Learning India

Making sense of the subcontinent

Filed Under: Be Prepared

The Overwhelmingly Complete Guide to Packing for India

Packing

The questions start to sit in as you stare at your full closet and your empty suitcase. Will I find my razors in India? Do they have Vegemite? Should I bring cotton balls?

Emotions drift from one side of the pendulum to the other. I’ll just buy everything when I get there vs. I will take every paperclip I own.

When you start packing for India, begin with four rules that will help you make your decisions on your packing list.

 

Rule #1: If a very stressed-out version of yourself might possibly go on a rampage if this item is lost, stolen, or broken – don’t bring it.

Things have a way of breaking, rusting, corroding, and falling apart here. The last thing you need on a bad day is to have your maid accidentally knock over your Stradivarius and watch it splinter on your tile floors. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Be Prepared, Cultural Adaptation

How to Not Look Like a Tourist in India

A tourist is defined as someone who is travelling or visiting a place for pleasure. Yet, those who claim to be ‘world travelers’ avoid this label like Salman Khan avoids driving.

The reason, of course, is that this image comes to mind when we hear ‘tourist’:

Tourists

And no one wants to stick out like this.

But in order to avoid that, people also stick out like this: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Be Prepared

Get It Together

Required Documents

One quick way to tell if an outsider has been in India a long time? Ask him/her if they have a favorite place to get passport photos.

You don’t have to be in India long to realize that you need to have a lot of documents ready to go at any time. Whether it’s something heavy-duty like a visit to the FRRO or just getting an internet connection, every service seems to have their own unique list of forms to get what you want. You’ll never know exactly what you need for every situation, but most services in India require some blend of the documents listed below.

Keep the physical copies in a safe, accessible place. Also keep an updated digital file with scans of everything. You will never regret the time put into this exercise. You will either do it now, or wish you had done it at some point in the future.

 

1. Passport

You will obviously have the physical passport in a safe place, but make sure all of these scans are ready to go in your digital file:

  • Scan of the first page that shows your picture
  • Scan of your Indian visa
  • Scan of any previous visas
  • Scan of the last entry stamp you got into India

[Read more…]

Filed Under: #ChaosBeatsLogic, #GreyIsWhite, Be Prepared

Indian FRRO Registration Overview

FRRO

 

One common rite of passage for long-term outsiders in India is a trip (or trips) to the FRRO. It is probably too much of India to throw on a newcomer, but many must visit within the first 14 days. Here is an overview of what the Indian FRRO is and why FRRO Registration might be important for you.

 

What is the FRRO?

The Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) handles all the services related to foreigners living in India.

 

Do I have to register?

It depends on your visa and how long you plan on being in India. Your printed Indian visa may mention if you need to register and under what terms. If your visa says you must register, then you should. Otherwise, you can follow these guidelines:

Category 1 (Need to Register): If you are on an Employment, Student, Research, Project, or Medical (and attendant) visa, you must register regardless of the length of your stay (provided the visa is valid for at least 180 days).

Category 2 (Maybe Register): If you are on a Business, Entry, or Journalist visa, you must register if you plan on making one continuous stay for more than 180 days OR wish to extend your validity.

Category 3 (No Register): Foreign Diplomats and OCI cardholders do not need to register. Tourist visas are not valid for a single visit of more than 180 days, and therefore do not need to register.

Failing to register is illegal and can get you in big trouble when you try to leave the country (up to 5 years in prison and a fine upwards of Rs. 10,000). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Be Prepared

India Vaccinations – Suggestions for Travel

India Vaccinations and Injections for Travel

Depending on your personality you will either start worrying about your India vaccinations the moment you think about coming, or three days before you leave.

If you are searching for an authoritative list of vaccinations required for India, there isn’t one. Aside from Yellow Fever (see below), no one will force you to decide which vaccines you need and which ones you can do without.

Here are some tips to help you decide which vaccinations you need before you come to India (even if you are leaving in three days): [Read more…]

Filed Under: #CustomerIsAlwaysThere, Be Prepared

Opening an Indian Bank Account

Editor’s Note: This was one of the popular topics from the yearly survey of your top questions about India. The survey only goes out to subscribers, so make sure you are on the list to get your questions answered!

 

Opening an Indian Bank Account

 

Opening a bank account in India may seem like an awesome thing. You can transfer money easily with other Indian bank accounts. You can keep the rupees you earn. You can use your Indian debit card in places that don’t accept international cards.

