Expatriate Forums in India

Kain · Gender: Joined: 18 Jun 2007 Posts: 7 Home Country: greece

Hello everyone,

I am a Greek national, currently living in Greece, and am inquiring on the matter of a permanent relocation to India. From what my research on the subject has brought forth so far, this is quite a difficult subject and information for people of non-Indian origin desiring to immigrate there is quite scarce.

So, putting aside the cases of getting married to an Indian spouse or being a person of Indian origin (PIO), how does one go about approaching the subject of relocation there? Apart from a familiarization with the possible visas avaiallable and the fact that one intending to stay longer than 6 months requires to register with the local FRRO, that's all I know on the matter.

As an aside, I am also thinking of perhaps retreating to a monastery in India in the future. Do you think that that would be possible if the institution in question formally vouched for covering my basic needs (offered residence, food etc)? Also, do you think that this might have any possitive effect in me being allowed to stay in the country in a long-term fashion?

Thanks for any input on this inquiry, I much appreciate your invested time and offered help on this issue.

Sincerely,

Kain

TONY P · Gender: Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 6 Home Country: NULL

Hi do you actually want to become an Indian citizen or do you just want to visit and then join a monastery it is very important that you make up your mind exactly which way you wish to go with this, your country may not have the same visa agreements as say the USA or the UKso do you want to become a CITIZEN or a RESIDENT? Let me know I may be able to point you in the right direction or maybe not.
Regards
Tony P

Kain · Gender: Joined: 18 Jun 2007 Posts: 7 Home Country: greece

Thanks a lot for your reply TONY P, I really appreciate the feedback.

bandini · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:32 am Post subject: Visa for working in India

Hi there

hope someone can help with some info about my situation:

i'm italian and planning to go work (but for my italian company) in India for a couple of years.
what's the best solution?
whats' the requirements for a working visa? and how long is the working visa for?
can my girlfriend be included in this visa?

if anybodu can help, would be much appreciated

thanks

jbrownie · Gender: Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 4 Home Country: usa

Yes, you will need a work visa which your company will arrange for, generally the spouse gets a dependant visa, however not very sure abt your girlfriend. If not dependant, your girlfriend can get a visit visa for sometime.

I suggest contact a professional, isnt your compan arranging for all this?

AliceCornwall · Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 1 Home Country: NULL

Gina · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 7:30 pm Post subject:

As a resident of India you will be granted the legal right to live in India and you will still hold your British citizenship.To be a citizen of India you will have to give up your UK passport becaue the Constitution of India does not allow dual citizenship...

In your case holding a resident status in India will be ideal so you may visit your family in the UK

Follow this link to read up on the rules of indian residency

Kain · Gender: Joined: 18 Jun 2007 Posts: 7 Home Country: greece

Hello Gina. I'm sorry for the long interval between your posting this and this reply. This is an excellent link you have provided, resolving a lot of confusion on the subject of the definition of Indian residency, thank you very much for sharing this. Still, from what I gather, this is a secondary classification regarding taxation, and is re-visited on a yearly basis depending on one's whereabouts in the preceeding year. If this is so, it does not seem to provide the legal right for one to stay in India, but rather classify in the appropriate taxation class someone who already somehow possesses the legal right to live in India, for the majority of the preceeding year at least.

Thus, it appears that holding a resident status would not be an option, nor would it allow one the legal right to live in India unless that right was provided already through a different channel, that possibly being either an existant employment visa, being a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) or getting married to an Indian spouse. In the case of the former, the duration of one's legal right to live in India would be equivalent to the visa's duration period (1-5 years?), and would of course presuppose one to be employed under the original employer for which the visa was granted.

This is how I understand residency depending on the link provided. I would much appreciate any correction, in case I understand any of this wrong. If things are so however, I fail to see how there can be an allowance to live in India through the medium of residency. Indian Citizenship (I'd post a link but I'm not allowed by the forum due to low post count. You can find it easily through a web search on Indian nationality/citizenship), which for a foreigner, through naturalization, is provided after 12 consecutive years of residency, appears (so far) to be the sole provider of such a right. Again, this is based on my current understanding of the situation and I would very much appreciate correction of any possible mistakes in the above exposition.

It would be somewhat interesting to note that I have been at some point during the past year directed towards the subject of indian residency as an issued "permit" by someone else as well, although no relevant information on such a "permit" has been located by me so far, the only related material I have found having to do with what is described in Gina's link, i.e. a given year's taxation classification procedures.

Any further clarification on the subject would be most welcome. Thank you in advance for your time and interest in this discussion.

Kain

Gina · Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 6:10 pm Post subject:

Hi Kain,

Sorry for the late reply...I'm gonna read through the links that i've googled and will try to help you out. In the meantime, have you tried calling the indian embassy for precise information?

Kain · Gender: Joined: 18 Jun 2007 Posts: 7 Home Country: greece