Residential Permit: what IS it really? Please!

Nick-H

But not without registering as a foreigner which is what you have done.

On mine it says that it should be surrendered on one's final departure from India. How final, I haven't a clue!

It opens doors to things like driving licences and car ownership, which simply holding a PIO card does not see to do, and it also eases one's passage with banks, although it is not a necessity.

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ckforum

When I applied for regstration I did not expect to get a piece of document that further restricted duration of my stay in India.

From the experience of others and mine it seems safe to conculde that the residential permit is what you get as a result of registration. And you cannot register without getting RP and you cannot get RP without registering.

It might be safe to assume that since chidren under 16 are not required to register they do not need RP as well and they can reside as long as thier visa is valid for.

Nick-H

It doesn't restrict your stay; just you have to renew it when it expires.

The paper is called RC/RP --- Registration Certificate/Residential Permit; as far as I am aware (limited ) one does not come without the other.

I think you are putting too much stress on the "RP" part of the title; just think of it as your registration. You knew that you had to register for stay over 180 days, so nothing has changed apart from the title of the document!

I have never found any definitive statement of what the document means, or any entitlement that comes with it.

a_f_d

this is a very interesting thread.
I can confirm that a RP is a very useful document even in situations where it shouldn't be needed (like driving licence) - and even when expired <vbg>

AndyD 8-)#

Nick-H

Comes, I guess, under...

I suppose.

a_f_d

Oh sh1t -
(ii) Submission of proof of citizenship for Driving Licence and registration of vehicles has been made mandatory.
(iii) For obtaining driving licence requirement of proof of legal presence in India in case of foreigners has been made mandatory.

This needs further investigation but looks VERY bad!

AndyD 8-)#

a_f_d

on further checking this may only relate to [Indian Issued] IDP's {International Driving Licences)

AndyD 8-)#

Nick-H

I don't have time to check out the source link (PDF) for this but as you know, I and many other Indian-resident foreigners have Indian driving licences and I have just yesterday received my second Indian-issued IDP with no problems at all.

NonIndianResident

Since others have revived this question I'll put an update (being the Original Poster an' all). I registered again recently and STILL my local police station (there's no FRRO in our town) has the Registration Certificate and the Residential Permit separate, back to back on the same page. They seemed to want me to only fill the Registration Certificate, which I gladly did because it doesn't have an expiry date whereas the Residential Permit does (as before), and still has the scary go-to-jail from before.

Aishah

a f d - re the driving licence (the source btw is the Central Government website, and it's in the Department of Roads etc. and in a gazette notification) the top (ii) doesn't relate to foreigners resident in India - it's for Indian Nationals. (iii) is the clause pertinent to foreigners. A residential permit and appropriate Visa/PIO/OCI whatever will do the trick. In other words all foreigners need is 'proof of legal presence in India.'

As for that Residential Permit - last year I did get the PIO and went to register it. I have ended up with only a Residential Permit which looks like a pre WWII printed document - no Registration form on the other side, it's blank. There is no wording about going to jail if overstaying or whatever anywhere on it.
But they have put the date for my staying to 2010, which was the expiry date of my 5 year entry Visa. Underneath there is details of the PIO card with it's expiry date in 2023. Next year I'm going to have to trot along to the FRRO here and enquire if I have to re-register PIO and get date changed on the line where I'm permitted to stay. I really can't understand what they've done in the blank space below! Further down on the form it's filled in that I need to apply to State Govt. if I wish to stay beyond 22 May, 2010 for an extension. Odd, because my PIO goes to 2023. And since I'm married and live here permanently, naturally I will want to stay to 2023!

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