Hindus, Sikhs who entered India till 2024 can stay without passport | Latest News India

The Union home ministry said in an order on Tuesday that members of minority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — who came to India till December 31, 2024 to escape religious persecution will be allowed to stay in the country without a passport or other travel documents.

The latest Immigration and Foreigners Act-related order allows stay without a passport to those who came till December 2024 and doesn’t guarantee citizenship.(Unsplash)

The order is among many issued by the ministry with regard to the recently passed Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which came into effect from Monday.

It comes as a relief for the minorities from these three countries as the previously brought law Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which came into force last year, applied only to those who came to India on or before December 31, 2014 for eligibility to acquire citizenship.

To be sure, the latest Immigration and Foreigners Act-related order allows stay without a passport to those who came till December 2024 and doesn’t guarantee citizenship. It will come as a relief to a large number of people, especially Hindus from Pakistan, who crossed over to India after 2014 and were worried about their fate.

“People belonging to a minority community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — who were compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or for fear of religious persecution and entered the country on or before December 31, 2024 without valid documents or with documents that have expired” will be covered by the order.

The citizens of Nepal and Bhutan as well as Indians entering India by land or air from the two neighbouring countries will not be required to furnish a passport or visa, as earlier.

The members of the naval, military or air forces of India entering or exiting India on duty and the family members of any such person, when accompanying such a person on a government transport, will also not be required to carry a passport or visa, according to an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) following the enforcement of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.

Requirement of passport or other valid travel documents and a visa for entry into, stay in and exit from India shall not apply if “a citizen of India entering into India by land or by air over the Nepalese or Bhutanese frontier, a citizen of Nepal or Bhutan entering into India by land or air over the Nepal or Bhutan border or if he possesses a valid passport while entering or exiting India from or to a place other than Nepal or Bhutan but not from China, Macau, Hong Kong or Pakistan”, MHA said.

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