India's New Passport Rules: The 5 November Gazette

Assalam o Alaikum. A headline is moving through Pakistani WhatsApp groups this week: India has relaxed passport and visa rules for Pakistanis. Like most forwards, it carries a grain of truth wrapped in a bale of exaggeration. The real document is the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) (Amendment) Order, 2026, published in India's gazette by the Union Home Ministry on Thursday 5 November 2026, and it eases rules for certain long-stay categories, including one narrow class of Pakistani nationals. Here is what the paper actually says, in place of the forwards.

The Pakistani Category, Word by Word

The exemption covers Pakistani nationals who entered India on or before 31 December 2009 with the intention of residing permanently, and who cannot renew their passports because they do not possess a Computerised National Identity Card issued by Pakistan. Even for them, the conditions are strict. They must not have married while in Pakistan, must have acquired no immovable property there, must have left behind family members who are Indian citizens when they travelled to Pakistan, must undertake not to return to Pakistan, and must carry no adverse reports from police or security agencies. Every covered person must still obtain an appropriate visa category to legalise their continued stay. In plain words: this is paperwork relief for people caught between two systems for fifteen-plus years, not a door for visitors.

Who Else the Gazette Covers

• Minority refugees, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before 31 December 2024 after religious persecution or fear of it, including those without valid documents
• Registered Sri Lankan Tamil nationals who took shelter in India on or before 9 January 2015
• Certain Tibetans who entered on Kathmandu embassy permits between 1959 and 30 May 2003, or later via designated border posts, subject to registration
• People of Indian origin with expired Malaysian or Singaporean passports who returned by 31 December 2009 and cannot meet those countries' renewal rules
• Indian armed forces personnel entering or leaving on duty, with accompanying family on government transport

One further clause matters to regional travellers. Indian, Nepalese and Bhutanese citizens travelling directly between their neighbouring countries by land or air may present identification specified in the government's Visa Manual rather than standard passports. But the exemption does not apply to Indian citizens departing to or returning from third countries through the Indo-Nepal or Indo-Bhutan borders, who need valid passports at designated immigration posts, and Nepalese or Bhutanese citizens embarking from or transiting China, Macau, Hong Kong or Pakistan must hold both a valid passport and a valid visa. That clause is why routing questions on our Nepal travel guide start with how you enter, not where.

What Does NOT Change for Ordinary Pakistanis

Nothing in the order opens tourist travel. Ordinary Pakistani passport holders still apply for Indian visas through Pakistani diplomatic missions and face the same scrutiny as before; there is no general eVisa, no relaxation of police reporting, and no change to the entry ports system. If a relative genuinely fits the pre-2010 category, the work is documentary: entry records, proof of family citizenship, clean police history and the written undertaking, assembled before approaching authorities, never through shortcut agents. The habit of verifying before paying is the same one our guide to spotting fake travel agents teaches for every visa on earth. And for the religious journeys that Pakistanis can actually make towards India, the Kartarpur Corridor guide remains the operative route, wholly unaffected by this gazette.

Hukum nama sirf apni makhsoos taareekh aur tabqay ke liye likha jata hai; aqal wala us ki seemaain pehle parh leta hai.

Ek Dil Se Baat

Jab borders par kaghaz ke seene khulte hain, to Falasteen ke liye duaa karna zaroori ho jata hai, jahan kaghaz ki deewarein un ke ghar tabah karne walon ke lakhri ban gayi hain, jahan shadiyon ke cards ab waleedain ke janaze ke cards hain. Ya Allah, un ke likhe hue ghar un ko wapas de, un ke ghum. Sudan ke ghar bhi kaghaz hi reh gaye hain, jahan log apne darwaze ki chaabi lekar mulk chhor kar khare hain. Ya Rab, un ki chhapi hui chaabi ko wapas taala kholne ka sabab bana de.

Aakhri Baat

Reading a gazette is not most people's idea of travel planning, but it is exactly the difference between a real advisory desk and a rumour mill. When rules change anywhere between Nepal and Jeddah, HTG Travel (htg.com.pk) reads the source document, tells you plainly who is affected, and builds your file around facts you can hold. If a family member fits this exemption, or if you simply want to know what actually changed, message us and we will lay it out in writing, with the WhatsApp line open while you read it.