They can now legally reside in the country without the fear of being declared as illegal migrants.
New Delhi:The Union home ministry has extended the cut-off date under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to December 31, 2024, allowing persecuted minority communities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to stay in the country even without valid passports or other travel documents.
The home ministry order exempts members of these persecuted communities from passport and visa requirements. They can now legally reside in the country without the fear of being declared as illegal migrants. However, the process of granting Indian citizenship still depends on the provisions of the CAA.
This important decision, announced under the Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025, which came into effect on September 1, has brought relief to a large number of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants from the neighbouring countries who crossed over to India after 2014 and had concerns about their legal stay in the country.
“A person belonging to a minority community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, namely, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian, who was compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution and entered into India on or before December 31, 2024, without valid documents, including passports or other travel documents, or with valid documents, including passports or other travel documents and the validity of such documents have expired, will be exempted from the legal prosecution and will not be sent back or detained," the Union home ministry order said.
The Centre formally implemented the CAA on March 11 last year, notifying the necessary rules nearly four years after its passage from the Parliament.
Under the CAA, members of these minority groups who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014, are eligible for Indian citizenship after meeting the conditions specified in the law. Government sources stated that this relief was sought after long-standing appeals from groups representing displaced people from Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The latest extension follows the longstanding appeals from refugee associations, including the body representing displaced persons from Bangladesh, which urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revise the cut-off date of December 31, 2014, amid the ongoing influx of minority refugees.
