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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{ 68 comments… read them below or add one }
I totally agree with your pain and can feel the heat. Although I am Indian citizen, it’s even more tough to get some work done by the Indian Government officials. I remember the day when I went to Passport office in New Delhi to get some work done after I got married for my wife prior to our departure to US. It took me over 4 hrs standing in the queue and the work was still not done. Finally, I had to play games and told a lie to 2 people in order to get my work done.
The officials are really scumbag and should be fired ASAP. Additionally, the Indian Government should take steps to streamline the various tedious processes that only adds to the shame and frustration to everyone who thinks of either visiting or living in India.
It really is disgraceful. I know Indians are subjected to such government frustrations just as much or even more than foreigners, but us foreigners have a tendency to complain more!
The staff in some post offices in India really need sorting out too. The post office is another place I dread going to. Even the other day my husband went to post an item for me by registered international mail (it was a painting in an A4 envelope, and I’ve sent many similar items previously without incident) but the person behind the counter told him he must open the envelope up first and show him the contents. Of course it wasn’t possible because it would’ve destroyed the envelope, which had been well sealed with packing tape. It’s just ridiculous. 
We got the item sent easily from another post office with no problem at all.
Is this PIO you are talking about??…. it is still better than reporting to FRRO/local police station every 30 days….. If they did not ask for a bribe I would consider a job well done by Indian bureaucracy…. but then again I set the bar really low in such matters.
I haven’t got as far as the PIO yet! I’m entitled to it but am dreading the process required to actually get it! I’m here on a lowly 1 year X visa. I guess I’ll set the wheels in motion for PIO after this round of registration is complete. Is there such thing as 30 day reporting for people? That’s plain nasty.
*googles India Visa* found out that 30 day rule is for our peaceful and friendly neighbours to the west.
I think my PIO story is the only straightforward one I’ve ever heard. I filed my papers (after asking the guy at the PIO desk in Delhi for a list of the documents I’d need). He told me the card would be ready in a month. I called a month later and he told me that it was ready and waiting. I picked it up, and it’s lying in my cupboard now.
So it can happen, once in a while!
Hi Sharell,
I can imagine it might as well be much worse in case of tourist visas or residence permits by virtue of reuniting with family.
I was reading Jessica Thompson’s article and to be honest, have to agree with some of the comments posted there. Its just the same the world over…for Indians anyway. I have had such ridiculous visa stories that I can write either a successful comedy or a tragedy on their basis. In most Western embassies, officers are rude, unreasonable and unorganized. Besides, like the famed Indian bureaucracy, they do things by the book too…no exceptional circumstances considered. And this is when, I usually travel on Business visa..in effect contributing to GDP of the host countries as a skilled short term migrant…contributing skills in the area that these guys were too lazy ti study at school well!!
So, while I do empathize with all that foreigners in India go through (I really pity my Swedish boss and his family)…I have to say..its no different anywhere else as well. Maybe, given Indian fascination for white skin..its a bit better here.
Yikes! That makes my day at the Department of Motor Vehicles to get a new license look like a walk in the park.
This totally makes me want to rethink moving to India, lol.
The thing that I find most annoying is that this whole process has nothing to do with applying for a visa (which yes, I’m sure is difficult in many countries). I already have a visa. I’m entitled to be here (just like every other foreigner who has a visa). I just need to register myself as being here. The FRRO has all my details on file already, I have a residents permit. So why go around and around in circles and make me submit the same documents about myself all over again from the beginning? Fair enough, due process should be followed — I’m all for that (esp. with the amount of corruption here) but the process should be made as straight forward as possible.
The comments in the Jessica Thompson article are interesting — there are both extremes! I don’t want to start an argument but why is it made so difficult for Indians to get visas around the world? I read somewhere once that it’s because they pose a high immigration risk. ie. entering a country on the pretext of being a tourist and then not leaving. Westerners pose less of an immigration risk, maybe that’s part of the reason we’re granted visas more easily. The visa application process for Indians getting tourist visas in Australia is very stringent, unfortunately. I don’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.
FrancesC — that’s very positive and gives me hope!
So the FRRO can function efficiently and effectively at times… shame it’s just not most of the time!
One thing I found out (but haven’t completely understood) while coming to the US of A is that, a US Visa, they see it a privilege, allows a person to travel to a port of entry but does not guarantee entry/residency in a country
…… Indians do pose immigration risk, this is one of the reasons Indian customs/ immigration also checks a person’s visa on an Indian passport before letting them board an international flight out of the country….but that does not deter some Indians overstaying their visit, at times out of choice……but at other times it is just plain ill treatment….. worst case of it is probably Indians in middle east …. ah but thats another story. 
……
may be you should start preparing for PIO ….
