Residents' permits

robinwyatt

Hi all,

I have just been granted a 1-year research visa. However, my research clearance letter from the Ministry for Human Resource Development states that I am to be entitled to 28 months here. I am told that I can extend my year's stay at my nearest Foreigners' Registration Office. Does anyone know how this works? Is it a simple process? Would they ordinarily give me one more year? What kind of supporting documents would I need?

Thanks so much!

Robin

phreako1

be carefull, extending the permit is not a big deal, but it takes some months to get the official approval, and in the mean time you can't leave the country...unless you re-apply in your own country

edwardseco

I did this through my institute and they handled it all. Easy for me despite the sensitivity shown initially for my research. Its embarrassing but I was never successful at registering with the FRO. They seemed more than a little lackluster..

robinwyatt

Thanks for your replies, guys. Does anybody know if it is written anywhere (such as on the 'net) what the requirements and procedures are for this?

robinwyatt

fmg

No, you keep the same resident permit till it comes up for renewal. I take mine with me when I travel O/S. Only been asked for it once (coming back in).

You will, however, have to go through some B/S when you extend the permit. Don't leave that too close to any travel.

The process is without doubt a painful insight into the red-tape underbelly of India. It does suck, but many Indian Nationals I know go through worse experiences trying to get a passport.

Louisa

Hi there,

How do you actually get the resident´s permit? I´d like to have a look around south India and if I really like it, I might want to live there permanently.. but how would I go about getting a resident's permit? I take it that a resident's permit would mean I could live there indefinitely/permanently? Or how exactly does it work?

Louisa

__________________
The map isn´t the journey... But having a map helps...

DanielM

In my experience, it was never necessary to leave and enter the country. When I crossed the Nepal border, i foolishly showed it to them, and they had no clue what it was. The Bangladesh border didnt care to see it either. Same goes with Pakistan, suprisingly. Although when I flew internationall out of the Hyderabad airport, they were not going to let me go until i produced it.

jw46

Don't think of it as bribe, rather as an "Undocumented Fee"

davyd

I spent 2 months on getting permit. For I visited Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi 7 times and numerous times FRRO in RKPuram.
The process looked like - going by taxi to Khan Market about 10 in the morning, after all registrations and security checks submitting request to clerk, than waiting in stifled atmosphere of Foreigners division about 5-6 hrs, going outside forbidden, for lunch also, than clerk shout your name, you coming, he says - your question is not decided yet, come next week. Next week is the same.
The use of this document is very limited, only in FRRO for getting extension of visa for next period, getting so-called return visa.

DanielM

But it makes you eligable for Indian prices on hotels, airfairs, national parks and monuments, etc. When you start paying rs5 instead of rs100 everywhere you go, it becomes very, very worth it.

cyberhippie

Has that been your experience Daniel? I ask as someone told me that they didn't get the discounts in the parks and monuments that was for Indian citzens only they were told???

DanielM

It depends on who told them that. If they were told this by the people who are working the actual ticket booths, then there is no reason to believe them. For the most part, they have no idea what they are talking about. Perhaps if someone at the actual registration told them this it might be a different story, but even then, I would be inclined to say that person didnt know what they were talking about. I have read in official documentation in a few places that this is the case. It usually just takes a while to convince the person selling the ticket that it is true.
I have never actually taken my residency papers to the counter and showed them because it would be devastating to lose such a piece of paper. But I am fairly sure that with a little explanation and after flashing the piece of paper a couple of times, they will give in.
So what I normally did, which almost never, ever failed, was this: I had a school ID from back when I attended the university of Hyderabad. No matter that it was long expired. I would hand them the ID with the 5 ruppees. Sometimes they would give the the ticket no questions asked, and other times I would have to explain the situation to them, always in Hindi, that I lived here, the card has my address, and as such I am entitled to the indian price. A little documentation and a lot of hindi always got me thru, even if it took a few minutes for them to get it "approved."
A few times I had problems, but that was only when I was going up against illiterate, non-hindi speaking ticket takers in Rural Andhra Pradesh.
And sometimes they would come up with "rules" like I need to give them a photocopy of the ID card.
In fact, if you can just make an ID card and lamenate it yourself, that might be the way to go. You could also photocopy the documentation and that might be suficcient as well. I doubt that they will know that it should have an official serrated stamp on the sheet anyways.

cyberhippie

Thanks for that!!

DanielM

No problem...for me its the most frustrating part of the Indian experience. Never have I seen such racism as at Indian ticket counters . Once I was traveling with an ABCD friend from the states. She was there on her american passport for a few weeks vacation, I was a registered resident-student on a longterm visa with documentation to prove it. She was allowed in at 5 rupees , and I was not. grrrrrr. They kept showing me their citizen ship cards, insisting that unless I could produce one, they wouldt let me in. Her brown skin was card enough I guess.