More than 50 p.c. Afghans not registered with FRRO

new delhi: of an estimated 22,000 afghan nationals now in india, only 10,000 with valid passports are presently registered with the foreigners regional registration office (frro). in order to get all afghan nationals registered so as to maintain a proper record of them and to monitor their activities, the home ministry has ordered all afghan nationals living in india to register with the frro within seven days of their arrival.the home ministry sources said on tuesday that only those afghans who came up to 1995 on visas issued by the indian embassy in kabul prior to its closure are being allowed to stay in the country. however, after 1995, for any afghan national to obtain visa from any of our missions abroad, prior clearance from the ministry of home affairs is necessary, the government source said. the frro used to renew the six-monthly registration of afghan nationals only on the basis of valid passport/travel documents. many afghan families had been unable to get their passports renewed after the afghan embassy in delhi substantially increased the passport renewal fees to rs 3,000 per passport and, therefore, could not renew their registration with the frro.