FRRO Offices in India Rise to 20; Amit Shah Sets 2027 Target

The Ministry of Home Affairs has widened the network of Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRRO), the offices that register, track and assist foreign nationals who visit or live in India. With the latest additions the country now has twenty such offices. Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah has directed that one be opened in every state capital by 2027.

Where the new offices have come up

Five offices have started work in state capitals since 2025. Jaipur, Chandigarh and Guwahati were the first three, opened during 2025; until then applicants in those regions had to approach the offices at Delhi, Amritsar and Kolkata respectively. This year two more began functioning, at Aizawl in Mizoram and Amravati in Andhra Pradesh, which earlier fell under the Kolkata and Hyderabad offices. Three additional offices have since been notified, at Kohima in Nagaland, Agartala in Tripura and Bhubaneswar in Odisha.

Why the network is being widened

Arrivals for tourism, medical treatment and education have grown sharply, and the ministry judged that a nearby office makes regulatory compliance simpler while presenting the country as a welcoming destination. Nine states still lack an office of their own. These are Goa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and the north-eastern states of Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. The government says it is actively pursuing offices for them.

What the office actually does

An FRRO completes post-arrival registration for eligible categories of foreigners and issues the Registration Certificate or Residential Permit. It records later changes in a visitor's address, passport particulars or travel plans, grants permission for trips to protected and restricted areas, and issues exit permits where a visa has lapsed, a stay has run beyond its limit, or formal clearance is needed before departure. It also pursues overstay and visa violation cases and coordinates penalties. Through the e-FRRO platform, 35 services such as registration, visa extension and visa conversion are available online.

The statute behind the system

The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 merged four earlier laws into one statute governing the entry, stay, movement and departure of foreign nationals. Under it the Bureau of Immigration carries out the immigration function and is assisted by FRROs authorised by the Centre. The expansion is intended to build institutional strength at the local level, sharpen coordination with state authorities and reinforce enforcement of immigration law alongside national security requirements.