Short answer: The form hotels, homestays, and other accommodations submit for a foreign guest is now called Form III — marked [Earlier FORM C] in the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025. Under Rule 17, every keeper of accommodation must have each foreigner (including OCI cardholders) furnish particulars and sign on arrival, then transmit the duly filled Form III electronically within 24 hours of arrival through the designated portal or app, and transmit departure details within 24 hours of departure the same way. Records are kept electronically for at least one year and must be available for inspection on demand. This is general information, not legal advice — confirm current requirements against the Act, Rules, and portal before you rely on them.
1. Form C is now Form III
The Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992 have been superseded by the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025 (MHA notification G.S.R. 596(E) dated 1 September 2025). The form that accommodation keepers submit is renamed Form III, and the Rules note it as [Earlier FORM C] — so if you've been calling it Form C, you're not wrong about which form you mean, just using the older name. Both names point to the same filing.
2. Who has to submit it, under Rule 17
Rule 17 of the 2025 Rules applies to every "keeper of accommodation," a term the Rules define broadly: a boarding house, club, dak-bungalow, rest house, hostel, paying guest house, sarai, rented accommodation, home stay, tents, hospital, religious institution, trust, and similar premises — furnished or unfurnished. Under Section 8(1) of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, this duty does not apply to residential premises of a non-commercial nature, except where Section 8(3) applies: a civil authority directing reporting of foreigners in a specified area. Indian citizens are outside the scope of this reporting — it covers foreigners only, including OCI cardholders.
3. What Rule 17 requires at check-in and check-out
- On arrival: the keeper must have the foreigner furnish particulars and sign (a thumb impression counts as a signature).
- Records: kept electronically for at least one year, and available for inspection on demand by the Registration Officer, a District Magistrate, or a police officer not below Head Constable.
- Language: recorded in English where the keeper is able; otherwise in an Indian language. If a foreigner doesn't understand English and asks, the keeper must explain the requirement.
- Within 24 hours of arrival, the duly filled Form III must be transmitted electronically to the Registration Officer through the designated online portal or mobile app.
- At departure, the date and time of departure and the address the guest is going to must be recorded, and departure details transmitted electronically within 24 hours of departure, the same way.
Form III itself (as [Earlier FORM C]) asks for the premises name and address, phone number of the place of stay, the guest's name as in their passport, nationality, passport number, visa number/OCI number and type, contact phone in India, email, where they arrived from, date and time of arrival, purpose of visit, previous place of stay, date and time of departure, next destination, and a photograph.
4. Where to submit it
The Bureau of Immigration runs a Form C service at indianfrro.gov.in/frro/FormC. The Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app is also referenced for this purpose — for example, a Nagaland DIPR notice on stricter reporting in Kohima district points hosts to it. Getting an accommodation registered on the portal typically means signing up with property and owner details, with the account then approved by the local Registration Officer (FRRO/FRO, often the district police for that area). Exactly which screens and documents the portal asks for can change — check it directly rather than relying on a fixed list here.
5. The penalty for not filing
Section 23(b) of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 covers contraventions of the Act or Rules that don't have their own specific punishment elsewhere in the Act — punishable with imprisonment up to three years, a fine up to three lakh rupees, or both. Separately, an MHA compounding notification (dated 2 September 2025) lists non-submission of information about foreigners by the keeper of accommodation as an offence that can be compounded at fifty thousand rupees, by the FRRO. Treat that figure as what the notification states can be compounded at, not a guaranteed outcome — check the notification for the actual compounding process.
6. What BitLegacy does today, and what's still on you
BitLegacy's check-in flow asks for nationality, and for non-Indian guests, prompts for passport and visa fields (passport number, passport expiry, place of issue, visa number, visa type, visa expiry, date of birth, arrival-in-India date, port of entry). It then tracks each foreign guest's entry with a due time and an overdue flag on the Compliance page, lets you print a worksheet with those fields for the front desk, and lets you record the acknowledgement number once you've filed. BitLegacy does not submit Form III to the government portal for you — the actual filing on the portal, and getting the acknowledgement, is still your property's responsibility. See guest ID verification and the police register for the broader check-in ID requirements, and our Form C guide for a step-by-step walkthrough of that workflow.
If you run more than one channel, keeping your booking and check-in details in one place with a channel manager means the nationality and passport fields a guest already gave you at booking don't need to be re-collected at the desk. See pricing for plans that include this.
Sources: The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 (13 of 2025), https://www.indiacode.nic.in/indiacode/bitstream/123456789/21918/1/A2025-13.pdf · The Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025, MHA notification G.S.R. 596(E) dated 1 September 2025, Gazette CG-DL-E-01092025-265858, https://thc.nic.in/Central%20Governmental%20Rules/Immigration%20and%20Foreigners%20Rules,%202025..pdf · MHA compounding notification, CG-DL-E-02092025-265887, https://www.mha.gov.in/files/notice_document/NotificationCompoundingCertainOffences-1.pdf · Bureau of Immigration Form C service, https://indianfrro.gov.in/frro/FormC · Nagaland DIPR, https://ipr.nagaland.gov.in/STRICT-REPORTING-NORMS-FOR-FOREIGNERS-ENFORCED-IN-KOHIMA-DISTRICT
Frequently asked questions
Is Form C the same as Form III?
Yes. Under the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025, the form keepers of accommodation must submit for a foreign guest is Form III, marked [Earlier FORM C] in the Rules. The 2025 Rules superseded the Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992.
Who has to submit Form III?
Under Rule 17 of the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025, every keeper of accommodation — including hotels, guest houses, homestays, paying guest houses, hostels, dak-bungalows, rest houses, sarais, rented accommodation, tents, and similar, furnished or unfurnished — must have every foreigner (including OCI cardholders) furnish particulars and sign on arrival. Indian citizens are not covered.
How soon does Form III have to be submitted?
Rule 17(5) requires the duly filled Form III to be transmitted electronically within 24 hours of the foreigner's arrival, through the designated online portal or mobile app, to the Registration Officer. Departure details must similarly be transmitted within 24 hours of departure.
What are the exemptions from Form III?
Section 8(1) of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 does not apply to residential premises of a non-commercial nature — except under Section 8(3), where a civil authority directs reporting of foreigners in a specified area. No other exemptions are stated in the Act or Rules; check the current Act and Rules for your situation.
What happens if a property doesn't submit Form III?
Section 23(b) of the Act makes a contravention of the Act or Rules with no specific punishment provided punishable with imprisonment up to three years, a fine up to three lakh rupees, or both. A Ministry of Home Affairs compounding notification lists non-submission of information about foreigners by the keeper of accommodation as compoundable at fifty thousand rupees, by the FRRO — check the notification for how compounding works in practice.
Where do I submit Form III?
The Bureau of Immigration's Form C service at indianfrro.gov.in/frro/FormC is the portal referenced for this filing; the Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app is also referenced for this purpose by at least one state's police department. Registration involves signing up with property and owner details, with the account approved by the local Registration Officer (FRRO/FRO, often the district police). Steps can change — check the portal before you rely on this description.
About the author
Managing Director, BitLegacy Solutions LLP
Captainjeet Kaur leads BitLegacy Solutions LLP, the team behind BitLegacy Hotels — hotel management software for independent Indian hotels — and writes about running and growing hotels with simple, practical technology.
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