Passport Visa Rules: The central government has relaxed passport and visa requirements for several categories of foreigners living in the country. These include some Pakistani nationals, minority refugees, Sri Lankan Tamils and Tibetans. The Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) (Amendment) Order, 2026, issued on Thursday, also eases travel and identification requirements for citizens of Nepal, Bhutan and India between these neighboring countries.
Passport Visa Rules Changed
As per the revised Union Home Ministry rules, Pakistani nationals who came to India on or before December 31, 2009 with the intention of settling permanently in India will be exempted from the usual conditions for renewal of their passport. This exception applies to persons who cannot renew their travel documents because they do not have a Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) issued by Pakistan. You shouldn’t have gotten married while living in Pakistan
To qualify for this exemption, they must not have married or purchased real estate while living in Pakistan. Additionally, all family members left behind upon departure must be Indian citizens. In addition, they must undertake not to return to Pakistan. The notification also states that they should not be the subject of any adverse police or security reports.
What Should You Know?
The third exemption category includes people of Indian origin. The third exemption category includes persons of Indian origin who have acquired Malaysian or Singaporean citizenship and returned to India on or before December 31, 2009 with passports issued by these countries. These individuals’ passports have expired and have not been renewed because they do not meet the renewal requirements of their respective countries.
According to the notification, “person of Indian origin” for the purposes of this provision means a foreign national (other than a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal and China) who has previously held an Indian passport; or if the person, his or her parents, grandparents or great-grandparents were born in India and had their permanent residence in the areas specified in the Government of India Act, 1935 or in the areas which later became part of India, provided that they were never citizens of the above countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.).
A visa of the appropriate category is required
To continue their stay in India, people belonging to these three categories must apply for a visa of the appropriate category. The notification states that citizens of India, Nepal and Bhutan, traveling directly by road or air between these neighboring countries, can present identity documents as specified in the government’s official ‘Visa Manual’ in place of regular passport.
The exemption also applies to Indian citizens.
It is further stated that the exemptions under this provision do not apply to Indian citizens arriving or departing from a country other than Nepal or Bhutan via the India-Nepal or India-Bhutan border (by road or air). In these cases they must have a valid passport. They can only use designated immigration checkpoints to enter or leave India. In these cases the normal passport rules apply
Citizens of Nepal and Bhutan traveling to or from India via China, Macau, Hong Kong or Pakistan must have both a valid passport and a valid visa. Normal passport rules will also apply when crossing territorial borders to travel to or from third countries. These rules exempt people from the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who have been forced to flee due to or fear of religious persecution and arrived in India on or before December 31, 2024. This exemption includes those who entered India without valid passports or other travel documents, as well as those whose documents have now expired. However, they will need to obtain an appropriate visa on arrival to continue their stay in India.