Moving from Goa to Gurgaon

bbery

Hi,

we are relocating from Goa to Gurgaon at the end of the month.

The whole family (me, my husband and 2 kids) are German nationals, holding a PIO card. We are registered here in Panjim.

I read at the immigration site that we have to inform the police in Panjim about leaving the district and shall register at the FRRO in Gurgaon (or Delhi?) after arriving there.

Which FRRO do we have to go to? The one in Delhi or is there an office in Gurgaon?

Is there anybody here have experience in registering a baby in India? I'm expecting and the baby would be born in Delhi in about 6 weeks from now.

I think we have to get a passport first by the Germany Embassy and then apply for a PIO card. Does anyone know how much time this procedure would take?

Also looking for a nice Day Care Center in Gurgaon for my younger son (2 years old). We would be living in Unitech's Nirvana Country close to Sohna Road.

Ciao,
Birgit

Aishah

Here is a link with the Delhi FRRO address - to the best of my knowledge this is the only place you go to, but I may be wrong!
FRRO in Delhi
A friend of mine did the same thing for her newborn daughter, got the passport first, then applied for PIO card. It didn't take her too long because she did the card in home country. It will probably be longer doing it in Delhi.

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bbery

Thanks for your answer.

How did your friend get the PIO card for the baby abroad?

Since my baby will be born in India, don't you need a valid visa to leave the country?

I agree that getting the PIO will be easier and faster at any Indian Embassy than in India. We had to wait only 1 week for our PIO cards. In India it might take weeks or rather months ...

Birgit

silversurfer

Hi, there is a FRRO office in Gurgaon. It is located at the Gurgaon Secretariat, on the 3rd or 4th floor (not sure of floor). If anything is needed from the Delhi office they will send it there. They just have one guy handling these issues and he is very helpful.

Aishah

She got a passport for the baby made back in her own country (her family back there helped with this). The baby was born in India and she went back to her own country when the baby was around 2 months old.I think a Tourist Visa was made for the baby but sorry, bit hazy about this. I will have to check. I do know that the PIO card was made at the Indian High Commission back in her own country while she was there with the baby. She had birth registration in India etc. when the baby was born.

Good info, Silversurfer! I didn't know if there was an office in Gurgaon - couldn't see it on their address link. Doing a google just now, found only one reference to it, but it was in a 2006 webpage link.

bbery

Great silversurfer, thanks.

Even I googled but couldn't find anything about FRRO in Gurgaon ...

mints

Hi BBery,

Make sure you notify the Foreign office in Goa before leaving of your change of address. I am living in South City 2, we're neighbour! Am trying to re-register at the FRO in Gurgaon and they have advise I need to go back where I registered orginally in Pune where they would send the file to the FRO in Gurgaon, looks like I might need to do a lot of running around in India. The FRO in Gurgaon is on the 3rd Floor, it's very close to us. Just on the other side of the NH-8

We have 2 kids aged 5 and 7. I don't know of any playgroups, I'm pretty new to this area too, however there is a really nice club nearby which we are members of. The kids go swimming and lots of other activities for the whole family.

bbery

Hi mints,

nice meeting you - yes South City seems to be pretty close ... I heard that Nirvana has another exit towards South City.

Notifying the FRRO in Panjim is already on my list, but thanks for sharing your experience. It seems to be pretty important.

We have another 10 days to arrange for all these things...

My elder son is 6 years old. Which school are you kids going? Right now he is in Senior KG her in Goa. We would be trying for Shri Ram School.

How do you like to live in this area? Do you feel safe? Do you have a car and a driver?

Ciao
Birgit

Susan B

Hello Birgit,

I am mint's wife. I hear Sri Ram is an excellent school. Our kids go to Delhi Public School Sushant Lok in Gurgaon. My son is in class II and my daughter is in Prep. (class before I) To be honest the school wasn't up to my expectations. Although both of them are coping well with the pressure even at this young age, I find the teaching methods are a bit out dated. Without the extra studies they do at home (where the real teaching is done) I'm not sure if my son would be able to do so well. I'm lucky I don't need to work, I totally take my hat off to working mothers in India.

