Home Ministry order redraws who is exempt from passport and visa rules: who gains and what paperwork stays

The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 consolidated India's older laws on passports, foreigners and registration. It lets the government exempt classes of people from its requirements, and the ministry issued an Exemption Order in 2025. The new amendment adjusts that list, and it introduces a definition of the Visa Manual, the set of instructions on visas and immigration issued by the Centre from time to time.

The main groups in the order, as reported, are:

The ministry's order also names Tibetans among those covered, but the terms that apply to them were not spelled out in the report available.

Nepal and Bhutan travel

The provision that affects the largest number of ordinary travellers is the open border arrangement. Indian citizens travelling to Nepal or Bhutan by land or air are exempt from the passport requirement, provided they show one of the identity documents listed in the Visa Manual to an Immigration Officer and give any information the officer asks for. Similar provisions apply to citizens of Nepal and Bhutan entering or leaving India.

So this is not a matter of walking across with nothing. A traveller still needs an accepted document. The Bureau of Immigration says that citizens of Nepal and Bhutan must hold a Government-approved document proving nationality, and that a passport and visa are required when they arrive from China, Macau, Hong Kong or Pakistan. Travellers should check the exact list before flying, because airlines may be stricter than a land checkpoint.

Why it matters

For the groups in the table, the practical effect is relief from a legal limbo. A person whose passport has expired and cannot be renewed has been, strictly speaking, out of status. The Pakistani nationals in the order illustrate the point: their passports cannot be renewed without an identity card from a state they left more than 15 years ago. Elderly Muslim men who returned to India decades after Partition, and families of Indian origin with expired Malaysian or Singaporean passports, are in much the same position. These are small groups, but for each person the difference is between being able to open a bank account or see a doctor without fear, and not.

The 31 December 2024 date for persecuted minorities is the most closely watched part. It is ten years later than the 31 December 2014 cut-off in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. That distinction is important. An exemption from passport rules allows a person to stay without being treated as an illegal entrant. It does not give citizenship. Those covered who came after 2014 are not, under the Act as it stands, eligible for the fast track to citizenship.

The religious list will draw the same objection as the 2019 Act. Critics argue that protection based on a list of faiths excludes persecuted Muslim groups such as Ahmadis, Hazaras and Rohingya, and raises questions of equality. However, the government's position has been that these three neighbouring states have a state religion or a history of persecuting the listed minorities, and that India has a particular responsibility towards them.

For Sri Lankan Tamils, the exemption gives some certainty to people who have lived for many years in Tamil Nadu, many of them in camps. Their long-term status, including any route to citizenship, remains a separate and unresolved issue.

The full gazette text was not available at the time of writing, so this account relies on the published summary of the order. Anyone affected should read the notification itself or consult a Foreigners Regional Registration Office.

Three practical points follow from what is known. The exemption generally requires that a person fall exactly within the stated dates and categories, so documents proving the date of entry are vital. The minorities group must still obtain the appropriate visa for continued stay. And the order does not settle citizenship, for which separate rules apply.

Those travelling to Nepal or Bhutan should carry the listed identity document, along with a backup. Advice on what counts can change, because the Visa Manual is issued and updated by the Centre, and that appears to be why the order now refers to it directly. This gives the government a way to adjust the details without a fresh gazette order, which is convenient for officials and is one more reason for travellers to check before they go.