Demystifying the FRRO!

Most expats get their first glimpse of what to expect in India when they apply for the Indian visa in their home country. No matter how prepared you think you are, “they” will insist some document is missing or more proof is needed to explain why you want an Indian visa. It all comes down to additional paperwork and repeated visits!

The FRRO, whether in Mumbai or anywhere else in India for that matter, is no different. For the uninitiated, FRRO stands for Foreigners Regional Registration Office. All expats intending to stay in India for longer than 180 days have to register themselves with the FRRO in their city of residence within 14 days of arrival in India. This is your first hurdle!

The next one is in trying to understand what documents are required for the registration. I say “trying” because it is not as easy as most people think it should be. In this internet age, we believe we have the world at our finger tips –  So your first thought would be to check the FRRO official website. Rest assured, the FRRO does not want you to feel secure in that assumption.  What you see is a short list of standard documents – Photographs, passport, visa, proof of address in India and proof of identification. “No problem there” is what you are thinking, smug in the knowledge that you have most of the documents that they want. All that remains is the proof of address – which you need to arrange for. If only it were so simple!

So you go to the FRRO, with your list of documents neatly filed, fill out the application form at the computer terminals and wait your turn to meet the Officer. When it’s you turn, you hand in your documents to the officer, who could be really polite and friendly or in many cases, stern and unhelpful. A quick run through of your documents and you are told it is unsatisfactory! The officer then proceeds to enumerate what is missing, while you frown and try to figure our how you could have missed all that!! So you leave the FRRO, organise all the documents that you now have to get, return to the FRRO, only to get a new Officer and be told that your contract letter is not clear or your cover letter needs to also incorporate the other cities where you will be working. So after having wasted 3-4 working days, 4 hours of to and fro travel everyday and many many exasperated expletives later can you say that your registration process is complete.

Unfortunately, unless the Indian company that you are employed with has many expat employees and therefore does this registration frequently, most Indians are equally clueless about the requirements for registration, so you may not get much help from them. I encountered similar problems when I had to prepare the FRRO documents for the expats working in my company. With no real guideline, I did not quite know where to begin. So I started reading several blogs, websites and even calling up the FRRO to clarify my doubts. I took a while to gather the correct information and in the mean time, some of the expats in my company did have to make several trips to the FRRO, however I soon got it right! Now it’s just a trip down to South Mumbai which takes a few hours and the registration is complete.

So to simplify things for you, firstly you need to understand the documents required for registration. This can be generalised for all visas however I am referring more to those expats who are coming to India on Employment Visas.

• Passport copy
• Copy of your Indian Visa
• 4 passport size photographs
• Proof of address in India – The best document to provide for this requirement is a copy of your leave and license agreement.
• Contract of Employment from the employer in India – the contract must state your name, designation, duration of contract in addition to the general terms and conditions of your employment. The contract must be printed on the company’s letterhead, duly signed by the authorised signatory with the company stamp on each page, with the authorised signatory’s initials.
• Covering Letter from the employer requesting your registration.
• Letter of Undertaking – The FRRO has their own format and it is available on the Mumbai Police website . However to be on the safe side I recommend that you provide this undertaking in several formats – 1. the form downloaded directly from their website. 2. The same format should also be printed on your company letterhead and submitted. This letter states that an Indian individual takes responsibility for you while in India. This person is generally the authorised signatory of your company.  If in case it is someone other than the authorsied signatory then you should also include a letter from the authorised signatory stating that he has appointed a person to undertake the responsibility of your stay in India. The letter must be accompanied with a proof of address and identification of the person undertaking responsibility – generally a passport copy is sufficient. 3. I also submit a letter of undertaking from the company on company letterhead. The reason for three different format is because I never know which one they will accept. Sometimes, they take all three formats!
• Police Clearance Certificate – This certificate is generally arranged for by the real estate broker who has helped you rent your apartment. It is certificate duly signed by you and the licensor. This certificate proves that you have been authorised and approved by the police to rent the apartment.

These are the standard set of documents that need to be submitted to the FRRO. If you have dependants on ‘X’ Visas, they too would have to have a similiar set of documents. In the case of other types of visas, like Student Visa, you would need to replace the Contract of Employment with an Appointment letter from the university or college where you applied or a Research Visa, you would need to include the invitation you received to participate in the research project or conference or seminar. The letter of undertaking is required only in the case of an Employment Visa.

 

Tips for a smooth registration process at the FRRO

• Ensure to make at least 3 sets of all the above documents with several photocopies of any and every document you can think of.
• The FRRO office timings are from 9.30am to 2pm. Ensure to reach the office at least half an hour before to avoid the crowd and chaos that soon follows. An early start enables you to finish earlier and avoid missing the entire day at work. Furthermore, you avoid the peak hour morning traffic and are able to return in the afternoon when traffic is not so bad.
• No matter how exasperating and unprofessional the FRRO officers seem, do not lose your temper. It will make the situation worse. You definitely need loads of patience for this.
• You (and your dependants, if any) need to go personally to the FRRO office. So no matter what some guides may tell you, you cannot send a substitute or an agent on your behalf. This holds good even when you have to renew your registration.
• Suggest to call up the FRRO office a day before to ensure that they are firstly open. As it is a government office, all public holidays, for any and every festival, religious or not, is a holiday. In addition, you can check with them in case you have any query regarding your documents. However ensure to note down the person’s name so that you can quote them when you are sitting in front of the officer. But you may not always get an answer to your query; more often than not you will be told to come to the office and speak to an officer since it is not possible to provide assistance over the phone. But it does not hurt to try!
• Have someone standby at your office who can prepare any documentation required at the last minute. So rather than returning and making subsequent trips, if you can get the document faxed to the FRRO, it would save you a lot of time. They are open to this so do not refrain from giving them this option.

Visa Extensions

The FRRO office in Mumbai is now authorised to extend visa’s as well. Previously you had to renew your visa in your home country and then return to India for registration. This process is now simplified and both activities can be accomplished simultaneously. The same process and documents as mentioned above applies. However suggest to visit the FRRO 15 days before your visa is to expire. This is what they recommend and they do not attend requests earlier than this.

You can visit the Bureau of Immigration, India  website to get addresses and contact details of the FRRO office relevant to your city.

With this post, I hope some of your questions are answered. Do write in if you have any unanswered questions and expatguidemumbai will help resolve them.