NEW DELHI, November 6 (Aalimi Nation) – The Union Home Ministry has amended the rules that exempt certain categories of people from passport and visa requirements, issuing the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) (Amendment) Order, 2026, through a notification in the Official Gazette. The order also defines the Visa Manual, the instructions on visas and immigration that the Central Government issues from time to time.
Passport exemption order: Nepal and Bhutan travel
Under the order, Indian citizens travelling to Nepal or Bhutan by land or air are exempt from the passport requirement. They must instead show an identity document specified in the Visa Manual to an immigration officer and answer the officer's questions. The same arrangement applies to citizens of Nepal and Bhutan entering or leaving India.
The exemption has limits. According to the notification, it does not extend to Indian citizens who use the Indo-Nepal or Indo-Bhutan borders to travel to or from any other country. Such travellers must hold a valid passport and may enter or leave India only through designated immigration posts. The order has been described in different ways: some accounts call it a relaxation of passport rules, while others say it tightens entry norms by requiring specified identity documents.
Who else is covered
The order names several other groups. Registered Sri Lankan Tamils who took shelter in India on or before January 9, 2015, are included among those exempt from the passport and visa requirements. Members of the Indian Navy, Army and Air Force on official duty are covered, as are family members travelling with them on government transport.
For people from neighbouring countries, the order covers Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who sought shelter in India because of religious persecution and who entered on or before December 31, 2024. They are exempt from passport and travel document requirements, but they must still obtain an appropriate visa for continued stay in the country.
The order also addresses certain Pakistani nationals who came to India on or before December 31, 2009, intending to settle permanently, and who cannot renew their passports because they do not hold a Pakistani Computerised National Identity Card. Persons of Indian origin with Malaysian or Singaporean citizenship who returned to India on or before December 31, 2009, and now carry expired passports that cannot be renewed are also included.
Legal basis and what comes next
The amendment was issued using the powers given to the Central Government under Section 33 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, according to the notification. It amends the existing exemption order under that law rather than creating a new framework.
The reports available on the notification do not state a separate effective date, and no official explanation of the reasoning behind individual changes has been published alongside the order. Until further clarification is issued, the text of the gazette notification remains the authoritative statement of who is exempt and on what conditions.
