The Central government has introduced the Immigration and Foreigners Bill of 2025 with two goals in mind: to highlight India as a more welcoming location for global travelers and to address contemporary security problems.

The Bill, a seminal piece of legislation, aims to overhaul and streamline the country’s immigration system. This forward-thinking measure by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Central government aims to strengthen national security while fostering economic prosperity and ensuring easy access for legitimate foreign visitors, whether they are professionals, scholars, business magnates, tourists, or those in need of medical care.

This legislation undertakes the consolidation of provisions from four distinct statutes — namely, the Passport (Entry into India) Act of 1920, the Registration of Foreigners Act of 1939, the Foreigners Act of 1946, and the Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Act of 2000.

These antiquated laws, relics of bygone era, are now set to be replaced by a singular, harmonised legal framework, emblematic of India’s broader endeavours to simplify governance. Also, the Bill seeks to improve the ease of conducting business, and reduce compliance burdens. Among the salient features of this Bill are its provisions for a reformed visa regime, wherein streamlined processes for various visa categories — such as tourist, business, and medical visas — are poised to render the entry, sojourn, and departure of bona-fide travellers a seamless experience.

The act also intends to boost the nation’s economy by making travel processes more efficient, consequently improving tourism — particularly the booming field of medical tourism — and creating commercial prospects. This initiative requires the construction of a Bureau of Immigration, an organization with the capacity to administer immigration problems more effectively.

With an unwavering focus on national security, the Bill requires the possession of legal travel documents for entry and exit into and out of India. The new Bill empowers immigration officials to request crucial information from travelers, while transportation operators are required to provide passenger information in accordance with current international norms.

Furthermore, methods to monitor overstaying foreign nationals are strengthened, with hotels, universities, hospitals, and other organizations being required to disclose the presence of foreign visitors under their care. Furthermore, the Bill reduces the compliance burden on legitimate stakeholders by allowing the compounding of certain breaches.

More crucially, this legislation is completely unrelated to citizenship issues, focusing entirely on the regulation of foreign entrants. This Bill is a watershed moment in India’s immigration policy because it strikes a balance between national security and economic prosperity.