Members of the minority communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh will be given five years visa instead of one-year as part of government’s effort to address their grievances and according citizenship in future.
Powers have been delegated to the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) and Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) to extend a short-term visa for this category of foreign nationals for a period of six months.
A time-line of one month for FRRO and FRO and 21 days for the state government and union territory administration has been fixed for processing of such applications.
Minority nationals from neighboring countries staying in India on long-term visa can also engage themselves in employment of purely private nature, as the state governments and union territory administrations have also been empowered to grant permission to them.