What is a student visa?
India offers various kinds of visas, depending on the purpose of visit. Student visa is a visa specifically for the students wanting to come to India for education purpose. Student Visas are issued for the duration of the academic course of study or for a period of five years whichever is less, on the basis of letters of admission from Universities/recognized colleges or educational institutions in India.

What are the pre-requisites for procuring a student visa?
To apply/ be eligible for a student visa, you need to conform to the following conditions.

If you are on Government of India scholarships, the respective Indian missions would be advised by ICCR to issue a regular student visa after your admission in an Indian university is confirmed. On the other hand, if you are coming as a self-financing student, you need to produce letters of admission from universities or recognized colleges and institutions in India for obtaining the regular student visa.

If you are coming as a research student, synopsis of the research project countersigned by the sponsoring institution in India along with letter of approval are no objection certificate from the concerned Ministries in India should be submitted for necessary visa.

Note: Processing of applications for research may take about three months.

Can I get the visa even if I don't have a confirmed admission letter?
Don't worry if your admission is still not confirmed. Students not having firm letters of admission from universities or institutions are issued Provisional Student Visa by the Indian missions abroad, on the basis of provisional letters of admissions. However Provisional Student Visa is valid for 3 months. Within these 3 months, your admission needs to be confirmed otherwise you will have to leave India. No extension of Provisional Student Visa is permitted.