India allows minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan to stay without passports

Members of minority communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who entered India by 2024 to escape "religious persecution", will be allowed to stay without passports or other travel documents, according to the Indian home ministry.

"A person belonging to a minority community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- who were compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution and entered the country on or before December 31, 2024 without valid documents, including a passport or other travel documents, or with valid documents, including a passport or other travel documents, and the validity of such documents has expired, will be exempted from the rule of possessing a valid passport and visa," said an order issued by the home ministry.

The order was issued under the recently passed Immigration and Foreigners Act of 2025, which came into force on Monday (September 1). It is expected to provide relief to a large number of people who crossed over to India after 2014 and were uncertain about their status.

Under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which came into effect last year, members of these persecuted minorities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, are eligible for Indian citizenship.