New Delhi: Reviewing Visa Provisions Given the current situation in Afghanistan, the home ministry on Tuesday has created a new e-visa category – X-Miscellaneous e-emergency visa – which will enable Afghan citizens to evacuate to India, to register online.
The new visa type – which is basically expected to benefit Hindus and Sikh stranded in Afghanistan and looked at the prospect of the Victimization and Persecution by the Taliban – will have an initial six-month validity, according to sources in the government.
Officials told TII that security angle was remembered when creating this new visa category.
Also, because the Indian mission in Kabul is now closed, all applications for X-MISC e-emergency visa will be checked and processed in New Delhi, they said.
A spokesman for MHA tweeted on Tuesday that the new X-Misc e-Emergency visa was introduced by a quick track visa application to enter India “considering the current situation in Afghanistan.
The new visa category will bring hope to citizens of the Afghans belonging to the religious minority there – mostly, Hindus and Sikh – who may be afraid of religious persecution with the Taliban now again responsible.
The government has been in December 2019 passed the citizenship amendment law to enable Afghans, regardless of Pakistan and Bangladesh, to become a member of six minorities of religion – Hindu, Sikh, Christianity, Jain, Buddha, and Parsis – with a minimum six-year residence in India to apply for Indian citizenship.
However, the rules based on the law have not been told.
The government has also issued a long-term visa for many Hindus from Afghanistan who have chosen to stay in India for fear of abuse in their home countries.