6 Month Business Visa

Hi guys,

I'm new on here but it's a really great forum.

After many visits to India on tourist visas I decided last year that I wanted to start a business in Himachal Pradesh. I am renting a guesthouse of my friend and starting a tourism company. In the UK I applied for a 12 month business visa and got granted a 6 month one. This is not ideal as I do not want to have to be doing visa runs or spending long times in Delhi dealing with beauracracy issues for extending visas. Then I read somewhere that if I'm working in India I should have an employment visa not a business visa.

So I looked into employment visas but you have to be employed by an Indian company and earning $25,000 USD per annum. Is there a way for a foreigner to register a business in India and then effectively 'employ myself'? Could anyone advise on this and on which visa I should actually be on. The UK Indian embassy were not much help.

Thanks so much in advance. Dee.

There are many threads of similar nature in this sub-forum. Check.

Hi,
Thanks for replying but the most recent threads I can find are from 2008/09 and I know that information like this can change so quickly I was hoping somebody may be able to offer some up-to date advice.

Me my partner are in, more less, exactly the same position, but in Kerala, and 5 years into the process.

The rules are quite simple. If you are a business owner, you need a business visa. If you are employed by a company, you need an employment visa.

In your situation, you need a business visa. With a business visa you are not allowed to work. Your income in India has to be generated through dividends, and your company (which you would be the owner of, and a company is a prerequisite for your purpose) could provide you with a small allowance due to your position as a company director.

The important facts are:

1. You have to incorporate an Indian company to operate. The company needs a minimum of two directors. You don't need permission to incorporate an Indian company because Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is via the "automatic route" in the tourism sector (which means that no permissions are required). In addition, the share holders of the Indian company can be entirely foreign, i.e. you don't need an Indian partner to do this.

2. The company is entitled to acquire property (including the purchase of property) if this is necessary for the operation of the company.

3. You have to employ people. Simply because you are not allowed to work.

4. The first business visa from your home country will always be of only 6 months validity because the embassy has no way of checking whether you are lying when you claim that you want to do business in India, i.e. the business visa cannot be of longer validity than a tourist visa (to prevent abuse of the system by people who want longer validity visas).

5. It will be virtually impossible to extend your business visa in India. According to the new visa extension rules, your company has to generate approximately £100,000 (INR 1 crore) per year after two years in operation for you to qualify for visa extensions in India. However, you are likely to receive at least a 1 year business visa from your embassy in the UK once your are in operation, i.e. you have to be able to prove that you are actually fulfilling the requirements of your business visa. However, it is very likely that you will be hit with the 180 day stipulation. New business visas are only issued in your home country.

Thanks so much for your great advice Pundabee.

Just so I'm straight while I'm here in India on this 6 month business visa I will take the opportunity to incorporate an Indian company with 2 foreign directors (me and a friend) then I will return to the UK and apply for a new business visa with my new situation as Director of an Indian business?

And in the letter I will state I have Indian employees working for me?

The first paragraph is exactly what would be normal procedure.

Whether or not you are employing anyone depends on where you are in the process. If you are actually operating a guesthouse, you are probably employing staff like cleaner(s), cook, gardener. Any proof of such facts will be useful. Crucial though is the company's incorporation certificate (there is a list on the high commission's website with the required paperwork). In theory, you should be able to get a longer than 1 year visa, but this is highly unlikely in practice.

Thanks Pundabee. I will get a CA to help me with incorporating the company and go from there.