rule says.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 12 September 2026
reporting · It does not say what happens next
The law says the admitting hospital reports the admission. It does not say what happens next. We are not going to guess.
Ministry of Home Affairs, India; Government of India — read 13 September 2026
extension · should apply for the appropriate visa service
“Foreign Nationals who are unable to leave/ exit India within the validity of their visa due to justifiable reasons, should apply for the appropriate visa service on https://indianfrro.gov.in.”
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · you can only do this from inside India
“Such visa services are available only to foreign nationals who are present in India.”
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · allowing reasonable time for processing
“This request/ application should be made within the validity of their current visa, allowing reasonable time for processing.”
Applying on the last day is plainly not it.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · they must depart from India
“If the extension/ conversion of the visa/ permission to continue their stay is not granted within the validity of their current visa, they must depart from India. Failure to depart will be considered a willful illegal overstay and will be treated in accordance with the law.”
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · applying is not the same as being allowed to stay
Having a pending application is not, on this wording, permission to remain.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · Visa validity or Visa expiry date
“Visa validity or Visa expiry date refers to the validity period during which the foreigner can stay in India on the strength of Visa subject to stay stipulations.”
Stay stipulations are the rules which determine the number of days a foreigner may be permitted to stay in India on the strength of Visa. Stay stipulations are of two kinds 1) Continuous stay in India from the date of last arrival. 2) Total Aggregate stay in India during the calendar year.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · Both are printed on your visa
So a visa can still be “valid” while your permitted continuous stay has run out. Both are printed on your visa.
Read the stay stipulation on the actual sticker or e-visa, not only the expiry date
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · It is written by the hospital, not by you
It is written by the hospital, not by you.
The signature block is a named senior consultant, on behalf of a named hospital, and it asks for a bed number.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · It has a blank for a duration
It has a blank for a duration.
Somebody has to decide “for another how long” and put it in writing.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · It has columns for the patient and the attendant side by side
It has columns for the patient and the attendant side by side.
If the person who travelled with you also needs more time, there is a place for their visa details on the same sheet.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · It asks for the attendant’s visa number, type, validity, date and place of issue
It asks for the attendant’s visa number, type, validity, date and place of issue.
Photograph both passports and both visa pages now, while nothing is urgent, so nobody is hunting for them under pressure.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · not a checklist we are promising will be accepted
These are observations about a blank form, not a checklist we are promising will be accepted
Nothing on that page says which of them is compulsory, and we are not going to say it for them.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India; Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · paragraph 11.3
We could not find that manual, or paragraph 11.3, published anywhere
So treat it as the one document the government shows you, not as the complete list.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
extension · the only address the Bureau of Immigration names for the service
this is the only address the Bureau of Immigration names for the service, and the service exists only while you are physically in India.
It also returns the same response for addresses that do not exist, so a page there appearing to “load” proves nothing.
Government of India — read 13 September 2026
conversion · can take treatment at any hospital on his/her primary Visa
“Any foreigner (including Pakistani national) suffering from any minor medical condition which needs only OPD consultation can take treatment at any hospital on his/her primary Visa.”
outpatient (OPD) treatment does not, by this rule, require a medical visa at all
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 12 September 2026
conversion · shall apply for visa conversion to Medical visa
“Other Foreign Nationals shall apply for visa conversion to Medical visa if: the medical treatment exceeds the stay stipulation of their primary visa; and/or the treatment of the disease requires an organ transplant.”
If your situation is borderline, this is a question worth putting to the FRRO or the hospital in writing before you travel, not after.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 12 September 2026
conversion · two different services
“extension” and “conversion” are two different services, both applied for in the same place
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
overstay · section 23
“shall be punishable with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with a fine which may extend to three lakh rupees or with both.”
Government of India — read 13 September 2026
overstay · a maximum, not a tariff
“May extend to” is a maximum, not a tariff.
The Act does not state a minimum for this section, and it does not state what a first-time, short, medically caused overstay attracts in practice. We have no source for that, so we are not going to tell you.
Government of India — read 13 September 2026
overstay · Exit Permit
“Foreigners who are overstaying in India or who have violated their visa conditions require Exit Permit to depart from India.”
In other words, if you have overstayed, you cannot simply go to the border or the airport and leave. There is a step in between, applied for on the same e-FRRO site.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
overstay · few hours after the expiry of my Visa
“It may be considered on case to case basis by the Immigration Authorities.”
That is the government declining to promise anything either way. We are not going to improve on it.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
overstay · the consequence that lasts longest
“Violating the Indian visa norms is likely to affect the chances of obtaining entry into India and/ or Indian Visas in the future.”
For a patient who may need follow-up treatment, that is the consequence that lasts longest.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
law · The law changed in 2025
The law changed in 2025. Guides written before that are citing a repealed statute.
If a website or an agent explains your position by reference to the Foreigners Act 1946, they are quoting a repealed law.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India; Government of India — read 13 September 2026
hospital · Change of Hospital requires FRRO permission in India
“Applicants seeking medical visa should visit the designated hospital only for which visa has been issued. Change of Hospital requires FRRO permission in India. Change of hospital without FRRO permission amounts to visa rules violation and may lead to restrictions on travel to India in future.”
IVAC Bangladesh — read 13 September 2026
hospital · only on case-to-case basis
“Change of hospital/Place of treatment (endorsed on initial visa) shall be permitted only on case-to-case basis, subject to production of documentary proof justifying such change.”
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
hospital · You have to ask. Permission is not automatic.
Read together, the published position is this. You have to ask. Permission is not automatic. You may ask and still be refused.
IVAC Bangladesh; Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
hospital · A letter of appointment
“A letter of appointment from a Government/ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research)/NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers/MCI (Medical Council of India)/CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme) recognized hospital in India.”
So a named hospital is in your application from the beginning.
High Commission of India, Dhaka — read 13 September 2026
hospital · It is not in the law
Neither contains the words “change of hospital”, “change in hospital” or “place of treatment”.
But it is not a section of the Act. If someone tells you it is, ask them for the section number.
Government of India; Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
hospital · It is not in the medical-visa conditions either
It is not in the medical-visa conditions either.
We have not seen a visa. We are not going to tell you what is written on yours.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
hospital · “OPD” is out-patient department
“OPD” is out-patient department. The page does not define it.
We are publishing this because it is relevant and because we cannot resolve it.
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India — read 13 September 2026
hospital · ask them which government page it came from
If another website gives you a form number, a fee or a processing time for changing hospital, ask them which government page it came from, and open that page yourself.
Infirmy, from our FRRO permission to change hospital on an Indian medical visa: the rule is published, the procedure is not page — read 13 September 2026

