Studying in India

What a year costs

Tuition varies enormously by institution and India does not publish a national fee for international students. Institutions set their own, often in US dollars and often with separate rates for students from South Asian (SAARC) countries.

The University of Delhi is a useful example of how charges stack up. Its Foreign Students' Registry (FSR) 2025-26 bulletin lists, for certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate students:

• FSR registration: Rs 53,240, one-time
• Annual registration: Rs 23,958 a year
• PhD FSR registration: Rs 75,262, one-time
• Course fees "as charged by College/Dept./Centre", with some programmes priced centrally: the full-time MBA runs Rs 5,50,000 to Rs 8,80,000 a year depending on the student's region

The 2026-27 bulletin did not repeat the fee table, so check the current figures with the FSR before you pay.

Private universities and the Institutes of National Importance publish their own schedules; read the fee page for your programme, not a summary.

Living costs. Neither the Study in India portal nor the universities we checked publishes an official living-cost budget. Costs differ widely between Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru and smaller university towns. Hostel places, where offered, are the cheapest option; ask your university for hostel charges before you arrive.

The visa

Register on Study in India first. The portal's six-step process is: register and receive your SII ID ("compulsory ID to track foreign student journey in India"), choose courses, apply to several institutions at once, accept an offer, apply for your visa or e-Student visa using the SII ID, and register with e-FRRO within 14 days of arrival.

e-Student visa. Applied for online through the government's Indian Visa Online portal. According to the e-Visa page:

• Validity: one year (365 days) from the date of grant, multiple entry. Some professional summaries describe longer validity linked to the course, so check what your grant letter says, and plan to extend in India through e-FRRO.
• Apply at least 4 days and at most 120 days before arrival
• Documents: passport bio page, letter of admission from a recognised Indian institution with course duration, and a letter of support from a parent or guardian with a bank guarantee or six months of bank statements
• Medical and paramedical courses: a No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Regular student visa. You can also apply at an Indian mission. The Ministry of Home Affairs' student visa FAQ says a student visa can be issued for up to five years or the length of the course, whichever is earlier. A tourist visa cannot be converted into a student visa: if you do not yet have confirmed admission, you apply from home for a provisional student visa of six months.

The University of Delhi asks that your visa be "preferably endorsed in the name of the University of Delhi", on a Student visa (S-1) for undergraduate and postgraduate study, or a Research visa (S-5) for a PhD.

The money. There is no published minimum balance. The evidence is a parent or guardian's support letter with a bank guarantee or six months of statements. Make sure the statements show enough to cover your fees and living costs for at least the first year.

The fee. India's published country-wise e-Visa fee table covers business, medical, medical attendant and conference visas, not the e-Student visa. The fee depends on your nationality and is shown during the application. A 3% bank charge is added to e-Visa fees.

Registration on arrival: 14 days. The Bureau of Immigration states that foreign nationals entering India on a Student visa valid for more than 180 days "should register with jurisdictional FRO/FRROs, within 14 days of arrival". You do it online through the e-FRRO portal, which is designed to be faceless and cashless. Non-compliance "shall result in legal consequences or monetary penalty or both". India's registration rules now sit under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.

Working while you study

India's student visa does not give a right to work. The Ministry of Home Affairs' student visa FAQ contains no work permission, and we found no official rule allowing part-time jobs. A government proposal to allow limited work rights for international students was reported in 2019; it has not become a published rule.

Internships have their own conditions. For internship visas, the Indian consulate in San Francisco states that "under no circumstances" will the foreign national be allowed to take up employment in India immediately after the internship.

Budget for the whole degree without earnings.

After you graduate

India has no post-study work visa. To work, you need an Employment visa, which:

• requires a gross salary above Rs 16.25 lakh a year, according to the Consulate General in San Francisco, with lower thresholds only for specified groups such as persons of Indian origin (Rs 3.60 lakh)
• is issued from your country of origin or domicile, not from within India

In practice, that means leaving India after graduating and applying from home with a job offer at a salary well above typical entry-level pay.

Language

Most university programmes open to international students are taught in English; confirm the medium of instruction for your exact course. Some universities set a minimum English mark: the University of Delhi, for example, asks for 50% in English for several science programmes.

Hindi is widely spoken in the north, but each state has its own language: Tamil in Tamil Nadu, Kannada in Karnataka, Bengali in West Bengal and so on. Learning basic phrases of the local language helps in daily life and on clinical placements. The visa, e-FRRO and university administration all work in English.

When to apply

The Indian academic year generally starts in July or August.

• Register on Study in India and apply through the portal once the admission cycle opens; deadlines are set per institution and shown on the portal.
• University of Delhi: the FSR publishes its own dates for each year's admissions on its website.
• e-Student visa: apply no more than 120 days and no less than 4 days before arrival. In practice, apply as soon as you have your offer.
• Register with e-FRRO within 14 days of arrival.

What to watch out for

Register within 14 days. Missing the FRRO deadline is easily avoided, and it carries penalties. Start the e-FRRO application as soon as you have an address in India.

Get the SII ID and use it consistently. The e-Student visa application depends on it. Use the same passport details across the portal, your offer letter and the visa application.

Medicine and paramedical courses need a Health Ministry NOC. Do not apply for the visa without it. If you will need your Indian medical degree recognised elsewhere, check that country's rules before you enrol. India's National Medical Commission holds recognition from the World Federation for Medical Education until September 2033; for UK registration, the General Medical Council asks you to check the World Directory of Medical Schools and to contact it directly rather than relying on third parties.

Do not enter on a tourist visa. You cannot convert it to a student visa inside India.

Changing course or institution needs permission from your FRRO and the institutions concerned, according to the Home Affairs FAQ. Do not simply transfer.

Recognised institutions only. Your admission letter must come from a recognised institution. Check yours on Study in India before accepting an offer, especially from a private provider approached through an agent.

Where these numbers come from

Rules change, sometimes at short notice. Every figure above carries the date we checked it. Check the official source before you rely on it. The e-Student visa fee and any living-cost figure were not published in a form we could verify, and the University of Delhi's 2026-27 fee table had not been published when we checked.