NEW DELHI: Parliament approved a bill to regulate immigration, entry and stay of foreigners in India with the Rajya Sabha giving its nod on Wednesday, as Union minister Nityanand Rai accused the Congress and TMC of “aiding” illegal immigrants under their rule. The Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 was passed in Lok Sabha on March 27, 2025. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill by voice vote on Wednesday after various amendments moved by opposition members were negated.
Replying to the discussion on the Bill, Rai, Minister of State for Home Affairs, attacked the previous Congress government and the TMC dispensation in West Bengal for “aiding” illegal immigrants enter the country and “facilitating” their stay by including their names in voters’ list and ration cards. This was strongly objected to by the Congress and TMC members, who along with other opposition parties’ MPs, staged a walkout from the Upper House.
Several opposition members earlier demanded that the Bill be referred to a standing committee, but Rai said the Home Ministry took three years to formulate this Bill after great thought and based on what the country needs. This Bill will reduce overlapping and increase collaboration between agencies, he said.
One of the key provisions in the Bill is that anyone found to be using a forged passport or visa for entering India or staying in or exiting from the country will be punishable with a jail term of up to seven years and a fine which could extend to Rs 10 lakh. The Bill also seeks to ensure a close monitoring of everyone who visits India.
Responding to members’ concerns, the minister said that data management and verification will also become easier with the new legislation. Attacking the Congress and TMC, he alleged that the TMC government has not provided land to the Centre for fencing the international border, and claimed that infiltration is only happening in those border states where the BJP is not in power.
The minister also alleged that in some states the BSF has been disturbed so that it could not function freely while dealing with infiltration.
Rai claimed there has been a marked reduction in infiltrators in the country. “It was either the Congress or TMC government in West Bengal that helped bring in ‘ghuspaithiye’ into the country. The BSF has been deployed now to stop such entry and we are making use of technology to stop their entry.
TMC member Ritabrata Banerjee and Congress’ Digvijaya Singh demanded authentication of the minister’s claims and objected to his remarks. The Congress, TMC and other opposition parties later staged a walkout on the issue. Rai said that TMC government has provided citizenship by adding illegal immigrants’ names in voter lists and ration cards. “TMC also seeks to stop the BSF from doing their duty of stopping illegal immigrants,” he said.
The Bill seeks to strengthen the law of the land and stop illegal immigrants, he stressed. “We are not stopping any foreigner, but are only seeking to maintain their data.” The minister said India feels proud that research and development is happening in the country and “we are not stopping any researchers from abroad coming to the country”.
“If any foreigner indulges in anti-national activity, they would be removed from the country and this Bill has powers to do so,” Rai asserted.
Nothing of the kind that happened earlier would continue to happen now, as this is Modi government, he asserted while taking a swipe at the previous UPA regime.
“We are not stopping anyone. We want that people should come from abroad and see the success and development of the country under Prime Minister Modi and tell all that to their fellow countrymen,” he said. Noting that India has 1.72 crore NRIs, Rai said this Bill has been brought to help their easy entry and exit.
“The Modi government does not want to scare anyone, but those who want to come into India and conspire against us should be scared instead,” he noted, adding that 36,000 ‘ghuspaithiye’ (illegal immigrants) have been ousted from the country. Rai said some members raised questions about Lalit Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya, who did frauds during Congress regimes and fled the country.
He stated that the Immigration Bureau is already in existence and the bureau will now be the only agency to deal with issues related to immigration and this is the system which is being followed worldwide. Some members had earlier objected to the bureau being given all powers. Rai said that the Bill provides for mandatory reporting of information about the admission in hospitals or their place of residence.
He also clarified that there is no provision of appeal against the order of an immigration officer and few countries have this provision only after the immigrant returns to his country. The Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 is a comprehensive legislation to regulate all matters relating to foreigners and immigration. Matters relating to foreigners and immigration are presently administered through four Acts i.E. 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 new Bill repeals these laws.
The legislation also provides for mandatory reporting of information about foreigners by hotels, universities, other educational institutions, hospitals and nursing homes to enable tracking of overstaying foreigners.
