Employment v. Business Visa

rutto

Hi, there. I have just registered, and read few msgs here.

I need some light in this issue. I am having a business visa thru a friend's company, but another company (US based) is keen on employing me. My BV wil expire by July only. Can i be hired meantime using this visa and obtain an employment visa after BV expires? Is it legal to transact business other than the company you have applied for BV? Is it advisable to convert my BV to employment visa?

Thanks.
rutto

Darwish

well, a simple answer about this is not possible.

if you will be employed with a salary it is illegal in fact.

But you can do business with them and recieve the money based as a consultant. then once your business visa is expired you'll need to obtain an employment visa.

Kapha-Pitta

Indeed, that is an interesting point and something worth throwing into the mix! I haven't disappeared but am quietly absorbing and learning from all these comments. We are currently having the discusions involved in deciding the direction of the company and what is best in terms of joint or sole ownership etc but I will certainly post updates as well as any new information I learn!

Machoo

Hello all :-)

I work for a Swiss company whose directors are also creating a new company in India (that is a 100% Foreign held Private Limited company registered under Indian law - IT Services). I was sent to India to set up the business.

I first got a Business Visa thanks to a letter from IIT Mumbai (I visited them to discuss recruitment for their freshers). Then I just came back to India to set up the business using that BV.

Now the company is almost set up (only a few registrations are still underway) and my visa is expiring in April. I still need to do some work here and I am wondering how to extend my business visa (seems way too complicated to get an employment visa). Can I get a letter from the new company in India? Do you know where to find some template for this kind of letter?

Cheers

bachus786

Hi,

This thread seems to be an interesting one.

I wonder if anyone would know whether a PIO card holder can start a 100% foreign owned (say by myself) company to do property development.

If anyone knows of any other useful links to answer this question, please accept my sincere thanks.

Cheers

Aishah

From my understanding I think you can do what you are suggesting, PIO card has all rights of an Indian citizen except voting. But you would have to be checking out laws applicable to business operations etc. for Indians. There may be laws covering totally foreign owned businesses operating here - a field I don't know much about. Check out threads relating to PIO card on this Forum - there is also a website by Indian Govt. for these matters - do a google. My connections at present are too slow for me to put in a link for you, sorry!

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Nick-H

I think we are still restricted from owning agricultural land.

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bachus786

Aishah,

Thanks for the feedback.

The PIO site of the Indian High Com in M'sia indicated that. Just wondering if anyone has actually gone through the process.

Thanks very much again

Aishah

PIO card

This post has some useful links for you.

skonrad

So, this is slightly tangential. I work for a Canadian owned company that was recently acquired by and Indian company. We have maintained the corporate offices and payroll in the Canadian cities (each city and division has a separate corporate entity). I've been selected to do some inter-office development work so that we can leverage regional strengths (outsource both ways) and be the representative in Mumbai.

A few questions: 1) does anybody have a link to the terms of the employment Visa for both employers and visa applicant and 2) am I wrong in thinking that if I maintain my address in Vancouver (the likely plan) I could still apply for a 1 year BUSINESS Visa provided I periodically go back to Vancouver?

And how flexible is the re-entry time? If I go for a one week vacation to the maldives during this year, does this count as a new visit and does the stay time refresh, or would I have to go to Vancouver for a minimum period of time (this would likely happen anyway due to the nature of the work).

pundabee

Your address in Vancouver is irrelevant in relation to your visa. If your qualify for a visa, which you probably do from your description, your will get a visa with or without the restrictions that can be applied to a visa. This would be number of entries on the visa and the maximum number days that you are allowed to stay in India. The visa will almost certainly be multiple entry which means that you can leave the country as many times as you want during the validity of the visa.

I don't really understand the "stay time refresh time" thing. The information on the visa is very clear. All you have to think about is to not break any visa rules, as described in the visa, and to consider when and where to renew your business visa. For instance, if at all possible, your visa renewal should coincide with you being in Vancouver. Renewing a visa in India is like tangoing with an elephant.

Edit: If by stay time refresh you refer to the stay limitation (of typically 180 days), it will be reset when you leave India for any country, including the Maldives, even for 5 minutes, as long as you get an Indian exit stamp in your passport.

skonrad

That's exactly what I meant by the refresh time - thanks for the note. It seems that business would be a better option for the application.

I've been having trouble with the consulate and don't have the terms of the Visa as of yet as they are still processing it. They told my lawyer that I need to apply for an employment Visa, even if my wages are paid through the Vancouver payroll, which seems incorrect based on what I've been reading, but it may be factual based on the Indian ownership caveat. It's been about six weeks (the consulate still has passport and have made a habit of not returning emails or calls) since we took the consulate's lead and applied for an employment Visa. Apparently the wait isn't outside the norm for this particular branch, however it seems that I can get a business Visa faster and with far fewer potential issues (such as changing payroll provider) if we can successfully reshape the application as a business visa.

Thanks!

pundabee

What you are saying makes perfect sense. A person employed in India should get an employment visa. A person employed outside India should get a business visa.

However, Indian officials are, generally, hopeless. They are employing a twisted form of British bureaucracy; a very powerful tool that in its implementation is either highly efficient or a total catastrophe.