The procedure that is not published

Now compare what the same office publishes for a student who needs to change course:

“In case a foreign national on student visa needs a change in the course being undertaken by him/ her, he/ she should obtain a 'Change of Course' service from the jurisdictional FRRO/ FRO on https://indianfrro.gov.in/efrro/home within 14 days of changing the course.”

A patient changing hospital is told that permission is required, that it is granted case by case, and that going without it may restrict future travel to India.

The patient is not told the name of the service, the documents, the fee, the processing time, or how long they have.

“the menu reads: Visa Extension/Conversion, Exit Permit, Police Clearance Certificate, Child born in India, Death Intimation, and then under Miscellaneous Services: Change of Passport, Change of Address, Change of Academic Course, Medical Exigency, Acquisition of Foreign Nationality by an Indian, Stateless Person, Obligation of Hotels, Hospitals & Educational Institutes, Penalties.”

There is no “Change of Hospital” in that list.

We are not saying no such service exists. We are saying we could not find it published.

requires a login and we could not read what is inside it, so we cannot rule out that the option is there once you sign in. If you have an account, that is the first place to look.

“We did not find it published” is not the same as “it does not exist.”

What we show instead, if you are not on a medical visa

“Applicants seeking medical visa should visit the designated hospital only for which visa has been issued.”

IVAC Bangladesh — Important Advisory for medical visa

That sentence names the medical visa. You told us you are on another one, so we are not going to apply it to you, and we do not know of a published rule that replaces it.

