Business visa for a sole proprietor - ability to earn a living!

Thanks for the sector list. I still don't see any one that my work could be said to fit under, however. There must be hundreds of types of business like this. How are such cases assessed, do you think?

Sorry... now I see that it says "In Sectors/Activities not listed below, FDI is permitted up to 100 per cent on the automatic route subject to sectoral rules/ regulations applicable". Presumably this means I do not need an Indian director? I'm not sure what the "sectoral rules/regulations applicable" are if I'm not in a sector, though... .

I am sorry, you do need a Chartered Accountant & and an Attorney. You do not understand the implications of Companies Act and RBI rules on FDI.

Can you point me to the clause you will invoke to make a 100% FDI, and what financial instrument you will use to transmit funds from outside the country; and to which type of a company ?

RBI deals with just financial instruments. It is a stand alone entity.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs deals with Companies Act; matters of incorporations and liability.
Ministry of Finance deals with matters of assessment, taxation.
Ministry of Home Affairs determines visa rules.

Be prepared to pay a decent chunk of money to a competent CA & a lawyer.

You cannot calculate required investment like this. Required investment depends on the business type. If you go into stuff that requires high investment (technology development, manufacturing etc) the picture is very different from consulting - consulting may require an extremely low initial investment. Robin seems to go for consulting so the required investment will be well below the turnover.

100% FDI allowed means that all people/entities who own shares in your INDIAN company can be FOREIGN. You don't have to be an entity, and I think Andy is right when he says that 100% FDI for an individual (not an entity) is allowed anyhow barring things like defense (though you should cross check everything we say anyway of course). Nobody here tried to tell you that having a UK company is going to help, on the contrary.

• Having income in two countries can be hopelessly complicated.
• Having a company by itself complicates things because you have to keep proper books and get audited etc (extra costs).
• Having a partnership (and for you a proper one involving companies would be required as Andy was indicating) and needing RBI approval seems to unnecessarily complicate things, because it doesn't do anything more for you than setting up an Indian company (as far as I can tell that is that you want visa and a guarantee that you can stay longer than 2 years).

I think you need to listen to Nycank and get proper advice from an Indian CA/CS and a lawyer before getting (lost) into more swampy documentation.

Firstly to clarify: I am in fact using a lawyer's services. But I am not getting total clarity, hence my questions / discussion with you kind folk here . I don't have a whole lot of time for various reasons, so I need to attain clarity sooner rather than later.

Thanks for clarifying that I do not need to (indeed, shouldn't) register as a company in the UK, this is good to know.

My lawyer has put me in touch with the auditor she uses to let me know whether it is still possible to have an Indian partner with a 1% share, or what it has to be under the current rules.

She also says that these FDI rules / percentages do not apply to me at all as I won't be bringing much by way of assets into the country. I hope that's true!

By the way, does anyone have any experience in getting a Director's Identification Number (DIN) via the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' online portal? Must I be in India on a business visa before I can do this? My lawyer said she'd recommended another client who is currently on a tourist visa to do this immediately.

Continuing thanks!

The auditor got back to me, saying that there is no minimum percentage involvement for the Indian director.

I thought it had already been clarified that there doesn't have to be an Indian director?

Suggestion - find a fairly relaxed university or college, sign up for a 3/5 year course in something more or less connected to your area of interest, and get a multi-entry student visa???

AndyD 8-)₹

Haha, no, I need to be above board on this. My clients' auditors check over the details of those they procure services from. I need to give things like my PAN card number, business registration number, etc. Besides, I've already had two research visas spanning a total of five years while I was doing PhD and post-doctoral work here.

Getting a DIN is very easy you do have to see how you can pay for it. I did it myself. In fact I think you can do most by yourself and online now except for the MOA and AOA and the notarising part. Where are you located now? Someone was suggesting not to start the paperwork until you are in India on Business visa. Being on tourist visa may complicate things.

One more thing: you need to give your foreign permanent address. My DIN certificate reached me after about 8 months after we started the company. This was due to some strange way they managed to disfigure the address I had given them. So try to make it something they cannot screw up.

Other thing: starting an Indian company from abroad can be very very expensive because of the notarizing. Your MOA and AOA need to get notarised on every single page, and sometimes also need ministry and embassy stamps to complete it. Do this part when in India.

Perfect: so I'll apply for the business visa, go to India and start on all that.

From what I could see from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' portal here, they require "proof of residence as per the guidelines". All I can see in document entitled 'Instructions for Filling of Eform-DIN1' is that "In case of foreign applicant, address proof should not be older than 1 year from the date of filing of the eForm". You're saying it should be my UK address, are you?

ID proof should include father's name, apparently. That'll be interesting. I suppose only my birth certificate has that! But it should also have the applicant's name with photograph... which my birth certificate obviously doesn't have .

VFS in London are telling me that I can apply through them for a six-month business visa initially; that it most likely won't be granted for longer than that. They say I have to return to London for a second business visa, but I've heard elsewhere that I can extend the initial visa in India itself. Any ideas on what is actually the case?

Search the posts here and on BE - there's loads of stuff on this: most people I know on B visas get either 6 month visas or a 180 day per visit limit; and they nearly all go back to the UK for new visas rather than face the hassle of renewing in India (just one of the problems is that it can take months during which you can't leave India without voiding the renewal thus needing a new visa anyway. Also the paperwork needed is extensive in the UK but several times worse in India).

AndyD 8-)₹

Good to know, Andy. Thanks!

hmmm hhmmm

Definitely you want to be in India for reasons other than your core-competency i.e Ph.D in a field I'd presume; is not hard science, but social science or the Arts.

You can't teach in a University, since I presume your Ph.D field work would suggest a topic based in India., and such academics are dime-a-dozen.

Sooner or later, for better or worse; you will have to show billing of One crore/year. Take your doctoral work, your photo work and make a pitch to a UK based agency i.e OXFAM, etc to send you back as a Field Director for South Asia;


or marry the person who seems to be driving this mishegas.

Haha, I see why you might suspect such things... but I can assure you very honestly that there is sound business thinking and strategy behind this. Nothing more, nothing less.