Ah, the FRRO, bane of my existence! 2 weeks ago, myself and another foreigner spent an awful 3 hours in line until we resorted to corruption (a friend who knows someone there) in order to get any where. It took another hour before our documents were submitted and still the line hadn’t moved!
We also had to submit further documents yesterday but luckily it didn’t take very long.
After getting a visa, and already submitting all of the documents required by the FRRO to the visa office, it annoys me that the whole process must be repeated. It seems so pointless.
PGB – Yes, PIO is next on the list after I complete and recover from this ordeal. I’ve already researched the list of required documents. So what actually happens in the USA after you’ve been allowed to enter on a long term visa? Do you have to keep reporting your movements to the authorities?
Cassi — sometimes you have to do what you have to do!
Pointless is exactly what it is. I keep searching for justification and can’t find any. lol.
Sharell I want to ask you why aren’t you a citizen yet? Haven’t you considered it? You both could also apply for a dual citizenship because currently you are an Aussie and your husband is an Indian. Maybe that would make things easier. Do a little research on it.
If it helps you cheer up, then I would want you to know & everyone else reading this that the same predicament you are in also applies to many other Indians elsewhere in other countries. I have seen many Indians suffering at the hands of such officials as you would find in a Indian FRRO office or the like. You guys have no idea how bad it is. Even in the embassies in India the officers think they are God and all Indians are untouchables. The Portugal embassy is one fine example where the staff openly considers all Indians to be idiots. I can go on & on about the Italian embassy ever since they took over the Malta high commission too. I had a used expired Maltese Visa and ever since the Italians took it over they have not extended my visa! Go figure? Does it make sense? Now as I see it, when the Maltese high commission existed in India in 2007, they considered me visa material. Now that the Italians have taken over the Maltese high commission, I’m suddenly not visa material to them? And this when my passports are full of int. travels! I also find the TSA in the USA the most dictatorship authority in the world. According to them its’ fine to break suitcases if you do NOT have their $15 locks on them! And they put a note in your broken bag that says “Yes, we broke it!”
I have had to go through the Indian babu rigamarole too at many times. Sadly this is the reason many intelligent & hardworking Indians are leaving the country for better shores. I once had to pay a fine to the traffic court in Delhi for a car that was somehow registered on my house address & I had no clue about it!
Patience is a virtue…
All the best. (Sorry if you feel I ventured off the topic)
PGB: What is PIO?
FracesC: Maybe it’s better in Delhi! You must be lucky!
Well in my case as a student …. Intl programs office at the univ keeps updating/request changes with DHS about my status (change of address, academic progress, eligibility of internship/work on campus… etc) on my behalf…. For visitors, one can stay continuously for up to 6 months, after that one needs to apply for extension or exit the country (even if it is a multiple entry 10 year visa) …. work permits again are a whole different thing.
@Ramit: PIO== Person of Indian Origin.
I wish Ramit!! I’ve done extensive research, believe me.
I’m not entitled to be a citizen of India. I think I’d have to live here for 9 years before I could apply. My husband would have to live in Australia for 5 years before he could apply for Australian citizenship. The best I’m entitled to is a Person of Indian Origin card (PIO). That will enable me to remain in India for 15 years (it expires after that) and have all the benefits of an Indian citizen except voting. I will however still have to register my whereabouts continually with the FRRO. Even in order to be entitled to the PIO, I’ve had to wait for a year after being married. People married to an Indian for less than a year are only initially entitled to a one year X visa. Nothing is straightforward. 
For sure, India could be so much more productive and progress a lot quicker without this ridiculous rigmarole that everyone has to suffer though.
PGB – now that is a fine example of an effective and streamlined process!
Universities update the authorities about people on student visas. And employers perhaps update the authorities about people on employment visas? Something for India to aspire to! 
Well tracking people in US is easier than India because of SSNs … virtually impossible to do anything without using that number ….. if India gets the national ID project going (largest of it kind) … it may make a lot of things easier.
I can relate to your frustration — been there done that… and still doing it
It must be at least 12 visits to that damn office since I came less than 2 yrs ago. Registration, painful and looooong process of extending my visa, return visa for visiting home, and finally PIO card application. Let’s see if that will be the last visit to FRRO to just to pick it up… for 15 years anyway 
Let me know if you need any info about PIO application, it’s still all fresh in my head.
Good luck!
Oh I feel your pain too Jurate! It sounds like we’ve gone through exactly the same steps. I even went through trying to get my tourist visa converted to an X visa but it didn’t progress past the FRRO claiming they never received the police report (which we know was prepared because my husband had to go to the police station and sign every page of it, and pay them 50 rupees for the effort). So in the end I got the X visa when I went home at the start of the year (after getting the return visa so I could leave India!). Did your PIO application go smoothly or what problems did you have? And when is it expected to be ready?
Your husband managed to get the report signed just for 50 bucks? Wow! Does he know the commissioner by any chance?
