Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Introducing key exemptions from requirements related to valid passports, travel documents and visas for specific categories of individuals and carriers, the Central Government has issued the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025, The Ministry of Home Affairs (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 order lays out exemptions from certain provisions of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, regarding the requirement of valid passports, travel documents, and visas for entry, stay, and exit from India. 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. Similarly, citizens of Nepal and Bhutan are 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, as well as 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.
