Legal or Illegal? Someone tell me now...

So...sorry I've not been posting lately. We've been going through some hard times. I was told by a friend of mine that because of the change of police jurisdictions that happened last year that he had been transferred from the Bhavani Bhavan FRO (in Alipore) to the Kolkata FRRO (on AJC Bose Rd). So, like the 3rd I go to the Bhavani Bhavan FRO by myself only to find out that yes, I have been transferred and I need to bring in my original Residence Certificate / Residential Permit (RC / RP) and they would sign it.

So, I go home and report this information to DH, and he says ok, and I said I will take it tomorrow and have them sign it. Well, I'm waiting for him to figure out what he is doing, and then he ups and gets ready and tells me to get ready, and all of a sudden he says we are going to the FRRO. So, we go to the FRO to get them to sign it and then we report to the FRRO.

Here, they tell us that my RC / RP is illegal because I have been registered on a 10-year tourist visa. I get pissed and they tell us that we have to go to New Delhi and go to the Ministry of Home Affairs for them to regularize my overstay and convert my Tourist visa to an Entry visa. So, feeling all pissed because now the government has made me a criminal (I have never gotten a ticket in my life...) and I just want to go home and cry.

So...I go home, and then later that week after we had been getting all our paperwork together we go and speak to the Commissioner of Police (who is over Kolkata Immigration) who says, "This sounds like a complicated and long story. Let me send you to a patient listener, I am a very impatient listener." We go and talk to the Assistant Commissioner of Police who then verifies that even if I have been wrongly registered I am still registered, and therefore I *HAVE NOT* overstayed and am not here illegally. Thank Goodness!

So, now we have to get our marriage certificate apostiled (I have no idea really what that means, except that they will verify that it is real...) and then we will head to Delhi. :-)

I am sure we will be told a few different things there, so I'm hoping our luck holds out.

How to register at the FRRO

I had to go register at the FRRO, even though I am on a 10 year tourist visa, because you need a residence permit in order to apply for the Entry (X) visa conversion. This is what I had to do:

• Bring 4 Indian size passport photos
• 2-3 copies of your passport (first page, address page, visa page, and stamp page)
• address proof

Here they will give you 1 or 2 pages, that you have fill out again the customary 2-3 times.

The information you will need to fill out is (and this is directly from my copy of my residence permit, so it may vary from place to place):

1. Name
2. Father's / Husband's name (in this case I gave my husband's name)
3. Sex, height, and hair color
4. Date and place of birth
5. Present nationality and previous nationality (if any)
6. Manner and date of acquiring present nationality
7. Address of last residence outside of India
8. Address in India (with telephone number, if any. There are also options for a temporary address, such as hotel, and permanent address)
9. Profession and Occupation
10. Have you served in Military, Navy, or Airforces or its reserves in any country? If the answer is yes, give the details
11. Number, date & place of issue of Visa, Date up to which visa is valid
12. Number, date & place of issue of passport, date up to which passport is valid, particulars of other proof of identity
13. Port of place of embarkation or departure for India
14. Date and place of arrival in India. Flight No.         
15. Purpose of visit in India (tourist/business/employment/study/others/specify)
16. Places previous registration in India, if any
17. Name of husband/wife/children and their nationality (if accompanying the visitor)
18. Signature of the foreigners

Here we gave them :

• passport photos of me
• copy of my Indian bank account passbook
• and many other address proofs
• copy of marriage certificate
• copies of husbands voter ID card

We gave all our papers and they told us to come back in 2 weeks. There may be a police check required, but it never happened for us. 

Indian visa's and their regulations

Indian visas and their regulations

Each visa type tourist (T), entry (X), employment (E), and person of indian origins (PIO) Card each have different registration requirements, as listed below:

• Tourist : No registration required because you are unable to stay over **180 DAYS DAYS UNLESS** you go to a neighboring country and re-enter India within 2 months (which requires a re-entry letter, either granted from the Indian Consulate you got the tourist visa at, or from the neighboring country. For this you need to show it is an emergency, or your return itinerary) and in that case you **MUST** register within 14 days of arrival. Remember this is also at the discretion of the immigration officer. You CANNOT work on this type of visa.

• Entry : You must register if you are planning to stay over 180 days. This visa is now being issued to Indian nationals instead of tourist visas. This is a "catch-all" visa, it is used for dependants who are here with spouses / parents who are on a Employment visa. If you are planning to stay over 180 days you **MUST** register before the 180 days is up. You CANNOT work on this type of visa.

• Employment : You must register within **14 DAYS**. This visa is required if you plan to **WORK** for an Indian company within India.

• Business : You must register within **14 DAYS** if you plan to stay over 180 days. This visa is issued only if you are coming to India to work for a foreign company.

• PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card :  This is issued to people of Indian descent and their spouses and/or children. The length issued is 15 years. This visa requires registration if you plan to stay over 180 days. With this you are allowed the same rights as a Indian citizen EXCEPT you can not vote, hold agricultural land, nor a government job.

http://india.gov.in/overseas/passport/faq_visa.php