Immigration and Foreigners Bill passed in parliament

Parliament has passed the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 with the Rajya Sabha approving it yesterday. The Lok Sabah has already passed the bill. The legislation seeks to regulate the immigration, entry, and stay of foreigners in India. It repeals 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 Bill is intended to modernise the immigration laws and it has provisions to confer upon the Central Government certain powers with regard to passports, travel documents, visa and registration. The legislation has been brought to avoid multiplicity and overlapping of laws.

Replying to a debate on the Bill in the House, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said that the legislation will help upkeeping and manage all the updated records of the foreigners visiting India. He said, the legislation also intends to reduce overlapping of laws, enhance coordination among the concerned agencies and remove the complexity in management and verification of data. He said, the bill has been designed after three years of deep deliberation.

Mr Rai stated that the Immigration Bureau is already in existence which was questioned by members, and the bureau will be the only agency to deal with issues related to immigration,n and this is the system which is being followed worldwide. The Minister said that all those people are welcomed in the country who come here for education, research and development work. He also alleged that the TMC government in West Bengal has not provided land to the Centre for fencing the international border. He said that infiltration is only happening in those border states where the BJP is not in power.



During the reply, Opposition members including Congress and TMC staged a walkout.

Earlier, initiating the discussion, Abhishek Manu Singhvi opposed the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 and sought some substantial changes in the bill. He alleged that the bill infringes on the fundamental rights of foreigners. Rekha Sharma of the BJP accused the Congress of turning a blind eye to illegal immigration during its rule. India has always been a land of compassion, and it has given refuge to Hindus from Pakistan, Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries. 

Mrs Sharma said the refuge must not come at the cost of national integrity, and a nation without a secure border is a nation at risk. She highlighted that the Immigration law under Congress’s rule was often lenient and unstructured. Mrs Sharma said the Congress government turned a blind eye to large-scale illegal immigration, particularly from Bangladesh. weak border security and lack of strict visa regulations allowed a million to enter India unlawfully.

N R Elango of DMK demanded the government to refer the bill to the Select Committee for further consideration. He also requested to keep out the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from the definition of foreigners. Sulata Deo of BJD also requested for referring the bill to Select Committee for further scrutiny. Dr M Tahambidurai of AIADMK requested the government of India to protect the Sri Lankan Tamil people and grant citizenship to them. Other members, including Vaiko of MDMK, Ram Chander Jangra of BJP, Ritabrata Banerjee of TMC and Haris Beeran of IUML,  also participated in the discussion. After completing the business, the house adjourned to meet again at 11 AM today.