India Requires Visas for Afghan Hindus and Sikhs Under Wider Immigration Changes

Visa requirement reaches six communities across three countries

Afghan Hindus and Sikhs who sought shelter in India because of religious persecution or fear of it must obtain an appropriate visa to continue living there under an amendment to India's immigration rules. The requirement covers eligible people who arrived on or before December 31, 2024, without valid travel documents, as well as those whose documents expired after arrival.

The measure extends beyond Afghanistan. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh and Pakistan are also covered. India's Ministry of Home Affairs issued the amendment on November 4, 2026, and it was published in the Official Gazette on November 5, when it took effect.

The Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) (Amendment) Order, 2026, preserves certain exemptions from passport and visa requirements for entry while requiring an appropriate visa for continued residence. For affected families, permission to remain in India now involves securing the correct visa even where an exemption applies to their entry or travel documents.

The order also changes documentation rules for travel involving India, Nepal and Bhutan, provides conditional relief to some residents unable to renew foreign passports, and retains specified exemptions for Tibetan refugees and registered Sri Lankan Tamils.

Who must obtain a visa?

The requirement brings together four conditions: a person's country of origin, religious community, arrival date and circumstances of seeking shelter. It covers members of the six listed communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan who were compelled to seek refuge because of religious persecution or fear of persecution.

December 31, 2024, is the arrival cutoff. Within that group, the provision covers both people who entered without valid passports or other travel documents and people whose documents were valid when they arrived but later expired.

An Afghan Sikh who arrived before the cutoff without valid travel papers, for example, falls within the described category if the persecution condition is met. The same provision covers a qualifying Hindu from Bangladesh or Christian from Pakistan whose travel documents expired after entering India.

The requirement therefore reaches people with different document histories. A missing passport at arrival and an expired passport after arrival lead to the same practical requirement for the covered communities: obtaining an appropriate category of visa to continue their stay.

What changes from the September 2025 exemption?

The Ministry of Home Affairs introduced the earlier exemption on September 2, 2025, under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. That order consolidated earlier notifications granting the specified communities exemptions under passport and foreigners laws, including protection from prosecution covered by those provisions.

The September order allowed qualifying members of the six communities to enter and stay without valid passports or visas. The 2026 amendment retains the entry exemption but adds a visa requirement for continued residence.

A passport and a visa serve different purposes. A passport is normally issued by a person's country and records identity and nationality for international travel. A visa is permission from the destination country to enter or stay under particular conditions. The amendment allows specified passport exemptions to continue while making a visa necessary for residence.

For affected residents, the next administrative step is obtaining the appropriate visa through the relevant immigration authorities. The announcement gives no application deadline, named visa category, fee or processing timetable, and gives no figure for how many people will need to apply.

How the key dates fit together

The changes involve several dates that determine different kinds of eligibility. The arrival cutoff for the latest visa provision comes ten years after the cutoff used for the citizenship pathway under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

The main sequence is:

• December 31, 2014: Arrival cutoff for the citizenship pathway under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, subject to its other legal conditions.
• December 31, 2024: Arrival cutoff for the six communities covered by the amended visa provision.
• September 2, 2025: The government issued the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025.
• November 4, 2026: The Ministry of Home Affairs issued the amendment.
• November 5, 2026: The amendment was published in the Official Gazette and took effect.

For a family checking its position, the arrival date matters alongside nationality, religion, the reason for seeking shelter and the condition of its travel documents. The 2024 cutoff concerns the immigration exemption and visa requirement; the 2014 cutoff concerns eligibility for a particular route to citizenship.

Residence and citizenship follow different rules

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, provides a route to Indian citizenship through registration or naturalisation for eligible members of the same six communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Registration and naturalisation are legal procedures through which a person can acquire citizenship after meeting the required conditions.

The overlap in countries and communities connects the two measures, but each has its own requirements. Under the citizenship law, eligible applicants must have entered India on or before December 31, 2014, and satisfy the other statutory conditions. The amended visa provision reaches qualifying arrivals through December 31, 2024.

A person who arrived in 2020 may therefore fall within the newer visa provision while being outside the citizenship law's arrival cutoff. Their immediate legal issue under this amendment is permission to remain through an appropriate visa.

For someone who arrived before the end of 2014, citizenship eligibility still requires consideration under the citizenship law. A visa governs residence, while citizenship creates a different legal status with its own application process and conditions.

Relief for residents who cannot renew passports

The amendment also addresses specific groups of residents whose foreign passports have expired and cannot be renewed. Those provisions combine conditional relief from passport requirements with an obligation to obtain an appropriate visa for continued residence.

