It’s almost been six months since I last left and returned to India, thus necessitating a trip to the place that every foreigner loves to hate — the Foreigner’s Regional Registration Office (FRRO). Even Persons of Indian Origin aren’t immune to having to register themselves there if they stay in India for more than six months at a time.
I’m yet to see a happy looking foreigner at the FRRO. Myself included. The nicest staff on the premises seem to be the policemen behind the desk in the lobby, where visitors must sign in. “Pen hai?”, I asked the policeman on duty today. “Aap ke liye, madam’, he replied handing me a pen with a flourish. Such surprising politeness easily brought a smile to my face. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long.
The situation on the third floor where the Mumbai FRRO is located was not pleasant. The reception area was so overcrowded, there was barely any room to move. Progress in the line was extremely slow, due to the number of confused and dejected foreigners.
I’ve found that in order to get anything done at the FRRO, three trips are usually necessary. On the first visit, you’ll be told what documents are missing from your paperwork. On the second visit, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to submit your paperwork. Then on the third visit, you’ll get to collect the fruits of your frustrations.
Today was no exception. It had been a while since I’d had an encounter with the infamous Indian bureaucracy. As a result, my expectations had become a little too chalta hai. I was anticipating a straight forward process. I’d already previously registered with the FRRO, and they had all my documents and paperwork on file. They knew everything they needed to know about me. Surely, they would simply just update my file and resident’s permit with my new registration details. How hard could it be? Silly me for thinking such a logical thing.
“You’ve come with a new visa”, I was told by the woman at the reception desk. “You’ll have to submit all your paperwork again. Photocopy of your husband’s passport, photocopy of your marriage certificate, photocopy of address proof, and a signed undertaking from your husband to be responsible for you”. Ah, I should’ve known. Still, I was incredulous. “But you already have these documents! They’re already on my file.”
But of course, the Indian government doesn’t believe in streamlining processes or saving trees and paper. They must issue me with a completely new resident’s permit to accompany my new visa, and fill a file full of duplicate documents about me to support it. I’m sure they’ll charge me for it too. Sigh. Why does the system have to be so convoluted? Why not just update existing file and resident’s permit with new information as need be?
There’s no point fighting the system though, or questioning it. As Jessica Thompson wrote in her amusing article titled Surviving the FRRO for the Times of India — at the FRRO the customer is always wrong! At least I wasn’t the poor woman who fainted, or the exasperated woman who had to complete the same procedure three times.
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- How to Legally Marry an Indian in India
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Sharell, if you don’t have a PAN and want to oen a bank account, then you fill out the Form 60 which the banker would give you to fill out. It’s simple for me to say. However there would be problems at the practical stage.
PGB: I applied for my Voter’s ID for the first time in 2003. You read it correct. It is 2003. And I got it last week only with the wrong age. They made me 7 years younger! Now that is a wonderful surprise had it been real life. But just to be 7 years younger on the Voter’s ID?
Lol, “problems at the practical stage”. I love it!
Interesting Jurate. Do let me know how you go.
Ramit — those babus really must think that time does stand still!
Hi Sharrell,
Thanks for the infos again. Actually, im planning to enter India with Tourist Visa to get married there n hopefully i can do something in terms of work permit. Coz a friend of mine who was teaching at the Delhi Univ had to wait for a year for his work visa to be ready, even though the Portuguese and the Indian gov have an agreement on that issue. Let’s hope for the best…
By the way, I’ve heard there are different marriage acts… the hindu act n the foreign act. Which one u advise? I think I cant go for the hindu act coz im not hindu, bt my bfr is…
@RAMIT
Dear Ramit, of course I was not hurt or offended. I’m not that nationalist or prejudiced against people LOL I have heard about the tales and troubles Indians go thru at the Foreign embassies there. I just wanted to know what the prob was coz as I told u my bfr is coming next year… he’s Indian and he’s coming to meet my family and mk the arrangements for our wedding in Delhi. I might need sm extra infos on that and on the paperwork I need to settle in India. I’ll definitely mail you in case I need sm extra infos. Do you think if i contact directly or fax to the Portuguese Embassy it will b easier for my bfr to get it? I feel terrible coz i’ve been there in March, for the 2nd time, and i could hv taken care of his visa by then… If I had known!!! Thanks for all the information and ur patience with this firangi.
