India Notifies Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025: Tightens Oversight on Entry, Stay and Deportation

Moneylife Digital Team 02 September 2025

Economy & Nation

The Union government has notified the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025, ushering in a consolidated framework for regulating the entry, registration, monitoring and deportation of foreign nationals in India. The new rules, effective September 1, replace multiple decades-old regulations, signalling a major overhaul of the country’s immigration management system.

The notification supersedes earlier frameworks, including the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950; Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992; and Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Rules, 2007. By integrating these fragmented provisions into one uniform code, the government aims to streamline compliance, enforcement and institutional responsibilities under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which received Presidential assent in April this year.

Under the new regime, the Bureau of Immigration (BoI), functioning under the Intelligence Bureau, has been vested with sweeping powers to manage all immigration-related services. This includes processing visas, maintaining foreigner registration records, collecting biometrics and overseeing deportations.

Immigration posts at airports, seaports and designated land check-points will act as the primary enforcement nodes. Foreigners arriving in India will be required to furnish detailed personal and biometric information, with institutions such as universities, hotels, hospitals and landlords mandated to report details of foreign nationals availing their services.

The rules introduce stricter penalties for violations. The use, possession or supply of forged passports, visas or other travel documents may invite imprisonment between two and seven years, along with fines ranging from Rs1 lakh to Rs10 lakh. Foreign nationals entering restricted areas without valid documents face imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to Rs5 lakh, or both.

Airlines, shipping companies and other carriers face enhanced obligations to submit advance passenger and crew information electronically. Non-compliance may attract heavy penalties. The government has also empowered authorities to seal or restrict access to premises deemed to facilitate illegal immigration.

The rules come amid a nationwide debate over illegal immigration and demographic changes in border states, particularly Assam. Over 450 individuals have reportedly been deported since 2024, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently directed state governments to evict squatters within 30 kilometres of international borders to prevent “demographic change.”

The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 11, passed by both Houses by early April, and became law after Presidential assent on April 4. The September 1 notification now operationalises the Act through detailed rules. The new framework represents India’s most comprehensive immigration reform in decades, aligning policy with global practices of biometric monitoring and data-driven enforcement.

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