That’s probably why the report mysteriously went missing without a trace… he didn’t pay them enough!!
I’m sure it was the case… By the way, isn’t the term PIO misleading? How can someone not born in India be of Indian Origin?
Of course it’s misleading…. along with every other illogical thing! The idea behind the PIO is that it’s for Persons of Indian Origin who are citizens of other countries, to allow them to freely visit India without having to get a visa — but it’s also issued to foreign husbands/wives of Indians. At least as a Person of Indian Origin I’ll no longer have to pay foreigner’s entry prices to important monuments like the Taj Mahal.
I’m just imaging the confusion it will cause…
Talk about PIO and confusion…… here is some
http://www.scottcarneyonline.com/blog/2007/05/passports-phone-bills-and-bureaucrats.html
Sharell, you’re supposed to be able to pay the local admission price for places like the Taj if you show your residence permit, too.
Ohh my God! Sounds like a really drawn out and painful exercise for no reason!! If you already have a residence permit, I don’t see any need for FRRO. They have done extensive research on how many root canals you have had, already! I somehow had this vague idea that its connected to applying for a residence permit. Poor you! Hope it sorts out soon. Maybe, as many people suggest here, getting a PIO should be easier. Good luck with it!
It is very painful. And it gets even better!! Once registered with the FRRO, if you’re going to be away from your registered address for two weeks or more, you are required to provide full itinerary and details of places to be visited to the FRRO. So basically, you can’t leave your home for more than two weeks (including travel within India) without letting the FRRO know every little detail.
Even better than this, if you’re going to stay for more than seven days at a place (other than a hotel etc. that travellers are accommodated in) in a district other than the one you’re registered in, you have to report to the FRRO in that district. So theoretically, if I was going to visit friends in Kolkata and stay at their house for 10 days, I’d have to go and register my presence with the FRRO in Kolkata. And god knows what documents they’d require for the registration process. Probably copies of my host’s passport, and copies of proof of address, and details of how many root canals my host has had as well!
The notice in the residents permit goes on to say that if you don’t comply, you could be fined or even IMPRISONED!! The joy of being a resident in India!
Sometimes, I think I’d rather get a root canal done. 
PGB — that was very amusing! I love those real life India stories. I guess it completely puts stop to my idea of buying and registering an autorickshaw though! Seriously, after getting used to driving one around, I’d love to have one in Mumbai. No need for a car then! I was considering making inquiries but don’t think I’ll waste my time, I’m sure the amount of bureaucracy involved in buying and registering an auto rickshaw would be horrendous. I don’t even have a phone bill and neither does my husband, thanks to pre-paid mobile phones here!
Well then time for your husband to apply for a ration card/gas card…..bureaucracy may be worth it if/when you intend to make serious purchases.
His family have been trying to get him to do that for a while now (including a voters ID which he doesn’t have either), unsuccessfully. I haven’t even had any success getting him to retrieve his drivers license from where ever it’s ended up. It got confiscated when he didn’t have enough cash on him to pay the 600 rupee fine he got on a random no honking day months ago!!
(If only they would have random no urinating in public days here!!) I can’t see us ever making serious purchases! I couldn’t stand the pain of it all…. I hate to think what’s involved in buying a house.
Hi Sharell,
I came to ur website by chance and im loving all the infos u give here. Im Portuguese n I intend to go n live in India (Gurgaon) in 1 year time. So by now im getting mentally prepared to go through all that living hell of the FRRO… but hopefully the Delhi office will b quicker. How long do u need to b in India to get a PIO card?
I dont know about the Aussie laws, but here it takes only 3 years of marriage n a bit of paperwork for a foreigner married to a national citizen to get his nationality… He doesnt have to live here to get it. Actually i have a friend of mine whose boyfriend is Australian n they were thinking about getting married n then apply for the double citizenship. :-S
Thanks for all the gr8 posts, it’s been really helpful.
@RAMIT
Whats the prob at the Portugal’s embassy? Im asking coz my boyfriend is coming next year, in March, and he needs a Schengen visa for the 2 weeks he’s going to stay here. I’ve been through their website and it says I need to send an invitation letter :-S n sign a responsibility letter (lk if he were a kid!). Apart from that i havent seen anything specific. Do you think it’s going to be difficult for him to get a tourist visa? Does it take loooong? Thanks
Hi Karin! I hope that you have a better experience at the Delhi FRRO but I think they’re all pretty similar — long queues and lots of confusion! I spent a day at the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi (applying for a tourist visa conversion into an X visa) and that was another experience! You don’t have to live in India to get the PIO card but you do have to be married to an Indian for more than a year. Unfortunately, Australian laws do require a person to live there for 5 years before they can apply for citizenship. So may different laws all over the world! When you come to live in India what visa will you have? The type of visa you will have will determine the paperwork and procedure you have to go through at the FRRO!
