REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO FOREIGNERS IN INDIA
- Regulations the extant Acts dealing with entry, stay and exit of foreign nationals in the country are:
- The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920;
- The Foreigners Act, 1946; and
- The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939
- Registration of Foreigners
- All foreigners (including foreigners of Indian origin) visiting India on long term (more than 180 days) on Student Visa, Medical Visa, Research Visa, Employment Visa, Missionary Visa and Project Visa are required to get themselves registered with the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO)/ Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) concerned having jurisdiction over the place where the foreigner intends to stay, within 14 days of their arrival. However, all Business Visa holders are required to register themselves with the FRRO/ FRO concerned in case the aggregate stay in India on Business Visa exceeds 180 days during a calendar year.
- Foreigners, other than those mentioned above, will not be required to get themselves registered, even if they have entered India on a long term visa provided their continuous stay in India does not exceed 180 days. If the intention of the foreigner is to stay for more than 180 days, he/she should get himself/herself registered within 180 days from the date of arrival with the Foreigners Registration Officer concerned. However, children below the age of 12 years are exempt from the requirement of registration.
- If a foreigner is departing within 14 days of arrival on his/ her first visit on that particular visa, no registration is required.
- Registration officers : The authorities concerned with registration etc. of a foreigner in India are the Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRROs) at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Amritsar, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Calicut, Goa, Lucknow and Ahmedabad and the District Superintendents of Police designated as Foreigners Registration Officers (FROs) in all other districts in the country.
- Residential Permit: Residential permit is issued at the time of registration. It is valid only for the period of stay specified in the visa. An application for extension of the Residential Permit should be made on the prescribed form at least two months before its expiry to the nearest Registration Officer along with an application for the extension of visa.
- Report of absence from address If at any time a foreigner who is required to register proposes to be absent from his/her registered address for a continuous period of eight weeks or more, or is changing the registered address, or is finally departing from India, he/she shall, before leaving, inform in person, or through an authorized representative, or by registered post to the jurisdictional Registration Officer of his/her intention to leave, either temporarily or permanently. In case he/she is moving to another address in India, the new address should also be intimated to the Registration Officer.
- Every registered foreigner who is about to depart finally from India shall surrender his/her certificate of registration either to the Registration Officer of the place where he/she is registered, or of the place from where he/she intends to depart, or to the Immigration Officer at the port / check post of exit from India. If the certificate is surrendered to any authority other than the Immigration Officer of the post or check post of exit, a receipt indicating such surrender of the document must be obtained and shown to the Immigration Officer.
- It is not necessary for a foreigner (except a citizen of Pakistan) to seek exit/departure clearance from the Registration Officer of his/her place of registration. Such a foreigner can straightaway depart from the Immigration Check post.
- Stay at Hotels: All foreigners who stay at hotels, guesthouses or places of such nature should furnish, on arrival, particulars for filling in the hotel register, sign therein, and also furnish the required particulars at the time of departure.