NEW DELHI: Reviewing the visa provisions in light of the current situation in Afghanistan, the home ministry on Tuesday has created a new e-visa category – the e-Emergency X-Miscellaneous visa — that will allow Afghan nationals wanting to evacuate to India, to apply online.
The new type of visa — which is essentially expected to benefit Hindus and Sikhs stranded in Afghanistan and staring at the prospects of victimisation and persecution by the Taliban — will have an initial validity of six months, according to sources in the government.
Officials told TOI that the security angle has been kept in mind while creating this new visa category. Also, since the Indian mission in Kabul is now shut, all applications for the e-Emergency X-Misc visa will be examined and processed in New Delhi, they said.
An MHA spokesperson tweeted on Tuesday that the new e-Emergency X-misc visa was “introduced to fast-track visa applications for entry into India” in view of the current situation in Afghanistan.
The new visa category will bring hope to Afghan citizens belonging to religious minorities there – largely, Hindus and Sikhs – who may be fearing religious persecution with the Taliban now back in charge.
The government had in December 2019 passed the Citizenship Amendment Act to enable citizens of Afghanistan, apart from Pakistan and Bangladesh, to belong to six religious minorities – Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, and Parsis – with a minimum six-year residency in India to apply for Indian citizenship. However, the rules under the Act are yet to be notified.
The government has also issued long-term visas to many Hindus from Afghanistan who have chosen to stay back in India for fear of religious persecution in their home country.
