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Home Ministry exemption order now requires visas for six persecuted minorities

By CAShorts DeskPublished Source: The Hindu; Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 (Gazette of India); Citizenship Act, 1955 (Bureau of Immigration, MHA)

Home Ministry exemption order now requires visas for six persecuted minorities
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Ministry of Home Affairs changed its immigration exemption order on 4 November 2026. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India by 31 December 2024 without valid papers keep their exemption. To remain, they must now hold a suitable visa.

Syllabus: GS2 · Constitution; Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · Welfare of Vulnerable Sections

Why this matters for UPSC

GS2 polity: citizenship, immigration law and refugees. Prelims can ask the CAA cut-off and the exemption power; Mains, refugee policy.

Why it matters

A Sikh refugee from Afghanistan who crossed into India without a passport could so far live here on the exemption alone. That person must now apply for a visa of the right category to remain lawfully. The change turns a blanket shield into an individual permission, with its own category and terms, granted by the state. Families who settled long ago, such as returnees in Kerala, face the same step. For neighbouring travellers, the open Nepal and Bhutan borders now come with clearer document rules. The larger issue is how India treats people fleeing persecution without a dedicated refugee law: through executive orders that can be widened or tightened.

Prelims pointers

  • Under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, a foreigner in India needs a valid passport or travel document and a valid visa, unless exempted or covered by an intergovernmental agreement.
  • The Act lets India refuse entry or stay on grounds of national security, sovereignty and integrity, relations with a foreign State or public health.
  • Under the same Act, the Immigration Officer's decision on whether a foreigner is admissible is final and binding.
  • The Citizenship Act, 1955 calls a foreigner an illegal migrant if he entered without valid documents, or entered with them and overstayed.
  • The CAA proviso shields only persons exempted earlier under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or the Foreigners Act, 1946.
  • Look-alike: an exemption order under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 governs entry and stay; the Citizenship Act, 1955 governs who may become a citizen.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, consider the following statements:

1. An order exempting a class of foreigners from the Act takes effect only after both Houses of Parliament approve it.

2. A foreigner present in India must hold a valid passport or travel document and a valid visa unless exempted.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 only
  2. (b) 2 only
  3. (c) Both 1 and 2
  4. (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 only

Answer: (b) 2 only. The Act requires papers unless exempted; exemption orders are only laid before Parliament.

Statement 1: incorrect. The Centre makes an exemption order by publishing it in the Official Gazette; a copy is then laid before each House. No approval is needed.

Statement 2: correct. The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 requires a foreigner in India to hold a valid passport or travel document and a valid visa, unless exempted.

Eliminate: statement 1 is surest wrong, as the Act asks only for laying, not approval. Out: (a), (c).

Eliminate: statement 2 states the basic rule of the Act. Out: (d).

Trap: Sounds right. Parliamentary approval of delegated orders sounds plausible, but the Act provides only for laying the order before each House.

Remember: Exemption orders under the 2025 Act are made by Gazette and laid before each House.

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