New Immigration Order 2025: Streamlined rules, old exclusions

On September 2, 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025, marking a substantial consolidation of India’s immigration framework. Issued under the recently enacted Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, this notification replaces the Registration of Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 1957 and the Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Order, 2007. According to the report of Hindustan Times, it introduces both liberalised exemptions for certain categories of entrants and stringent mechanisms for detention and deportation of illegal migrants.

This development is significant not only for its immediate regulatory effect but also because it continues a policy trajectory first crystallised in 2015 — privileging certain religious minorities from India’s neighbouring countries while excluding Muslims.

Key features of the 2025 Order

1. Nepal and Bhutan nationals: Citizens of Nepal and Bhutan are exempt from passport and visa requirements when entering by land or air across their borders. Exemptions also apply for entry via other routes (excluding China, Macau, Hong Kong, and Pakistan) if they carry valid passports.
2. Members of Indian Armed Forces: Naval, Military, and Air Force personnel entering or exiting India on duty, along with their families accompanying them on government transport, are exempt.
3. Tibetan refugees: Tibetans registered with Indian authorities and holding valid certificates are permitted entry subject to conditions linked to their date and mode of arrival, with differentiated treatment based on whether entry occurred before 2003, between 2003 and the commencement of the Act, or thereafter.
4. Minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan: Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who entered India on or before December 31, 2024, due to religious persecution (or fear thereof), are exempted even if they lack valid documents or if their passports/visas have expired.
5. Sri Lankan Tamil refugees: Registered Sri Lankan Tamils who sought shelter in India up to January 9, 2015, are exempt from restrictions under the Act for purposes of stay and exit.
6. Biometric and detention provisions: All foreigners applying for visas or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) registration must submit biometric data. Illegal immigrants apprehended within India will be confined to holding centres or detention camps pending deportation.
7. Restrictions on mountaineering and protected areas: Foreigners may not climb peaks without prior government approval and liaison supervision. Entry into protected or restricted areas requires permits, with nationals of Afghanistan, China, and Pakistan expressly barred.

The 2015 precedent

The 2025 Order is not novel but rather a continuation of exemptions introduced a decade earlier.

• In September 2015, the MHA issued twin notifications:
  • The Passport (Entry into India) Amendment Rules, 2015 exempted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Bangladesh and Pakistan who had entered India on or before December 31, 2014, even without valid papers.
  • The Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015 granted the same groups exemption from the operation of the Foreigners Act, 1946, insulating them from deportation for overstaying or undocumented entry.

Both orders mirrored each other and systematically excluded Muslims, establishing the legal foundation for the later Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA).

Legal and policy analysis

The 2025 Order consolidates fragmented immigration exemptions into one comprehensive framework. Yet, its real significance lies in what it reveals about the State’s differential treatment of migrants based on religion and nationality.

• Consolidation with a selective core: While extending administrative clarity, the order entrenches selective humanitarianism. Religious minorities from three Muslim-majority neighbours are explicitly protected, while Muslims facing comparable conditions remain outside its ambit.
• From ad hoc notifications to statutory consolidation: The 2015 exemptions were executive measures issued under the Passport Act, 1920 and Foreigners Act, 1946. In contrast, the 2025 regime consolidates these fragmented exemptions under the newly enacted Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, thereby giving them a more structured and consolidated statutory footing.
• Detention architecture: For the first time, the MHA explicitly directs every state and Union Territory to establish dedicated holding centres/detention camps, formalising what was earlier an ad hoc practice.
• Continuity with CAA: The trajectory from the 2015 notifications → CAA 2019 → 2025 Order underscores a consistent policy of selective inclusion.

Conclusion

The Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025 represents both continuity and change. It consolidates exemptions for Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamils, and India’s closest neighbours, while codifying detention mechanisms and strengthening biometric surveillance. Yet, at its core, it preserves the religion-based exclusions first articulated in 2015, institutionalising them within a sharper statutory framework.

By aligning immigration control with selective humanitarian relief, India’s new immigration regime advances legal clarity but also raises critical constitutional and human rights questions — especially around the equal treatment of similarly situated groups.

Related:

Inside CAA 2019: New Rules & Unresolved Questions

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‘Black Acts’: Urmila compares CAA 2019 to Rowlatt Act 1919 at meet

Why the CAA+NPR+NRC is a toxic cocktail for everyone