MHA Amends Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order 2025: Six Persecuted Non-Muslim Communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan Must Now Obtain Visa
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) amended the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025 to require members of six non-Muslim minority communities — Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian — from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who entered India without valid travel documents (citing religious persecution) on or before December 31, 2024, to now obtain an appropriate visa to continue their stay in India.
At a glance
MHA amended the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025 to require Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan (entered India by Dec 31, 2024) to obtain a visa to stay in India.
Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian — from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Entry cut-off: December 31, 2024. Must now obtain appropriate visa (expected: Long-Term Visa).
Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 (Section 33 — Central Govt exemption power). Original order: Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025 (September 1, 2025). Related: CAA 2019.
CAA 2019 provides fast-track citizenship for same 6 communities entered before Dec 31, 2014. This order covers those who entered 2015–2024 — provides interim legal status via visa, not citizenship.
Timeline
Why in News
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) amended the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025 on November 6, 2026 to mandate that persons belonging to six non-Muslim minority communities — Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian — from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who had entered India citing religious persecution without valid travel documents, on or before December 31, 2024, must now obtain an appropriate visa to continue staying in India. The amendment formalises the legal status of these communities' members under Indian immigration law while creating a pathway for their regularised residence, aligned with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 framework.
Background
India has long served as a destination for refugees fleeing religious persecution in its neighbouring countries. Members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have entered India — sometimes without valid passports or visas — citing fear of religious persecution. In legal terms, these individuals are "undocumented foreigners" under Indian law since India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, and does not have a national refugee law.
Key Legislative Background
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 provided a fast-track citizenship pathway for these same six communities from the same three countries, provided they had entered India on or before December 31, 2014. CAA does not grant citizenship automatically — it creates an expedited eligibility route. For those who entered after December 31, 2014 (up to December 31, 2024), no citizenship pathway exists yet under CAA, but the MHA's successive orders have provided interim protection from immediate deportation and an exemption from normal foreigners' registration requirements.
The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 — which replaced the earlier patchwork of the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, and the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939 — was enacted to consolidate India's immigration law. Under Section 33 of this Act, the Central Government has the power to issue orders exempting certain categories of persons from the Act's requirements. The Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025 was the original order issued under this section on September 1, 2025.
Current Developments
The November 2026 amendment to the 2025 Order introduces the following key changes:
- Visa requirement introduced: Persons from the six communities who entered India without valid travel documents (or whose documents have since expired) and are residing in India must now obtain an "appropriate visa" — the category of visa has not been specified in public reporting but is expected to be a Long-Term Visa (LTV), which the MHA has historically used for such cases.
- Cut-off date maintained: Entry on or before December 31, 2024 remains the cut-off. Persons who entered after this date are not covered by the Order's protections.