One category covers Pakistani citizens who entered India on or before December 31, 2009, using valid Pakistani passports and intending to settle permanently. The relief applies where they cannot renew their passports because they lack a Computerised National Identity Card issued by Pakistan. That card is a Pakistani identity document used in the passport renewal process described by the provision.

Another category concerns certain Muslim men who were originally Indian citizens, migrated to Pakistan between August 15, 1947, and December 31, 1965, and returned to India on or before December 31, 2009. They must have settled in Kerala and meet additional conditions.

Those conditions include having neither married nor acquired immovable property while in Pakistan, having left family members who are Indian citizens in India when they migrated, undertaking not to return to Pakistan, and having no adverse reports from police or security agencies.

The amendment also covers certain people of Indian origin who acquired Malaysian or Singaporean citizenship and returned to India on or before December 31, 2009. Their passports must have expired and be impossible to renew because they cannot meet the relevant country's renewal conditions. They must provide documentary proof of Indian origin.

For these categories, relief concerns the passport or travel document obstacle. Continued residence requires the appropriate visa, giving people whose passports cannot be renewed a route to address their immigration status under the specified conditions.

What changes for travel through Nepal and Bhutan?

Indian citizens retain a passport exemption for direct travel to Nepal or Bhutan by land or air, subject to the applicable rules. They must present an identity document specified in the government's Visa Manual to an immigration officer and provide any additional information the officer requests.

The amendment formally defines the Visa Manual as a central government document containing instructions on visas, immigration and related matters. It becomes the reference for the identity documents required under these provisions.

Indian citizens travelling onward to a third country through the India–Nepal or India–Bhutan border must carry valid passports and use designated immigration checkpoints. A journey ending in Nepal or Bhutan therefore has different document requirements from a journey that uses either country as a route to another destination.

Nepali and Bhutanese citizens also retain passport exemptions for direct travel to India under the applicable rules, with identity documents specified in the Visa Manual and any additional information requested by immigration officers.

For Nepali and Bhutanese citizens entering or leaving India on journeys involving destinations outside India, Nepal and Bhutan, valid passports are required. Those who have embarked from or transited through China, Macau, Hong Kong or Pakistan must carry both valid passports and valid visas. The route taken is therefore a central part of determining the documents needed.

Which refugee exemptions continue?

The amended order retains specified passport and visa exemptions for Tibetan refugees and registered Sri Lankan Tamil nationals. Their eligibility depends on arrival dates, permits and registration conditions set out for each group.

Tibetan refugees who entered India after 1959 but before May 30, 2003, with an Entry Permit issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu remain covered by an exemption.

The provisions also cover Tibetans arriving after May 30, 2003, with a Special Entry Permit issued by the embassy in Kathmandu, provided they enter through a designated immigration post on the India–Nepal border. They must register with the relevant Registration Officer and obtain a Certificate of Registration under Rule 13 of the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025.

Registered Sri Lankan Tamil nationals who took shelter in India on or before January 9, 2015, retain their passport and visa exemptions. For these residents, registration and the applicable arrival cutoff remain central to their position under the order.

What the changes mean for affected families

Afghan Hindus and Sikhs covered by the amendment now need to address their visa status even where their lack of valid travel documents falls within an exemption. The same requirement applies to the other listed communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The practical task begins with identifying the relevant category: the six communities seeking shelter from persecution, a qualifying resident unable to renew a foreign passport, or a group retaining a separate exemption. Each category has different dates and conditions.

For families covered by the persecution provision, records showing when they arrived and the history of their travel documents will be relevant to determining which rules apply. Immigration authorities will need to assess their circumstances and the appropriate visa category.

The broader amendment combines continued document exemptions with more specific requirements for residence and travel. Its immediate effect on the six communities is concrete: eligible entry under an exemption is followed by a requirement to obtain a visa to keep living in India.

Key Points

• Eligible Afghan Hindus and Sikhs must obtain appropriate visas to continue staying in India.
• The requirement also covers Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh and Pakistan.
• The provision applies to qualifying arrivals on or before December 31, 2024, who lacked valid travel documents or whose documents later expired.
• The amendment took effect on November 5, 2026, following publication in the Official Gazette.
• The citizenship pathway under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act uses the earlier arrival cutoff of December 31, 2014.
• Travel involving Nepal and Bhutan has identity document, passport and visa requirements that depend on the traveller's nationality and route.
• Specified exemptions continue for qualifying Tibetan refugees and registered Sri Lankan Tamil nationals.