Polity & GovernancePriority2025-04-04

Parliament Passes Immigration and Foreigners Bill

Why focus: Replaces Foreigners Act 1946 — GS2 Polity, sets up How-Many-Correct options on constitutional vs statutory rights of aliens

In News

What Happened

On April 4, 2025, the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 received the President's assent and became law after being passed by both houses of Parliament. The legislation consolidates four legacy colonial and pre-2000 era laws into a single modern statute to govern the entry, stay, movement, and exit of foreign nationals in India. It establishes strict digitized tracking, shifts the burden of proof of legal status onto individuals, and mandates mandatory reporting of foreigners by institutions.

Why It Matters

This sweeping overhaul modernizes India's immigration framework by digitizing records and establishing strict security protocols. It is crucial for balancing national security against illegal immigration, drug cartels, and human trafficking, while establishing a systematic process for legal entry to support economic and educational globalization.

Background

History & Context

India's immigration regime was previously governed by a fragmented, overlapping web of outdated laws: the Passport (Entry into India) Act of 1920, the Registration of Foreigners Act of 1939, the Foreigners Act of 1946, and the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act of 2000. These World War-era statutes led to ambiguous interpretations, delayed manual enforcement, and data gaps. Introduced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha on March 11, 2025, the new Bill was designed after three years of deep deliberation. It aims to create a centralized, digitized framework capable of tackling modern security challenges while accommodating the massive increase in cross-border travel—with passenger traffic nearly doubling in the last decade.

What Changed

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Consolidation and Repeal: Formally repeals the 1920, 1939, 1946, and 2000 Acts, rolling their provisions into one unified immigration code.
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Statutory Backing for Institutions: Grants formal legal status to the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) as the central authority, and provides a statutory framework for the Immigration, Visa, and Foreigners Registration and Tracking (IVFRT) system.
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Expanded Reporting Obligations: Beyond hotel keepers, it now legally mandates educational institutions, hospitals, and nursing homes to electronically report the admission, treatment, birth, or death of foreigners (within seven days for births/deaths) to the Registration Officer.
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Stricter Penalties: The penalty for entering India without valid travel documents has been drastically increased from a maximum fine of Rs 50,000 to up to Rs 5 lakh, alongside up to 5 years of imprisonment.
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Burden of Proof: Explicitly solidifies the controversial provision that the burden of proving one's legal status, or proving that one is not a foreigner, rests squarely on the individual rather than the State.
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Premise Control: Empowers civil authorities to control, restrict, or entirely shut down resorts, clubs, or places 'frequented by foreigners' if there are national security or public order concerns.

What Did NOT Change

The overarching constitutional principles regarding citizenship acquisition remain completely intact; the Act does not alter or repeal the Citizenship Act, 1955. Furthermore, the fundamental rights available to foreigners under Part III of the Constitution (such as Article 14 and 21) continue to apply, meaning standard judicial due process must still be followed despite the stricter surveillance norms.

Prelims Angle

NCERT Connection

In Class 11 Political Science (Indian Constitution at Work), Chapter 2 discusses 'Rights in the Indian Constitution', emphasizing the distinction between rights available exclusively to citizens (Articles 15, 16, 19, 29, 30) versus those available to both citizens and foreigners (Articles 14, 21). The passage of the 2025 Act brings this distinction to life: while the Act gives authorities sweeping powers to arrest undocumented foreigners or deny them entry, these individuals are still protected by Article 21 (Right to Life and Personal Liberty). Furthermore, during parliamentary debates, the opposition argued that shutting down an Indian-owned premise merely because it is frequented by foreigners violates the Indian owner's Article 19(1)(g) right to practice any profession, highlighting the complex interplay between strict immigration controls and constitutional rights.

Common Misconceptions

✗ The Citizenship Act of 1955 directly governs the entry, visas, and exit of foreign nationals in India.

✓ The Citizenship Act strictly deals with acquiring, registering (e.g., OCI), or losing Indian citizenship. Entry, stay, visas, and exit are governed by immigration laws, specifically the new Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.

People routinely conflate the concepts of 'immigration' and 'citizenship', assuming a single omnibus law handles all cross-border and demographic matters.

✗ Under Indian law, the burden of proving that a person is an illegal immigrant lies with the police or the State.

✓ Under the new Act (continuing the legacy of the Foreigners Act, 1946), the burden of proof lies entirely on the individual suspected of being a foreigner to prove their legal status.

In standard criminal jurisprudence, the fundamental rule is 'innocent until proven guilty' by the State. Immigration law is a notable exception to this rule.

Practice Questions

Q1

How Many Correct

Consider the following statements regarding the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025: 1. It repeals both the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the Citizenship Act, 1955, to create a single consolidated code. 2. It places the burden of proof on the individual to establish that they are not a foreigner or are staying legally in India. 3. It gives statutory backing to the Immigration, Visa and Foreigners Registration and Tracking (IVFRT) system. How many of the above statements are correct?

Q2

Match the Following

Match the Legacy Acts repealed by the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 (List I) with their primary historical function (List II): List I: A. Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 B. Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939 C. Foreigners Act, 1946 D. Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act, 2000 List II: 1. Penalized airlines and shipping companies for transporting passengers without valid travel documents. 2. Granted the Central Government sweeping powers to deport or restrict the movement of foreign nationals, enacted shortly after WWII. 3. Empowered authorities to require foreign nationals to report their presence to a prescribed authority. 4. Originally enacted during British rule to mandate that persons entering India must possess passports.

Q3

Assertion & Reason

Assertion (A): The Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025 introduces stringent penalties and allows arrests for foreign nationals residing in India without valid travel documents. Reason (R): Foreign nationals present in Indian territory are completely excluded from the protection of Part III (Fundamental Rights) of the Indian Constitution.

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