Introduction
On 1st September 2025 the Immigration and Foreigner Act,2025 came into effect. This act replaces several old laws and provides complete guide, India has implemented a new legal framework governing foreigner with the enactment of Immigration and Foreigner Act, 2025. This act aims to create a India’s system more secure for regulating the entry, stay, and exit of foreign nationalist.
Background
The previous legal framework was fragmented with multiple acts including the foreigner Act, 1946, the Passport Act, 1920, and the registration of foreigner Act, 1939. The previous act widely seen as being complicated and subjected to ambiguous interpretation. The Immigration and Foreign bill 2025 passed by the Lok Shabha on March 27, 2025 and on April 02, 2025 passed by the Rajya Shabha. The Immigration and Foreigners Act consolidates all old laws related to foreign nationalists into a single, comprehensive framework, introducing new regulations.
Keypoints:
The Immigration and Foreigner Act, 2025 introduces several new Rules and Order to foreigners are:
- Valid Documents: All entrants must posses a valid passport or travel documents and if a foreigner a valid Visa.
- Digital Reporting: This new Act mandate the accommodation provider like hotels, hostels and religious institution must digitally record and report the details of all the foreign guests including Overseas Citizens of India cardholder within the 24 hours of their arrival and departure.
- Educational and Medical Institutions: Universities and Hospitals must notify the registration officer about foreigner and hospitals must submit report of every birth and death of foreigner child within the seven days.
- Registration of Foreign Nationals: they must register with designated Registration Officers. A network of Foreigners Regional Registration Officers has been vested power for every specific region.
- Immigration Officer: Officers at immigration Post notified the final authority on Entry, Exist and power to refuse entry and exit of any foreigner on National grounds.
- Penalties: the new Act prescribes stricter penalties violations like overstaying, Visa Violation, non-registration. Penalties can include imprisonment and substantial fine. The imprisonment up to seven years and fine up to rupees 10 lakh for anyone who found using forged passport or visa to enter and stay in India illegally.
- Restricted Areas: foreigner require a special online permit to access to protected, prohibited, or restricted Areas with clearly specified forms and procedure.
Recent Developments
A major recent development in the notification of immigration and Foreigner order 2025 which provide some specific Exemptions from the new rules of this Act.
- The significant Exemptions applies to member of specific minority Communities: – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- Exemptions from Documents if these individuals entered india on or before December 31, 2024 they are Exempt from the requirements of having valid passport or other travel documents which are necessary for traveling but with this order it ensures that they will not be treated as illegal immigrant and can stay in India.
- The order also provide Exemptions to other foreign Nationalist including citizen of Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan refugee who are already registered with relevant authorities.
- Registered Sri Lankan Tamil refugee who entered in India on or before January 09, 2015.
- Member of the Armed forces entering and exiting the country on duty. Their families if they are traveling on Government Passport.
- This act empowers Central Government to delegate function to State and Union territories of India and power to issue special and general directions at any time if necessary.
- All the exemptions regarding Visa, Documents, protected, restricted Area will be on the order of Central Government.
- Several Offences can now solve quickly by paying the fine they are liable to and this will reduce the burden of Courts.
These Exemptions provides protection from the penalties arrest, fines, deportation who entered under conflict. The exemptions cover those who are arriving between 2015 to 2024. On September 03, 2025 extended the CAA related citizenship eligibility to the foreign Nationalist who arrived before December 31, 2024.
Conclusion
The new immigration and foreigners Act, 2025 came up with new immigration and foreigners’ rules and regulations. This Act, establishes a digital system with more clear and stricter enforcement for Documentation, and mandatory registration, with this the exemption order under this Act provides a relief mechanism for specific religious minorities from neighbouring countries. The move reflects an enhancing National security through Modern legal frame work and digital system.
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WRITTEN BY Manisha Kunwar
