Centre amends visa rules for six non-Muslim communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan

The Centre has made significant amendments to the Immigration and Foreigners Exemption Order 2025. According to these amendments, members of six non-Muslim communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India without valid travel documents before 31 December, 2024 due to religious persecution, will now be required to obtain "appropriate visas" to continue residing in India. According to a report by Scroll, these new rules were proposed on Wednesday and published on Thursday. These rules will also apply to individuals whose documents have expired.

Under previous rules, persons from the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities of these three countries were granted exemption from entering and residing in India without a valid passport or visa. However, while the new amendments maintain the exemption for entry without a valid passport and visa, they impose the requirement of visas for residence. These amendments are consistent with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019. The objective of the CAA is to provide expedited citizenship to refugees from six minority religious communities (excluding Muslims) from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, provided they have resided in India for six years and entered the country by 31 December, 2014. The Centre had proposed the rules under this law in March 2024.

Other changes have also been made in these amendments. Changes have been made to the travel-related provisions for Indian, Bhutanese and Nepali citizens, and the categories of exemptions granted to Tibetan refugees have been reorganised. Additionally, the amended rules provide relief to long-term residents facing difficulties in renewing their foreign passports. These categories include Pakistani citizens who entered India on a valid passport before 31 December, 2009 with the intention of permanent settlement. Furthermore, certain migrants from the time of Partition who returned from Pakistan and settled in Kerala, as well as persons of Indian origin who have obtained citizenship of Malaysia or Singapore but are unable to renew their passports, will now also have to obtain visas to reside in India.

The new amendments also introduce the definition of a "Visa Manual". It is described as a document issued by the Central Government containing instructions regarding visas, immigration and related matters. According to the current rules, Indian citizens travelling to Nepal or Bhutan, and Nepali and Bhutanese citizens entering or leaving India, will have to present specific identity documents as specified in the Visa Manual to immigration authorities. Indians do not require a passport for travel to Bhutan and Nepal, but if Indian citizens wish to travel further to a third country via the India-Nepal or India-Bhutan border, they will have to present a passport. Similarly, Bhutanese and Nepali citizens do not require a passport for travelling to India, but if they are coming to India, leaving India, or transiting from China, Macau, Hong Kong or Pakistan, they will have to show a passport and visa while entering or leaving India.

The Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 was an Indian law aimed at granting citizenship to refugees from six minority religious communities arriving from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The Muslim community was not included under this law, and refugees were required to reside in India for six years and enter by the prescribed date.