However, it’s can also be a pain. First, trying to open an account could legitimately take 6-12 months off your life when you add up the time wasted and the stress associated with it. Second, it’s very hard to transfer money out of an Indian account directly to an international one. And third, you will have to practice writing your signature exactly the same way forever for the rest of your time in India, or they may not accept any transactions you sign for.

 

Getting an Account

Officially, the only way to open a bank account in India as an expatriate is if you are on an employment visa. That said, I have come across people who have overcome this.

Two things will impact your ability to get a bank account. Neither one is foolproof on its own, but they are your only options.

The first is trying to please the Babu by having all the correct documentation. I visited several banks while researching this article and put together the most comprehensive list I could find (below). However, the Babu is hard to please and will often come up with a mystery form you were not prepared for.

The second is relying on a friend you have good relational capital with. Particularly a friend who is very high up in a bank, or who has considerable influence in a bank. While this is normally a surefire way to get things done in other parts of life in India, the banking industry is quite notorious for being inflexible, even for the culturally savviest of people.

 

Choosing a Bank – 4 Options

There are good reviews and horror stories for every bank, so it’s best to go with one of these options.

  1. The bank your employer uses. They may have some processes streamlined with them, but it’s not guaranteed.
  2. The bank closest to your home. It is painful to drive across town to drop off documents three days in a row because your signature was smudged on one of the forms. Having the bank nearby is a big benefit.
  3. The big name bank. These will likely have a little more experience with expats and are probably a safer option, but are also likely to have more fees.
  4. The bank of the person whom you will rely on to help you. If you have some existing first- or second-hand connections, that is a good bank to go with.

 

Possible Documentation

Here are some of the documents they might require of you. You will not need all of them, but the safe bet is to have as many as possible in place before you go. I’ve starred the ones that are nearly essential.

  • *Passport – The real thing, and a self-attested (signed) copy
  • *Indian Visa – Same as above
  • *FRRO Documentation – Particularly your Residence Permit, and the Police Verification Report that confirmed your address; only people who have registered at the FRRO can open a bank account.
  • *2 Passport sized Photos
  • *Letter from your HR department on company letterhead – It should confirm your employment and mention your current address in India; make sure it also has the contact details of the HR head
  • *ID Proof – A signed copy of your home driver’s license that shows your home address
  • Copy of your employment contract from your employer
  • Indian Residency Proof – A telephone bill or rental agreement copy
  • 3 Months of Salary slips
  • PAN Card – No one specifically mentioned this, but if you happen to have one, a bank account should be pretty easy to get.
  • One mystery document

 

As a final note, make sure that no one tries to sign you up for a NRE/NRO account. These are for NRIs who still hold Indian citizenship.

 

If anyone else has insights or stories to share about opening a bank account in India, please leave them in the comments!

 

 

Image Credit: Peter Gibbons on Flickr

 

Filed Under: Be Prepared

Best Expat Bank Account for India

ATM

I thought I was prepared.

I wanted everything to go smoothly in our transition to India, and finances was high on the list of things I preferred to not worry about. While I was still in the US, I opened an account with a large international bank that I knew had branches and ATMs in India. This should be easy.

When we first arrived, I went to my bank’s ATM to get some cash. There was a notice that they would be levying an additional fee on international cards. Strange, I thought. Shouldn’t they accept the card of their own bank?

I checked our balance online and within about five days I had racked up close to US $80 in fees. Yikes!

I painfully learned that the bank in the US is completely separate from the bank in India, although they have the same name; and therefore, they were charging me additional fees on both sides. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Be Prepared

NRI PIO OCI – What’s the difference?

NRI PIO OCI

*This article has been updated to reflect the removal of the PIO status as of 9 January 2015. If you currently hold a PIO card, it will be treated as an OCI card. Updates are marked in blue.

 

For many Indians, moving out of India is a symbol of status. It is a matter of pride for a family to be able to say their son is working in the US and their daughter is in Dubai.

However, Indians who live abroad also work very hard at maintaining a strong connection to India.

This creates trouble for the Indian government in figuring out how to deal with the more than 22 million Indians living in another country. What about land ownership? Voting? Taxation? While many have renounced their Indian citizenship, they still want to be active in India.

There are three terms you should be familiar with that categorize Indians who live abroad: NRI, PIO, and OCI.

 

The Short Version

NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) are Indian Citizens who live in another country.

PIO (Person of Indian Origin) used to be a 15 year visa for non-Indian citizens, but it has since been removed.

OCIs (Overseas Citizen of India) are non-Indian citizens who have a lifetime visa to live and work in India with fewer restrictions.

 

The Long Version

[Read more…]