You need a car in Gurgaon, no public transport unless you go on the cycle rickshaws or order a taxi. I'm driving on an international license but that is only valid for 1 year. I have tried to convert my British driving licence to an Indian one. My British friend found it pretty easy to do in Delhi, but in Gurgaon it has been difficult. I would probably have to start at the beginning, get a learners licence then the full one.

To be honest, I am still adjusting to the whole move to India thing. We came over to India in October 2007 and I didn't want to stay in Delhi so out of desperation I wanted to get out of Delhi so we went to Pune, where my husband had bought a plot of land. I loved it in Pune, the people, weather, school, whole atmosphere; perfect place to raise the kids. But as my hubby works in Delhi, as a comprimise, we went for Gurgaon.

It's pretty safe in this area. They call this a posh area, I lived in Ascot in England which is also known as posh, but I'm not one of them.

Any more advise I'm more than happy to help. After all, I'm a woman and I can go on and on ......

Susan

clint_bond

Folks,

I know this may sound off base and may not help you with the tactical questions you are seeking answers to. So, feel free to ignore:

Having seen and understood life in a Western country, you're always going to find "life" in Delhi or its suburbs very challenging. Unless you learn to tune out the mental comparisons you will inevitably make, you're gonna keep coming back to the same brick walls. The point you make on the kids' education is an example. I would suggest dealing with it at two levels -

1) Determine your comfort level with being able to "tune out". If you are not the kind of person who can do that, it may be wise to work on a strategy to get back to the West

2) Regardless of point 1 above, start building a certain level of aloofness with aspects of your life you cannot control. This will serve you well.

Like I said, feel free to ignore the unsolicited philosophies of a good 'ol boy.

Clint

bbery

Thanks.

Why I actually asked this question about safety is that my husband - being of Indian origin who grew up in Delhi but Central Delhi - told me about cases of carjacking etc. in these areas since they are not very much developed. Meaning there are roads but the roads are not very good and there is a lot of free space around, small villages etc.

We were advised not to go our late at night and so on which I find a bit odd - if we have to go out with friends it will be definitely after midnight

We were also told that even the cops are no help since they only inform the people that it's there own fault if they have to go out at night and come back home late

So that's why I was wondering if it really "dangerous" to live in this area or not ...

Thanks Susan for your reply. I will definitely have a lot more questions once we reach Delhi.

This pure academic education is actually not the right thing for my son and I'm certainly the wrong teacher for him at home because we would end up having endless discussions why he has to study ...

I still drive with my German drivers license and here in Goa I never had any problems. But I should certainly try and convert my license to an Indian one even so we will hire a driver.

Aishah

bbery - sounds like where you will be living will be very developed by now, and should be o.k. A very reasonable question to ask by the way! Also, nice to see already there may be some near-'neighbours' for you.
Re the driver's license, there is a thread here :
Indian Driving Test & Driving License
but don't be alarmed by my ongoing application, it will be a lot easier for you in Delhi!

shashank.aggarwal

Gurgaon and/or other suburbs are generally less safer then Delhi.

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puchoo

I'd agree..

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Susan B

Birgit,

You are most welcome. We have a lot in common, my husband also said the same thing. I don't think it's dangerous, I'm not scared about going out, but I won't advise going out alone ever in any place when it's very late.

We are in a lucky position and our kids have more opportunities to travel and work elsewhere in the world. There is so much competition in India, so that's why so much pressure is given to the kids. If we were to go back to England tomorrow, my son who was then average back in the UK, would probably be the smartest if not in his year but definately in his class. It's the whole environment here that excells the student, in which we wouldn't get in England.

If you need any help once you are here, happy to help.

Susan