Every difference between the official texts

Does the hospital have twenty-four hours to report your departure, or not? (Neither text settles it)
Ministry of Home Affairs, India, rule 18(6): “The departure details shall also be transmitted as soon as may be but beyond twenty-four hours, after departure of the foreigner” — read 13 September 2026
Ministry of Home Affairs, India, rule 17(6): “The departure details shall also be transmitted as soon as may be but not beyond twenty-four hours, after departure of the foreigner” — read 13 September 2026
The word “not” is missing. It looks like a drafting slip. We are not going to declare it one.
Where does the lower of the two penalty figures come from? (Neither text settles it)
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India: “penalties ranging from 10000 to 3 lakhs for each offence” — read 13 September 2026
Government of India, section 23: “shall be punishable with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with a fine which may extend to three lakh rupees or with both.” — read 13 September 2026
We searched the Act for that lower figure and did not find it. So: the Act says up to three lakh rupees. Where the government’s own summary page gets 10,000 from, we do not know, and we are not going to invent an explanation.
Does the out-patient sentence reach a patient who is already on a medical visa? (Neither text settles it)
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India, Medical Exigency: “Any foreigner (including Pakistani national) suffering from any minor medical condition which needs only OPD consultation can take treatment at any hospital on his/ her primary Visa.” — read 13 September 2026
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India, Medical Treatment in India: “Change of hospital/Place of treatment (endorsed on initial visa) shall be permitted only on case-to-case basis, subject to production of documentary proof justifying such change.” — read 13 September 2026
We are publishing this because it is relevant and because we cannot resolve it. Both sentences are published by the same Bureau. We have quoted both. If this question decides something for you, ask the FRRO, not a website.
Why does the same visa centre state this rule in two different ways? (The same rule in two wordings)
IVAC Bangladesh: “Applicants seeking medical visa should visit the designated hospital only for which visa has been issued. Change of Hospital requires FRRO permission in India. Change of hospital without FRRO permission amounts to visa rules violation and may lead to restrictions on travel to India in future.” — read 13 September 2026
IVAC Bangladesh: “Applicants seeking medical visa should visit the designated hospital only for which visa has been issued. Change in Hospital requires permission of FRRO. Change of hospital without the approval of FRRO tantamount to violation of visa regulations and may lead to imposition of restriction on travel to india in future.” — read 13 September 2026
Two wordings of one rule, on one website, one of them undated. The substance is the same; we point out the difference only so that you are not confused if you see both.
Is permission something you are entitled to, or something you apply for? (Not a contradiction)
IVAC Bangladesh: “Change of Hospital requires FRRO permission in India.” — read 13 September 2026
Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India: “shall be permitted only on case-to-case basis, subject to production of documentary proof justifying such change.” — read 13 September 2026
These two are not in conflict, and the difference between them matters. Read together, the published position is this. You have to ask. Permission is not automatic. You may ask and still be refused.

Every question no official page answers

If my visa only passes the registration threshold because it was extended, when does my deadline start?
What none of them addresses is somebody whose visa only crosses 180 days because it was extended after arrival. The deadline in every version runs from arrival, not from the extension. We have no source for that case. Ask the FRRO in writing and keep the answer.
Has the registration threshold ever been applied differently to a medical visa?
Whether the 180-day FRRO threshold has ever been applied differently to medical visas specifically. We found no such exception stated; the general rule appears to apply as written.
Which FRRO office covers the city I am being treated in, and how do I reach it?
A named FRRO office, address, or direct phone line for a specific city. we could not verify individual office contact details and are not publishing any we have not confirmed.
What does an extension cost, and which government page is that printed on?
We cannot tell you what a visa extension costs. If anyone quotes you a figure, ask which government page it is printed on.
How long does an extension take to decide, and how early should I apply?
We cannot tell you how long it takes. No processing time is published anywhere we could find.
What is the full list of documents an extension application needs?
We cannot tell you the document list. So treat it as the one document the government shows you, not as the complete list.
How long an extension can be granted, and is it granted as of right?
We cannot tell you the maximum length of an extension The government’s own wording is that you “should apply”. It does not say you will be granted.
Which provision does the lower penalty figure on the Penalties page come from?
We could not trace one number the government itself publishes.
What is the service called, and where do I apply, to change the hospital named on my visa?
There is no published procedure for asking. No form. No document list. No fee. No processing time. No deadline. No named service.
What counts as documentary proof justifying a change of hospital?
We do not know what counts as “documentary proof justifying such change”. The Bureau uses that phrase and does not define it.
Does it change anything if my own doctor is the one referring me?
We do not know whether a referral by your first hospital changes anything. Nothing we read addresses a referral, a second opinion, or a hospital that turns a patient away.
If permission is not obtained, what is the restriction, who imposes it, and for how long?
We do not know what the consequence actually is in practice. We found no published rule setting out what that restriction is, who imposes it, or for how long.
Is the hospital’s name printed on my visa, and where on it?
We could not confirm that the hospital is actually printed on a Bangladeshi patient’s visa. We have not seen a visa. We are not going to tell you what is written on yours.

Every source, in full

Where this came from, and what we cannot do for you

Nothing on this page was written for it. Every line is lifted from three of our own guides, where a human read each government page or Gazette document and recorded the date. If you want the reasoning rather than the answer, read those:

The honest next step, which is a small one

Infirmy is a marketplace where hospitals and medical facilitators are meant to answer a patient’s case. Today it has no hospitals listed, and nobody is currently reviewing the cases people post. We would rather say that than let you find out afterwards.

So there is no next step on this page that gets anybody an extension, a permission or a hospital. If you want to write down what treatment you are looking for anyway, the case form stores it and tells you what it does with it first. Nothing you answered above is carried into it — this tool has kept none of it.

Read what the case form does before using it

After you arrive in India on a medical visa: what applies to you

Questions no official page answers

What the official pages publish for that situation

Questions no official page answers

Registering with the FRRO yourself

Who reports you, and when

Staying longer than your visa allows

Where the official texts differ, in 1 place

Does the hospital have twenty-four hours to report your departure, or not?

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