Pariksha SaathiMHA: FRRO offices in the country now 20; Amit Shah directs FRROs in all state capitals by 2027
The Ministry of Home Affairs said on 2 November 2026 that Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah has directed that Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs) be established in all state capitals by 2027, citing a substantial increase in the number of foreigners visiting India for tourism, medical and education purposes. Five new FRROs have been set up since 2025: Jaipur, Chandigarh and Guwahati in 2025 (earlier under the FRROs at Delhi, Amritsar and Kolkata respectively), and Aizawl (Mizoram) and Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) in 2026 (earlier under FRRO Kolkata and FRRO Hyderabad respectively). Three more FRRO offices, at Kohima (Nagaland), Agartala (Tripura) and Bhubaneswar (Odisha), have recently been notified. The Ministry said the total number of FRRO offices in the country has now gone up to 20, and that the Government is pursuing the setting up of FRROs in the remaining states. The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which consolidated four earlier laws relating to immigration and foreigners, provides a unified statutory framework for regulating the entry, stay, movement and exit of foreign nationals; under it, the Bureau of Immigration is to be assisted, among others, by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) as may be authorised by the Central Government. The FRRO administers post-arrival registration of eligible categories of foreigners and issues a Registration Certificate (RC)/Residential Permit, records changes in a foreigner's particulars, grants permission to visit protected and restricted areas and issues exit permits; 35 online services through e-FRRO facilitate registration, visa extensions, conversion and other eligible immigration-related services.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
On 27 March 2025 the Lok Sabha passed the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 after Union Home Minister Amit Shah replied to the discussion. He said the immigration system was then spread across four Acts with overlaps and many gaps, and that the single Bill would repeal these four Acts; three of the old laws dated from 1920, 1939 and 1946, before independence. The old laws had a total of 45 sections, while the new law would have 36 sections, 26 old and 10 new. He said the 'Immigration, Visa, Foreigners Registration and Tracking' (IVFRT) system had been given a legal basis to monitor illegal immigrants and those staying beyond the designated time, and that the integration of all immigration posts with Indian Missions, FRROs and Foreigners Registration Offices (FROs) through an end-to-end integrated system had been completed.
Check yourself: when did the Lok Sabha pass the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025, and how many sections did the Home Minister say the old laws and the new law have?
On 27 March 2025; 45 sections in the old laws and 36 in the new law (26 old and 10 new).
Revision task: from this release, note the deadline for FRROs in all state capitals, the cities that got new FRROs in 2025 and in 2026, the three recently notified, the Ministry's total, the law that consolidated four earlier laws and the FRRO's functions; from the note, the date the Lok Sabha passed the Bill, the years of the three old laws, the number of sections in the old and new law, and the IVFRT system.
Test yourself
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed that Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs) be established in all state capitals by which year, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs?
Show the answer
Answer: 2027
The Ministry of Home Affairs said Shri Amit Shah has directed that FRROs be established in all state capitals by 2027. Five new FRROs have been set up since 2025 (Jaipur, Chandigarh and Guwahati in 2025; Aizawl and Amaravati in 2026), three more have recently been notified at Kohima, Agartala and Bhubaneswar, and the Ministry said the total number of FRRO offices has now gone up to 20.
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