Immigration Rights
Rights of foreign nationals, Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), and Indian nationals under Indian central immigration and citizenship law.
Covered in this guide:
- Visa Entry Rights for Foreign Nationals
- Rights of Foreigners Detained or Arrested in India
- Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)
- Acquiring Indian Citizenship
- Refugee and Asylum Seeker Rights in India
- Work Rights for Foreign Nationals in India
- Passport Rights for Indian Citizens
- Rights of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)
If you're a foreign national in India, your stay is governed by the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, and the Citizenship Act, 1955. The e-Visa system covers nationals of 160+ countries for short visits, and employment visas need a USD 25,000 minimum annual salary tied to a sponsor. OCI cardholders get a lifelong multi-entry visa but no voting rights or agricultural land. The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 remains under constitutional challenge. FRRO registration within 14 days is mandatory for long stays — overstays carry up to 5 years' imprisonment.
Key Laws
Foreigners Act, 1946
Act No. 31 of 1946
Entry, stay, and regulation of foreigners
Citizenship Act, 1955
Act No. 57 of 1955
Citizenship by birth, descent, registration, naturalisation
Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
Act No. 47 of 2019 (CAA)
Fast-track citizenship for persecuted minorities
Passport Act, 1967
Act No. 15 of 1967
Issuance and impounding of Indian passports
Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939
Act No. 16 of 1939
FRRO registration requirements
Visa Entry Rights for Foreign Nationals
Almost everyone needs a visa to enter India. The exceptions are narrow — Nepali and Bhutanese nationals can travel without one. Everyone else has to navigate the visa stream that matches their purpose...
Rights of Foreigners Detained or Arrested in India
Articles 20, 21 and 22 of the Constitution apply to "persons" — not just citizens. So foreign nationals arrested in India get the same arrest safeguards as anyone else, plus an extra layer that Indian...
Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)
OCI is the closest thing India has to dual citizenship — and it isn't quite that. It's a form of lifelong residency for persons of Indian origin who hold another country's passport. The rights are wid...
Acquiring Indian Citizenship
The Citizenship Act, 1955 sets out four routes into Indian citizenship: birth, descent, registration and naturalisation. The rules have been tightened twice — once in 1987 and again in 2004 — so the r...
Refugee and Asylum Seeker Rights in India
India is not a party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol — and there is no dedicated national refugee statute. In practice, refugees fall back on the Foreigners Act, 1946 (which tec...
Work Rights for Foreign Nationals in India
Working in India on a tourist visa or even a business visa is one of the most common — and most consequential — mistakes foreign professionals make. The right document is the Employment Visa, employer...
Passport Rights for Indian Citizens
The right to travel abroad is part of personal liberty under Article 21 — that's the holding the Supreme Court built in Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978), one of the foundational cases of modern...
Rights of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)
NRIs are Indian citizens who happen to live abroad — they keep full citizenship rights, but FEMA and the Income Tax Act treat them differently for banking, taxation and property. The 182-day rule is t...