India has granted registered Sri Lankan Tamil refugees relief from its standard passport and visa requirements, under an amendment order published by the Union Home Ministry.
The exemption applies to Sri Lankan Tamils who took shelter in India on or before 9 January 2015 and who are registered there, the Daily Mirror reported, citing a report by the Indian news agency PTI.
The measure forms part of the Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) (Amendment) Order, 2026, which the ministry published on 5 November. The order covers several groups beyond Sri Lankans: select Pakistani citizens, certain Tibetan nationals, and minority refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Separate travel relaxations have been issued for Nepalese and Bhutanese citizens.
According to the filing, the amendments are intended to give relief to people who cannot renew their travel documents, or who were permitted to enter India under particular circumstances.
Who else is covered
The Tibetan exemptions apply to those who entered India on permits issued by the Indian embassy in Kathmandu between 1959 and 30 May 2003, and to people who arrived after that date using special entry permits at designated immigration checkpoints along the India–Nepal border.
The relief is not blanket. Several categories of people will still have to obtain a relevant visa if they wish to continue their stay in India, the report said.
Context
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans, most of them Tamils from the north and east, crossed the Palk Strait to Tamil Nadu during the civil war, and many have remained in Indian government camps for decades. The 9 January 2015 cut-off means the exemption is directed at that long-settled population rather than at recent arrivals.
Colombo has been moving on the same question from its own side. In August, Cabinet approved special immigration arrangements allowing Sri Lankans registered as refugees in India to return voluntarily through the UNHCR, a decision the UN refugee agency subsequently welcomed.
The Daily Mirror filing does not state how many people the Indian exemption affects, and does not indicate whether it changes eligibility for long-term visas or Indian citizenship.
