New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has sought comments and suggestions from the public and stakeholders on the draft Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2025 aimed at replacing the decades-old Emigration Act, 1983. It has also extended the deadline for submitting feedback from November 7 to November 24, 2025, in consideration of the additional time required for consultation and review. The feedback can be sent to the email addresses provided on the ministry’s official website.
The draft law represents a paradigm shift in India’s migration management system. It aims to provide a modern, transparent, and welfare-oriented framework that regulates the overseas employment of Indian nationals. As the global mobility of India has expanded in the last four decades — with millions of Indians working, studying, and residing abroad — the existing Emigration Act was found to be inadequate in tackling contemporary challenges related to worker safety, fraudulent recruitment, and lack of welfare mechanisms in a coordinated way.
The Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2025 thus contemplates a robust emigration management system that will achieve the twin objectives of safe and orderly migration while protecting the welfare of Indian citizens abroad. One of the important proposals in this regard is a high-level body Overseas Mobility and Welfare Council-which would bring different ministries together for coherence in policy and better management of the emigration processes.
The Bill also attempts to strike a balance between two critical objectives: promoting overseas opportunities for Indian nationals and creating strict safeguards for the protection of vulnerable categories of workers, especially in low-skilled or semi-skilled sectors. It presents a system to monitor the implementation of international agreements on migration and mobility, thereby managing the commitments of India within global labour partnerships.
Another salient feature of the proposed legislation is its basis on data-driven policymaking. The government has proposed that it will make policies based on labour studies, digital systems, and inter-ministerial coordination to be responsive to real-time migration trends and the challenges facing Indian emigrants.
The ministry has said the call for public feedback is an essential step toward making the legislation participatory and inclusive. By eliciting suggestions from stakeholders, including migrant workers’ associations, recruiting agencies, employers, and the general public, the government wants to ensure that the final version of the Bill reflects the ground realities and gives due attention to various concerns of India’s vast overseas community.
After the consultative process is completed, the Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2025 will be refined and placed before Parliament for introduction. The MEA said this new framework would transform India’s emigration governance, align it with global practices, and ensure welfare and protection for Indians abroad.