New immigration & foreigners bill introduced in Parliament

The new bill puts the onus on educational & medical institutions, including hospitals and universities, as well as owners of private residences to inform authorities about foreigners staying in their facility

With an aim to enhance national security, the government on Tuesday introduced the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 in Parliament. While introducing the bill, Minister of state (MoS) home affairs Nityanand Rai said, “We are not bringing this law to stop anyone from coming to India”.

MoS Rai clarified that this provision is currently also available in the system but through an order and now being included in the act. (PTI photo)

“More people are welcome in India, but they must adhere to the immigration law. The provisions of the law are important for national security”, Rai said.

“Since India is growing economically, government is committed and providing facilities to ensure more tourists come here. But it is also the government’s responsibility to prioritise the security of the country”, he added.

The new bill puts the onus on educational and medical institutions, including hospitals and universities, as well as owners of private residences to inform the authorities about foreigners staying in their facility.

Rai clarified that this provision is currently also available in the system but through an order and now being included in the act.

The new law obligates the carriers such as airlines and vessels to remove a passenger denied entry by the immigration officer and provide passenger and crew data to the authorities in advance. It carries a provision of up to ₹5 lakh in fine for violating carriers.

The proposed legislation seeks to abolish four existing laws — the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Act, 2000 — which currently govern various aspects related to foreigners in India and define the powers of immigration authorities.

“The acts… are not only of pre-Constitution period, but also, they were brought into extraordinary times of first and second world wars. While there is an underlying continuity and commonality of objectives among the four Acts, there are some overlapping provisions among the said acts,” the statement of objects and reasons of the new bill, seen by HT, said, adding there “is a necessity to repeal all the aforesaid four Acts and to enact a new comprehensive legislation, namely the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025”, the proposed legislation states.

The proposed legislation is being enacted to avoid multiplicity and overlapping of laws on the same or related subject and to comply with the government of India’s policy of simplification of laws, it added.

Once implemented, the law will confer upon the Centre certain powers to provide for the requirement of passports or other travel documents in respect of people entering and exiting India and for regulating matters related to foreigners including requirement of visa and registration.

According to the latest government data, a total of 9,840,321 foreigners visited India between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024.