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Immigration & Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025
What’s the News?
- The Government of India issued the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025, under Section 33 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, replacing several prior exemption orders.
- It introduces targeted exemptions from requirements for valid passports, visas, and travel documents for defined categories of individuals and certain carriers.
- Exemptions apply to military personnel on duty and their families, citizens from Nepal and Bhutan crossing specified borders, select refugees and persecuted minorities, registered Tibetans and Sri Lankan Tamils, diplomats and foreign military visitors, as well as carriers under specific conditions. The order is in force immediately upon its Gazette notification.
Scope of Exemptions
- Military and Families
- Members of the Indian Navy, Army or Air Force entering or exiting India on duty, and their accompanying family on government transport, are exempt from passport, visa, and travel-document norms.
- Citizens of Nepal and Bhutan
- Citizens of these countries entering India by land or air across shared borders are exempt from passport and visa requirements, except in contexts involving China, Hong Kong, Macau, or Pakistan.
- Refugees and Religious Minorities
- Registered Tibetans already in India and Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who entered by January 9, 2015, are granted exemptions.
- Religiously persecuted individuals from specific minorities (Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian) who entered from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan on or before December 31, 2024—even without valid documents—are exempt.
- Diplomats & Foreign Military
- Holders of diplomatic or official passports under intergovernmental agreements and foreign military personnel aboard warships or for goodwill, exercise, bunkering, or relief visits are exempted, unless otherwise specified.
- Carrier Exemptions
- Carriers (rail or road) are not held liable under certain sections of the Act for passengers:
- Traveling on forged documents undetectable without specialists
- Who are stowaways and taken back
- Arriving via diverted aircraft or ships
- Using Temporary Landing Permits
- Belonging to exempt categories above
- Carriers (rail or road) are not held liable under certain sections of the Act for passengers:
Additional Info
- Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025:
- This is the parent act under which the new order is notified.
- It consolidates and repeals four previous laws: the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920; the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939; the Foreigners Act, 1946; and the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act, 2000.
- The Act establishes the Bureau of Immigration to regulate the entry, stay, and movement of foreigners.
- It imposes stricter penalties for immigration offenses, such as using forged documents.
- Registration of Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 1957:
- This was an older order issued under the Foreigners Act, 1946.
- It exempted certain classes of foreigners, such as diplomatic couriers and citizens of specific countries, from the requirement to register with authorities.
- It has been superseded by the new 2025 order.
- Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Order, 2007:
- This order was issued under the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act, 2000.
- It granted exemptions from penalties to carriers that brought in passengers with forged documents, particularly when the forgery was undetectable without expert assistance.
- This order has also been superseded by the new 2025 order.