To get an Indian Visa still seems to be a major challenge, from an
administration point of view. Despite of outsourced Visa application process,
the task was still compared with writing a dissertation by a recent visitor of
mine and he termed the visa application homepage as one of the worst available
on the www.
However, my story is a little different than the one of a regular
Tourist, Business Traveler or Expat, because I came to India with no plan to
leave the country.
For my first employment visa I spent a lot of time and energy in the
FRO (Foreigner Registration Office) in Bangalore, which was basically the local
Police Station with some dedicated officers to foreigners. I did not expect to
get in contact with the police so fast and also failed to get my work done, No
Visa Granted. As plan B, I handed over the reins of my employment visa to my
employer and ended up traveling back all the way to Switzerland, just to pose
my smiling face to the Indian government at the Indian Embassy in Switzerland.
This was my most expensive visa ever.
But hold, job not yet done. As a foreigner, staying for more than
180 days in India, I need to register myself and apply for a Resident Permit from
… the local FRO. The local authority had only one small issue, the reference of
my company on the visa stated their registered office address as Mumbai but the
officer insisted that he needs my companies Bangalore office address written on
the visa, otherwise the visa would be invalid and no Resident Permit can be
granted. Now I am standing there with a Visa, issued by the Indian Embassy in
Switzerland, not being accepted by their own colleagues in India, from the same
department, the Home Ministry. It took me another two weeks to mediate between
the two Indian government offices, which strictly refuse to communicate
directly with each other (this should not have been the last time to mediate
between government offices).
As I only got a one year visa, the task to extend it started exactly
275 days later, 90 days before expiry. Feeling already very confident with the
system, I decided to take a more ‘professional’ approach this time, to hire an
agent to get the work done. To keep a long story short, my outsourcing did not
really work either. It took 9 month to extend for 12 month retrospective. This
means I was bound to stay in India for 6 month after expiry, with only the
application for extension in hand. The agent tried to calm me: “Don’t worry, I
will get it done tomorrow, you can use the application as your visa”. Needless
to say, I did not have a good time.
So the 275 days leadtime boiled down to 95 days before the next
round started. As I am trained to learn from mistakes, I planned to try a new
route again, no companies support, no agent. I decided to go by myself once
more, and trust in the guy I have the most confidence in. I knew I have to
prepare very well, not only with documents but also mentally, handling
situations, staying calm, being patient, showing respect (not always sure for
what)! Having seen the process twice already and with the just separated FRO
office from the Police office I had good reason to give it a try.
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FRO Bangalore
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Perfectly prepared as per the latest downloaded
application process, with 3 set of application (around 100 pages), properly
sorted, bundled and pinned the way they like it. Passport pictures, black pen,
everything was there. Most important, I had taken the day off and was ready to
spend 10 hours in the newly opened FRO. The rally started at counter No. 1,
where I got a digitally printed token (manually handed over) to cue at counter
No. 2. At counter number 2 my papers were checked by officer A, who hands them
over to officer B to sign it. A new token was issued to grant entrance to the
first floor. I kind of thought I can just pick up my visa on the first floor
and praise the new FRO for facilities and process. Upstairs I had to register
myself, to prove that I was there, a guest book so to speak. Then I cued again
for the next counter, where the same work seemed to happen as at counter No. 2.
Only that the gentlemen was now informing me, that I need a set of 4 copies. He
did not like me demonstrating the Home Ministry homepage and printout, dated
the previous day, where it clearly stated 3 copies. He educated me that the
homepage was out of date. To my surprise the copy shop to help me out was
located just outside the FRO, so it took me less than 10 minutes and 31 rupees
to get the additional copy, but another 1 hour in the freshly built up cue on
counter No. 3. Now the officer gave me an obstinate headshake and directly
hands me over to counter No. 4 with no cueing in between. Here my paper were
prepared in right order, form and equipped with a new cover sheet. Hurray one
more hurdle taken and counter 5 already in sight and I spot the first female
officer manning the counter! Lady 5 was extraordinary friendly and even a bit
talkative. While talking she was writing on the cover sheet as there was no
tomorrow. She explained me that my application process is completed and the
visa extension will be issued after registration and payment. For registration
I need to please proceed to counter No. 6, then the request for payment can be
availed at counter No. 7 by handing over the slip from No. 6. The payment will
be made at counter No. 8, after which counter 6 will issue the visa. Oh My God!
I had to sit down for a moment to recapitulate what was told to me and the
journey I had already behind me. And there it happened, … , a Korean who seemed
to be 2 steps ahead of me in the process, lost his temper and started to shout
at the officer at counter 6 with very energetic hand and body movements. It
took exactly one hand signal and 30 seconds, before the Korean was removed from
the counter, the room and the building. Some processes seem to work seamless
but I felt very sorry for the Korean, as I could totally understand his mental
stage and loss of temper. Luckily I was prepared well! It took me another 3
counters and a walk outside to claim the only acceptable payment mode, a check
from a nationalised bank. I fully utilized the day and had my visa extension in
hand.
With a kind of 7th sense, I walked
in to the Directors Office, the head of the immigration bureau, just to friendly
share some elements of my experience and to learn if we have some people in
common as I worked at the airport, surrounded by an army of immigration staff.
He offered me tea and seemed happy to have a chat which was not a complaint but
a feedback.
After having an inquisitive look at my
documents, he asked: Why don’t you apply for a PIO as you are married to an
Indian national?
I didn’t believe what I had just heard from the
director of the immigration bureau but got confirmation from Google that I would
qualify for PIO! As the required documents for PIO were 95% identical with the
one for the visa extension, I immediately launched the process.
Only two weeks after my visa extension, the FRO
officers were very surprised to see my face again at counter No. 2: “did you
not get your extension?”. This time it really felt like a homerun. All the
officers were super friendly and helpful, almost like friends. They remembered
seeing me and having tea with the director. Everyone wanted to know the story
behind my PIO application, me being in India, married to my lovely wife
Anupama. It was a happy day, still took me 4 hours but completed the task and
got the application approved. 3 months later the PIO was ready to be picked up.
I did not miss to have another tea with the
director, to share my gratitude and to set the beginning of my change in
mind-set about India’s most difficult entities to work with.
