The Union Home Ministry said on Wednesday that members of minority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who came to India till December 31, 2024, to escape religious persecution will be allowed to stay in the country without passport or other travel documents.
Earlier, non-Muslim religious minorities, who faced persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan entering before December 31, 2014 were provided with Indian citizenship.
The order is among several other directives issued by the ministry in relation to the recently passed Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which came into effect from September 1.
What did the order say?
“People belonging to a minority community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians – who were compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or for fear of religious persecution and entered the country on or before December 31, 2024 without valid documents or with documents that have expired” will be covered under the order. The latest order, however, does not allow citizenship.
Nevertheless, it would help many people, especially Hindus from Pakistan who came to India after 2014 and till now were seeking more clarity on their fate.
The citizens of Nepal and Bhutan as well as Indians entering India by land or air from the two neighbouring countries will not be required to furnish a passport or visa.
What is Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025?
The MHA notified the order under Section 33 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. This new order supersedes the Registration of Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 1957, and the Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Order, 2007, except in cases where actions had already been taken under those provisions. The notification was published in the Gazette of India on September 1 and came into immediate effect.
It seeks to consolidate and modernise existing immigration laws by repealing four previous acts dating back to the early and mid-20th century. It aims at modernising the immigration laws and has provisions to confer upon the central government certain powers regarding passports, travel documents, visa and registration.
It replaced the Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Act, 2000, and three pre-independence laws, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, and the Foreigners Act, 1936.
Key provisions of Act
Under the new rules, members of the Indian Armed Forces entering or leaving India on duty, along with their accompanying family members on government transport, are exempt from these requirements.
The exemptions also cover Indian citizens entering India by land or air via the Nepalese or Bhutanese border. Citizens of Nepal and Bhutan are also exempt when entering India over their respective borders, or when traveling to or from other destinations with a valid passport, excluding entries from China, Macau, Hong Kong, or Pakistan.
Specific provisions are made for Tibetans who have already entered India and are registered with the relevant authorities. The same goes for minority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians, who sought shelter in India due to religious persecution before December 31, 2024, regardless of whether their travel documents are valid.
The order also extends to registered Sri Lankan Tamil nationals who took shelter in India up to January 9, 2015.
In addition, certain categories of foreigners are exempt from visa requirements, including those holding diplomatic or official passports under intergovernmental agreements, individuals from designated countries eligible for visa-on-arrival, and foreign military personnel visiting India on naval warships for multilateral exercises, goodwill visits, bunkering, or disaster relief operations, unless otherwise notified.
The order also relieves carriers of certain responsibilities under the Act. Rail and road carriers transporting passengers and crew into or from India are exempt from sections of the law concerning carrier liability.
Carriers are also not held responsible for passengers travelling on forged documents if detection requires expert examination, stowaways who are taken back, passengers arriving on diverted aircraft or ships, and foreigners exempted from travel document or visa requirements. Temporary Landing Permit holders are similarly included.
In case, a foreigner is a national of more than one foreign country, the Immigration Officer will treat such foreigner as the national of the country on whose passport or travel document the foreigner has entered India.
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