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Rules of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025
September 15 , 2025
16 hrs 0 min
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- The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently notified Rules, Order and Exemption Order of this Act.
- It made the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 operational.
- Parliament passed this legislation to regulate all matters relating to foreigners and immigration in April.
- It repealed and replaced several Acts, such as the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Act, 2000.
- For the first time, the Rules legally designate the Bureau of Immigration (BOI) to “examine cases of immigration fraud” and co-ordinate with the States to identify, deport or restrict the movement of foreigners and collate and maintain an immigration database among others.
- In another first, the Rules insert the legal provision for recording of biometric information of all foreigners.
- Foreigners Tribunals (FT), so far unique to Assam, have been given the powers of a first-class judicial magistrate.
- It paves the way to send a person to a detention or a holding centre if he or she fails to produce any proof, that they are “not a foreigner”.
- Earlier it was enforced through executive orders.
- The 2025 Order replaced the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964.
- It empowers foreign tribunals to issue arrest warrants if a person whose nationality has been contested fails to appear in person.
- A total of 100 FTs is currently operational in Assam.
- The number of FTs were enhanced after the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published in 2019 in Assam on the orders of the Supreme Court.
- The NRC is again unique to Assam.
- Though the Order is applicable across the country, FTs are functional only in Assam.
- In other States an illegal migrant is produced before a local court.
- The order also legally allows border guarding forces or the coast guard to prevent illegal migrants attempting to enter into India by sending them back after capturing their biometric information and available demographic details on the designated portal of the Central Government.
- The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Assam Rifles (AR) posted along the Bangladesh and Myanmar borders had been practising this through executive orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Now, it has been stipulated under law.
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