The Union Government has relaxed passport and visa requirements for multiple categories of foreign nationals living in India, including long-term Pakistani residents, minority refugees from three neighbouring countries, Sri Lankan Tamils, Tibetans, and certain people of Indian origin, according to a gazette notification issued on Thursday.
The Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) (Amendment) Order, 2026, notified by the Union Home Ministry, also simplifies identification and travel rules for Indian, Nepalese and Bhutanese citizens moving between the three countries.
According to the amended order, Pakistani nationals who came to India on or before December 31, 2009, intending to live here permanently, do not need to meet the usual passport renewal requirements if they cannot renew their documents because they do not have a Computerised National Identity Card from Pakistan.
To be eligible, they must not have married or bought property in Pakistan, must have left family members in India who are Indian citizens, and must promise not to return to Pakistan. They also need to have a clean record with the police and security agencies.
A separate rule applies to people of Indian origin who became citizens of Malaysia or Singapore and returned to India on or before December 31, 2009, using passports from those countries.
Their passports must have expired and not been renewed because they do not meet Malaysia’s or Singapore’s renewal rules.
For this order, a “person of Indian origin” means a foreign citizen (not from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, or China) who once held an Indian passport, or whose parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents were born and lived in India as defined by the Government of India Act, 1935, and later Indian territories, as long as none were citizens of the excluded countries. The order also exempts Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who have entered India on or before 31st December 2024 as a result of being compelled to seek refuge due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution.
This includes those who have entered without valid travel documents and those whose documents have expired. Sri Lankan Tamil nationals who registered and took refuge in India on or before 9th January 2015 are also exempt from the general rules relating to passports and visas.