Ah, I did the same thing. Came with a tourist visa and got married. The good thing is you don’t have to register yourself at the FRRO if you have a tourist visa. The fun starts when you want to convert your tourist visa to an X Visa, in order to stay here longer. I’m not sure what you’ll be able to do about a work permit. I have no experience at all when it comes to that unfortunately. I’m lucky I work for a company based in America so I’ve been able to completely bypass the system in India. As for the legalities of getting married — it’s the Special Marriages Act. There’s more info in this post (and also a link to the legislation). How to Legally Marry an Indian in India
Karin: The visa application would be handled by VFS in New Delhi. VFS is a company in India which handles visa applications and document processing for most European countries. If your Bf has had a US visa earlier that would be very helpful. If he doesn’t don’t despair, embassy staff is usually very silly in terms of their demands. They would ask for the very illogical of documents. Be patient. Try doing a google search for VFS Portugal. Look for the short term visa section in the website that you’d find. That should help a great deal.
What I’d suggest is, be very clear with he would say in the interview. Chances are, that he would not need a interview once you send the sponsor letter over.
Another trick that might work is that you could call the embassy in Delhi directly from Lisbon, and try to be connected with the Visa officer straightaway. Have a copy of the sponsor letter ready with you and fax it to him alongside. Explain your case to him (Make sure you speak in your own language, not english). That should help. Once you explain to him that the person is only travelling to Lisbon for a brief visit, he should be convinced.
But I still think you both should have gone to the embassy together when you were in Delhi in March. But don’t fret, I’m sure there would be other chances.
Let me shut up now befre Sharell kicks me off her blog for having strange conversations on her personal space.
My apologies Sharell.
Sharell: I know for sure that the lease deed between you and your landlord is considered valid address proof for numerous reasons. But as I said earlier, there are chances of varied problems at the practical stage.
Hey Ramit, no need to apologise. It’s great that you can help Karin out. I wish someone could give me such useful advice about getting an Australian visa for my husband.
What? He still doesn’t have a Aussie Visa? How come? Why? That’s strange!
You’re kidding me, right?
Idon’t know when my husband will be visiting Australia with me because of the huge process required to go through just to get him a visa.
- Don’t stress, It took my partner the standard week to get his tourist visa, I have all the info for you. Compared to the FRRO, you could call it pleasant experience!!!!
Thanks V, that’s such a relief to know. I was really expecting the worst after dealing with so much bureaucracy here (and hearing other people’s horror stories elsewhere)!!
Ramit — he really doesn’t have a visa. The opportunity hadn’t really come up for him to visit yet, and now I’ve planned an impromptu trip home in November/December there just didn’t seem time to arrange everything. His paperwork is in appalling condition and I wasn’t sure he’d have the necessary documents.
But that doesn’t mean you will not even try! You should try! It’ll be easier if you could arrange from your parents to send him a sponsor letter. Try finding out a bit more about it though. Another thing that you could probably do is go to the embassy and talk to the Visa officer there. He cannot refuse a meeting with you because you are still a Aussie Citizen on Indian soil. He’ll be in big trouble if he refuses to meet with you. A few phone calls here and there should get things rolling. Let me know what happens. But dont’ be shy to meet the Visa officer directly. He cannot refuse you. Being a Aussie citizen, you have the right to just walk in to the embassy and demand to speak with whosoever is in charge.
All the best!
See this website. It should help. Good luck. Keep me posted.
http://www.vfs-au-in.com/
Thank so much, for all the info and encouragement but I really do think I’ll have to leave it until next time. We were planning on visiting Oz next year, but my mum called and wants me home for Christmas. So I’m aiming to go mid November. Before then I have to deal with the FRRO, including registration and PIO application, and more travel for work. I don’t think I could handle the visa application process in between all that. It might make me a little bit mental!
V tells me the Mumbai office is in a mess so we’d have to go to Delhi. Next time, definitely next time!!! 
Believe me Sharell, the Visa process would be easier than the visits to the FRRO & stuff. Try doing it. And if you get any obstacles on the way, you can always use your rights as an Australian citizen. Go for it. All the best.
Oh and Qatar Airways has a wonderful new flight to Melbourne! Have fun!
If the hassles at FRRO gets too much for you, you can alternatively get it done at the office of Superintendant of Police in your area. It is usually quicker, especially if you go with someone who is well versed with bureucratic processes in India.
Compared to the painful and humiliating process of getting a US visa for a non-WASP, I think the Indian FR process is a walk in the park. I had my tourist visa process outsourced to a travel agent, but that didn’t stop me from the sickeningly rude and insulting US border and custom officials. Apparently, I am not the only one, as Chicago lost its Olympics bid of 2016 because of the same attitude.
Issuing fresh national IDs to more than 1 billion people is no cakewalk. I think it would take years for the process to materialise and then more years for the bureaucratic controls to come in place to prevent the wrong types of people getting the card. Most likely, a national ID card system would be just another bureucratic hurdle for Indians to justify their existence.
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