Sharell check this out
…..
http://www.yourmaninindia.com/
Usually for anything related to government….one needs to have the following.
- Ration card
- Voter’s id/other photo id..
- Land tax receipt
- Birth certificate.
- Proof of residence (electricity bill, water bill, BSNL/MTNL Phone bill, Public sector bank account statement) .
Passport/DL is not address proof but are ID proof.
Wow, ho jayega huh? I’ll be bookmarking that website for sure! That list makes me want to avoid having anything to do with the government for as long as possible though.
So far I’ve gotten away with using the lease as proof of residence. We don’t even have any bills in our name because the land lord pays them all for us, and we reimburse him. Sigh.
Oh, since PAN card isn’t on that list, I guess it doesn’t count for much? Definitely not address proof.
What would happen if you didn’t register? would they find you? and what are the chances of that?
westerners hardly get deported or jailed in 3rd world countries.
I believe PAN card can be used for opening accounts in public sector banks.
Showing tax returns is important for some transactions ……
http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/PAN/Overview.asp
mm — the problem is not so much while you’re in India. It’s at airport immigration when you go to leave and come back. If you don’t have the correct stamps in your passport (including exit visa to be able to leave the country, obtained from the FRRO), there will be a huge fuss, probably fines, and they’ll never let you back in.
PGB — I don’t like the sound of public sector banks! Or public sector anything in India!
Hi Karin, it’ll help if the person who’s travelling to Portugal has a prior Schenegen Visa or a US Visa or a UK Visa. In case he doesn’t have any of these, then chances are that the guard will not let him in at the gate. However, if he is very strong willed, then he might want to be ready with his bank statements, IT returns, proof of assets in India like a house or a couple of cars. If I understood wrong & your bf is not an Indian Citizen then that makes things easier. They only want to play tough with the Indians. Though I’ve seen in front of my eyes one very influential Indian businessman actually threaten the portugalese visa officer after he refused the visa of one of his staff and then the visa officer promptly gave him the visa. However, that particular influential businessman died last year so I cannot go to him for advice now! Anyways, he will have to prove them that he has got enough assets in India for which he will return back in two weeks time. A long standing job in a reputed company with his salary slips for the past couple years is an added advantage.
I”m sorry if my comment against the portugal embassy offended you. But what I meant was that by & large the schenegen embassies in India are very biased against Indians, even those who are regular travellers. They even consider some people like myself who are long standing members of some very honoured councils of the Indian Government as scum. They do not even consider that the Indian Government has also issued us a letter of travel in which they authorise us to travel to a particular country and take full resposibility for our actions and confirmed return. I can very clearly recall the visa officers looking at the letter from the Minstry of External Affairs authorizing our travel and asking me what is the MEA? They should realise that they are sitting on Indian Soil eating Indian earned food. Sometimes the IQ of these gentlemen bothers me greatly.
But all in all, I’m truly sorry if my comment bothers you. Hope your bf can travel to you without any trouble. Email me if you need any more suggestions.
PGB, Sharell: I doubt it’s different in Mumbai, but in Delhi you need the PAN card to open a account in any bank, be it private or public, withdraw or deposit any amount greater than Rs. 50000/-, get a bank locker, buy a car or bike, buy a house etc. These days, you cannot do anything without the PAN card.
PGB: The Indian passports can be used both as Address and ID proof over here now provided you get the front and the back page photocopied together on the same page. Isn’t that great?
Noooo, are you serious, how am I ever going to open a bank account here. I guess I just won’t bother…..
Dare I ask what is required to get a PAN card?
Sharell, public sector banks are the safest bet when it comes to India….funds are guaranteed by government….. even if the banks will down… interest rate is low though.
….. to open an account you would need another account holder to introduce you to the bank…. it is not difficult… I am sure there is a State Bank of Something near by your apt. 
Also one can apply for a PAN on teh internetz.
https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/index.html
@Ramit: Try getting a voters ID with a passport and let me know.
I checked out the PAN card application and it said PIO card could be used as proof of address!! It also says bank statements can be used as proof of address, but it’s not possible to open a bank account without a PAN card? The confusion continues…. tiny steps, one at a time, me thinks!!
Ah the chicken and egg problem….
… get hold of a desi friend to hammer out the details …. who knows it might be easier than you think. 
Surely http://www.yourmaninindia.com/ will be able to help!
Dealing with the authorities is always MUCH harder than I think…. 
After I finally got all required stamps in my passport and reg. booklet, submitting PIO application was easier than all other visits to FRRO. That said, even though I got a list of required documents from an officer there on one of the visits, collected all of them, I was still told that I was missing something new on my first attempt
After that it was fine, you just have to make an additional trip to bring DD as for some reason they want you to bring it one week later…. not sure why as it was obvious that nothing happened to my file in that week 
In a couple of weeks, I have to call and ask if my card was granted.