Immigration and Foreigners Bill not connected to grant of citizenship, says official   

Comprehensive Immigration and Foreigners Bill aims to simplify laws, ease compliance burden, and balance national security with economic growth.

A day after the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 was introduced in the Parliament, a government official clarified that the legislation is not connected with any matters related with grant of citizenship.

The official said the Bill was a comprehensive legislation to regulate all matters relating to foreigners and immigration that are currently administered through four Acts — the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Act, 2000. The four Acts are proposed to be repealed.

The official said the Bill retained several provisions in the four Acts, and it also had certain new provisions to meet the present-day requirements. This Bill was in line with the Government of India’s policy of simplification of laws, ease of doing business and minimising compliance burden.

“Key provisions in the Bill include mandatory requirement of valid travel documents for entry into, stay in and exit from India, constitution of a Bureau of Immigration, power for deportation of illegal foreigners from India, mandatory reporting of information about foreigners by hotels, universities and educational institutions and hospitals, nursing homes etc. to enable tracking of overstaying foreigners, obligation of carriers to share information on passengers as per international practices, compounding of certain offences to enable ease of compliance burden,” the official said.

The simplified language in the Bill was likely to help in smooth administration of the provisions and ensure better compliance of foreigners with the immigration laws. “It will provide adequate legal backing to immigration functions, its agencies and functionaries, help in tackling the problem of illegal migration into India and facilitate tracking of movement of overstaying foreigners in India. It will also help in reducing the compliance burden,” the official said.

The new Bill seeks to balance the requirements of national security and related issues of immigration of foreigners with the need to promote economic growth and tourism in the country.