Foreigners Registration Office (FRO) in Tiruvannamalai

Many foreign nationals have been visiting Tiruvannamalai town to visit Sri Ramana and other Ashrams. Those requiring registrations or extensions should visit the Foreigner’s Registration Office ( FRO) office which is located at Vellore Road in the Superintendent of Police ( SP office) near the Collectorate building. The person in charge is Mr. Prateebhan.

X Visa for India: Recent account of a foreign national applying for an Indian X visa at Indian Embassy at Bangkok in Thailand

We have already posted few articles regarding X visas for foreign national spouses of Indian citizens and issuance of X visas at Thailand. Here is the first person account of a foreign national spouse of an Indian citizen who recently applied for X visa at Indian Embassy at Bangkok, Thailand. Her nationality is South African and she applied for an X visa at Indian Embassy at Thailand with her two year old son (also a South African national).

I arrived in India few months back with my son on tourist visas issued from South Africa. I should have applied for an X visa since I am married to an Indian citizen and intends to live in India for a longer period of time. I tried to obtain a conversion from tourist (T) to X visa at FRO (foreigners registration office) Goa, and Goa State Home Department but was not successful. I got the good advice to apply for an X visa from Thailand. So finally, I flew to Thailand and got my X visa in about one week time. It was a very pleasant experience and the entire process was hassle free.

I arrived at Bangkok on 19^th January,2010 morning and visited Indian Visa application center (IVAC) around 10:00 in the morning. There were about 50 people inside and it was not very crowded. There are facilities for photos and photocopies inside. I was given the visa form to be filled which I completed and handed it over to the IVAC staff. The staff put together my documents in order. They gave the entire package of documents and visa application back to me and scheduled me for an appointment with Indian Embassy for next day (20th January, 2010) between 9:00 to 12:00 AM in the morning.

Next day, I arrived at Indian Embassy at Bangkok around 9:15 in the morning. The Embassy is located at about 10 minutes walking distance from the IVAC. I was provided a number and asked to wait for my turn in a waiting area. The waiting area had about 30 people in total. I had to wait for about 30 minutes before my number was called. I went inside the office of a consular officer who was very courteous. He had a look at our original passports. Then he quickly glanced through the other supporting documents. The entire interview was over in about two minutes. He told me that he is giving me one year X visa. He told me to file for an extension in India when I requested him for an X visa longer than one year. He put a stamp on my visa application and gave the entire package back to me and asked me to submit it at IVAC.

I went back to the IVAC the same day and submitted the entire package with our original passports. I also paid the fees in cash. IVAC also issued us receipts for our passports. The IVAC asked us to come back on 27^th of January between 16:00-17:00 hours for collection of passports.

On 27^th January, I reached the IVAC around 16:00 hours. The IVAC gives you a number to wait. The IVAC was full of people and agents waiting to collect the passports. Somebody from Indian Embassy came with suitcases full of passports around 17:00 hours and then IVAC staff began to arrange them in order. Finally, they started distributing passports around 17:30 hours. Since I was with a small baby, the IVAC staff gave back our passports out of turn. I flew back to India on 28^th of January, 2010.

My X visa was endorsed with “Registration required if continuous stay on a single visit exceeds 180 days”. I visited Foreigners Registration Office, FRO, Goa around one week after arrival in India. The FRO Goa told me that they can register me only after I have been in India on X visa for five months. So I will have to approach FRO Goa after 28^th June,2010 to get my registration certificate and residential permit.

Indian Visa Application Centre( IVAC) address and timings:

Address:

1 Glas Haus Building
15th Floor, Room No 1503
Sukhumvit 25,
Sukhumvit Road, Wattana
Bangkok 10110.

Timings:

Submission of applications: 0830 hrs. - 1500 hrs., Monday to Friday

Embassy of India at Thailand address and timings:

Address:

46 Prasarnmitr
Sukhumvit Soi 23
Bangkok – 10110

Timings:

Visa Services: 9:00-12:00 Monday to Friday

Temporary landing facility( TLF) in emergent situations

There have been instances of foreign nationals turning up at the Indian ports of entry without the valid visas or travel documents. Mostly, they are the people of Indian origin with expired residential permits, or foreign born (and foreign passport holders) children of Indian parents. In certain emergent situations like death in family or illness, they can be granted Temporary landing facility( TLF) for 15 days at the Airport. Any further extension of stay in such cases are granted on a case to case basis by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Foreigners Division, Jaisalmer House, 26, Man Singh Road, New Delhi. In the absence of emergent situations, the foreigner without the visa or proper travel documents, will not be granted TLF and will be asked to exit India. In this regard, please note that the eligible nationals of Finland, Japan, Luxemburg, New Zealand or Singapore can get visa on arrival for 30 days.

For Visa on arrival, please refer to: http://indianimmigration-law.blogspot.com/2010/01/tourist-visa-on-arrival.html

The spouses and Children of the Indian nationals, and persons of Indian origin: Obtain X ( Entry) visa for India

The spouses and Children of the Indian nationals, and persons of Indian origin should preferably enter India on X ( Entry) visa. In many instances, they enter India on a Tourist(T) Visa which is not a long term visa to stay in India. A tourist visa can not be extended except for emergencies. However, an X visa can be extended and the foreign national can stay for a long term in India after obtaining a residential permit form the FRO/FRRO. For the categories of foreign nationals mentioned above, a T visa can be converted to X visa by Ministry of Home Affairs at New Delhi. However, the process can be long and cumbersome. Presently, the Ministry of Home Affairs at New Delhi is not allowing conversion from T to X visa except for very limited circumstances.

It’s always better that the spouses and Children of the Indian nationals, and persons of Indian origin should obtain a PIO/OCI card as per their eligibility. Otherwise, they should seek X visas to enter India and not a T visa unless they want to visit India for a short pleasure trip.