Work visa to India
INDIA WORK VISA CATEGORIES
In India work visa is issued from six months and up to five years; and is of the following two categories:
Business Visa
A Business Visa is issued to those individuals who plan to go to India for the following work purposes:- To establish a business in the country
- For frequent visits due to business-related activities, such as meetings and negotiations
- To invest in India
- Employment Visa
An Employment Visa is granted to those individuals who will migrate to India if they work in an international organization and take up a post in an Indian branch of their company. People tasked with overseeing a project or working as consultants in the Iron and Steel industries, or the Power sector are also issued an Employment Visa
This visa is also granted to individuals if they will be working in an NGO in India. However, their requirements and eligibility is different from professional organizations.
In India, work visa applications have an option of a Single-Entry Visa or a Multiple-Entry Visa. The latter offers you the chance to leave and re-enter India for the duration of the stay if you need to leave India for work or personal reasons.
In India, work visa applications also give you the option to apply for an extension. The extension application is applied from within India and is handled by the Bureau of Immigration of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Some other compliances required during your stay in India on a work visa include:
Foreigners Registration
All foreigners, even those of Indian origin, have to register themselves if they plan to stay in India for more than six months. Work permit in India for foreigners has this additional mandatory step dependent on the duration of your stay. The registration of such individuals is taken care of by Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) or the Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO), in the following districts: New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Trivandrum.
In all other districts where a Registration Officer is not appointed, the process will be under the jurisdiction of District Superintendents of Police.
Those foreigners applying for an Employment Visa, whose stay period extends beyond 180 days, mandatorily have to register themselves. Likewise, if you enter India on a Business Visa and your aggregate stay in a calendar year extends beyond 180 days, you will also have to register yourself.
This registration process should be undertaken within 14 days from the day of your arrival in India. While there is no registration charge in the first 14 days, there is a penalty fee as a late registration charge. In addition, there is also a penalty for overstay and non-registration. The information for all these charges and their stipulations can be found here.
Residential Permit:
Those foreigners living on an extended visa in India will also have to apply for a Resident Permit at the Registration Office.
REQUIREMENTS OF A WORK VISA
A work permit in India for foreigners is issued on the condition that the employee’s company is already registered in India. Your Employment Visa application is started on the condition that the business organization, i.e., your employer, has a registered branch in India, especially if it is an MNC. In addition, to qualify for an Employment Visa in India your annual salary as a foreign worker should be at least 25,000 USD per annum.
Employment Visa is only granted to senior management employees or highly skilled technical professionals who plan to migrate for work to India.
In India, work permit requirements are different for Business and Employment Visas. To apply for an Employment Visa, the following documents are required by the High Commission/Embassy of India:
- A passport with validity for one year
- Passport-size photographs, the background of which should be white
- Documentary proof of your employment in the company or NGO where you will work in India
- Documentary proof of your professional expertise and educational qualification
- Registration documents of the Company where the employee will be working
To apply for a Business Visa, in addition to the passport, photographs, and application forms, you will have to submit documentary proof of your proposed business activity in India. In addition, documentary proof of your company’s registration with either the State Industries Department or any other regulatory body of your field is also required.
You will also have to give proof of your financial standing, in addition to evidence of expertise in your proposed field of business.
To apply at the FRRO, you need to submit the following documents:
If you’ve entered via the Employment Visa, you need to provide:
- Four Photographs
- Visa and Passport, with proof of immigration stamp
- Residence proof in India
- Employment Contract, specifying duration and remuneration
- A request letter from your company for registration
- A letter of undertaking from your company, which should be signed by an authorized Indian signatory, with their name and contact details
If you’ve entered on a Business Visa, you need to provide:
- Photograph
- Visa and Passport, with proof of immigration stamp
- Residence proof in India
- Documentary proof of your business
- Approval Letter from Government of India or RBI (case-to-case basis)
- Incorporation Letter
- Letter of Undertaking, issued either by the company Director or an authorized company representative
- Memorandum of Articles, giving details of the Director(s) of the company
- Director’s Identification Number
- A copy of your company’s PAN card
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
a) Ethnic cooks
b) Foreign language teachers/translator (other than English)
c) The staff of a country working in their respective High.