Defined registration, exemption for some minority religious groups: What’s in the new Foreigners Act?

Consolidating old Acts

The Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025, was passed by Lok Sabha on March 27 and by Rajya Sabha on April 2, and received the assent of the President on April 4.

The Act replaced The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920; The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939; The Foreigners Act, 1946; and The Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Act, 2000, consolidating India’s regime for the entry, stay, movement, and exit of foreigners under a single statute.

Need for the overhaul

The previous legal framework, based on pre-Independence statutes and piecemeal notifications, was widely seen as being fragmented, complicated, and frequently subject to ambiguous interpretation.

The four separate Acts of 1920, 1939, 1946, and 2000 had interlocking but sometimes confusing provisions.

Exemptions for certain categories of entrants, such as Tibetan refugees, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, citizens of Nepal and Bhutan, etc., were scattered across multiple orders, and were often not readily accessible or clear.

Reporting obligations were often manual or delayed, resulting in data gaps for enforcement. There was also ambiguity in enforcement. The powers of local vs. central authorities, scope for compounding offences, and the rules for protected/ restricted areas were not uniform throughout the country.

Act, Rules and Orders

Important provisions of The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, along with the Rules and Orders, include:

Possession of valid documents: All entrants must possess a valid passport or travel document and, if a foreigner, a valid visa — unless explicitly exempted by the Act or by special orders of the central government.

Entry and exit only via notified posts: The Act lists designated immigration posts, including all major airports, seaports, land border posts, and rail posts, through which foreigners can legally enter and exit India.

Powers of the Immigration Officer: Officers at notified immigration posts have the final authority on entry, exit, and admissibility, and the power to validate or refuse entry or exit on national security grounds.

Defined registration and control mechanism: Foreign nationals must register with designated Registration Officers. The district superintendent of police (SP)/ deputy commissioner of police (DCP) has been designated as the local civil authority for immigration and foreigners’ regulation. A network of Foreigners’ Regional Registration Officers (FRROs) has been vested with powers for specific regions and functions.

Obligations of accommodation providers and institutions: Hotels, hostels, paying guest homes, religious institutions, and similar establishments must collect particulars of foreigners, obtain their signatures or thumb impressions, and transmit a duly filled form electronically to the authorities within 24 hours of both arrival and departure of every foreigner, including holders of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards.

Educational and medical notifications: Universities and hospitals must notify the Registration Officer about foreigners admitted or treated. Hospitals must electronically report every birth and death of a foreigner within seven days.

Authority to shut down resorts, clubs: The civil authority has the power to control, restrict, or shut down places frequently visited by foreigners if there are security, legal, or public order concerns. Such orders may be issued if, in the authority’s opinion, the foreigner “is a criminal, linked to unlawful associations, or otherwise undesirable”. Those responsible for such premises cannot shift operations elsewhere without permission.

Special permit for protected/ restricted areas: Movement into protected, restricted, or prohibited places will require a special permit, which must be applied for through designated online portals or mobile apps, with clearly specified forms and procedures.

Exempted categories

* Members of the Indian military entering/ exiting the country on duty, and their families if traveling on government transport;

* Citizens of Nepal and Bhutan entering India via designated land or air borders (except through China, Macau, Hong Kong, or Pakistan), or possessing valid passports for air entry to other destinations.

* Tibetan refugees with special entry permits, especially those who entered between 1959 and May 30, 2003, or later under designated posts; but only if registered with authorities and holding a registration certificate.

* Minority community refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians) who fled religious persecution and entered India on or before December 31, 2024, even if without valid travel documents or with documents that subsequently expired.

Under The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, (CAA) the entry cutoff date for acquiring Indian citizenship for these minorities is December 31, 2014. This date has not been altered, but special protection from prosecution or detention has been granted to minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh for entering India after the cutoff date.

MHA sources said this provision is for those who are seeking long term visas, and will have to acquire Indian citizenship through naturalisation if they entered after the CAA cutoff date.

* Registered Sri Lankan Tamil nationals who sheltered in India up to January 9, 2015.

* Holders of diplomatic and official passports from certain countries where visa requirements are waived under intergovernmental agreements, or residents from nations eligible for “visa on arrival” at specific ports.

* Foreign military personnel aboard warships visiting India for humanitarian exercises/ events, unless excluded by a separate government notification.

New in the statute

Apart from consolidating scattered laws, the Act and Rules introduce the following:

Digital and electronic records: The digital notification through portals and mobile apps that is required of accommodation providers, hospitals, and universities will create a robust database for enforcement and public health management, and making citizenship decisions.

Graduated fines/ compounding system: For infractions such as overstaying, non-registration, violation of visa terms, unauthorised visit to protected areas, and failure to notify authorities, the Rules prescribe graduated fines ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 5 lakh.

Different rates apply to Tibetans, Mongolian Buddhist monks, and certain national groups from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, where fines are as low as Rs 50.

Protections and appeal mechanisms: The Rules clarify appeals for fines and penalties, and exceptions for certain humanitarian cases. They provide limited protection for bona fide mistakes or compliance done in good faith.

Centralisation and delegation: The Act empowers the central government to delegate functions to states and Union Territories, with power to modify, cancel, or issue special or general directions at any time.

No discretionary exemptions at local levels: All exemptions for entry, visa, documentation, and protected/ restricted area permits will be on the basis only of orders published by the central government — removing ambiguity that has allowed local variations.

Likely boost for enforcement

With clearly designated officers and electronic records, the margin for error or ambiguity is expected to be reduced. Several offences can now be compounded quickly by paying the prescribed fines, reducing the burden on courts and making resolution more efficient.

The listed exemptions for Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamils, and the minority communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have done away with the scope for discretion on a case-to-case basis.