Finance
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has notified the Immigration and Foreigners (Amendment) Rules, 2026, which make significant changes to the registration process for foreigners, provisions relating to children with Indian parents, emergency registration cases, and the appeals mechanism under the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025.
The amending rules, which were notified in the Gazette on June 1, 2026, went into effect immediately.
One of the most significant changes is the timeline for registration by foreigners staying in India. The government has amended Rule 12 to allow registration to be completed “any time before the expiry of the said period of one hundred and eighty days”, replacing the earlier provision that required registration “within fourteen days after the expiry of one hundred and eighty days of his arrival in India”.
The amendment also tightens norms for delayed registration. The notification states that late registration beyond the prescribed period will be permitted only under exceptional circumstances, inserting the condition that “such registration shall be granted only in emergent circumstances”.
The MHA has also introduced an important exemption concerning children who may have claims to both Indian and foreign citizenship. Under the amended rules, the registration requirement will not apply where either parent is an Indian citizen and wishes to retain the Indian citizenship of the child under Section 3 of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The notification further provides that “if the child acquires citizenship of a foreign country while in India at a later stage, either of the parents shall intimate the position to the Registration Officer within 30 days of acquiring the citizenship of the foreign country by the child”.
In another amendment, the government corrected a provision under Rule 18 relating to reporting timelines, replacing the phrase “but beyond twenty-four hours” with “but not beyond twenty-four hours”.
The modification has also improved the appeals process for owners or keepers who are dissatisfied with orders made by civil authorities under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. Appeals must now be filed with the Commissioner, Bureau of Immigration, within 30 days using the approved online portal.
The updated regulations require the Commissioner, after providing a reasonable chance of hearing, to issue a reasoned order and “endeavour to complete the proceedings ordinarily within sixty days from the date of receipt of the appeal”.
The modifications, released under Section 30 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, aim to streamline compliance procedures while increasing regulatory monitoring of foreign people resident in India.
Source: IANS
