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India · Relocation guide

Moving to India: visas, FRRO registration and practical setup

Treat the visa, permission to work, accommodation reporting and any FRRO registration as separate controls. Build the first month around a usable address, employer-owned filings, tax and payroll records, and healthcare that works before optional Aadhaar eligibility begins.

Content updated 11 September 2026. Individual source-check dates are listed below.

Choose the status for the activity, not the easiest entry

An employment visa is the normal starting point for salaried work for an Indian entity; a project visa is narrower, and a business or e-Visa does not convert a business visit into local employment. Students need the study route and interns should use the status designed for the placement. An OCI card can simplify residence and employment for eligible people of Indian origin, but it is not Indian citizenship and some activities remain restricted.

Ask the Indian mission and sponsor to confirm the exact visa endorsement, permitted activity, duration and registration condition before travel. A spouse or child should have their own correct status; being related to a worker does not itself authorise paid work. Do not resign, ship belongings or accept a start date until the employer can explain the visa and post-arrival sequence.

Choose the status for the activity, not the easiest entry
PlanVisaAtlas routeDecision boundary
Take a salaried roleIndia Employment VisaEmployer and role must support the visa; business entry is not a substitute
Perform a qualifying project assignmentIndia Project VisaUse only where the project and sector fit the route
Study at an Indian institutionIndia Student VisaWork and internship permissions must be checked separately
Complete a structured internshipIndia Intern VisaThe host, activity and timing must meet internship conditions
Move as an eligible person of Indian originOverseas Citizen of India (OCI) CardOCI is a distinct lifelong-status document, not citizenship

Build a document and employer file before departure

Get a written owner for the visa, any FRRO service, payroll, provident-fund assessment and family applications. Carry the passport, visa grant and endorsement, employment or admission evidence, recent photographs, address evidence, and legalised or translated civil documents requested for dependants. Match names and passport numbers across every record.

Rule 12 starts with registration within fourteen days of arrival, but then creates important exceptions. No registration is required for a visa valid for no more than 180 days if the holder leaves within that period, unless the visa endorsement requires earlier registration. If that holder obtains permission to remain beyond day 180, registration is due within fourteen days after day 180. A visa valid for more than 180 days but endorsed so that each stay must not exceed 180 days is also exempt while no single stay or calendar-year aggregate exceeds 180 days; a person intending to cross that limit must register before it expires. A special timeline for a specified nationality or class overrides the general one.

Children below twelve and OCI cardholders are exempt from registration under Rule 12. A resident OCI cardholder must nevertheless report electronically whenever their permanent residential address or occupation changes. Read the visa endorsement and any special order, then use the designated e-FRRO portal or Su-Swagatam channel for the applicable service.

Make the first address administratively usable

Rule 17 places Form III reporting on the keeper of accommodation and expressly includes OCI cardholders. Accommodation is broad: it includes hotels, hostels, paying-guest homes, rented accommodation, home stays, hospitals and similar premises. The keeper records signed arrival and departure particulars, retains them electronically for at least one year, and transmits both the arrival report and departure details electronically no later than twenty-four hours after each event. Give the keeper accurate information and retain evidence of compliance; the guest does not replace the keeper as filer.

For a longer lease, test the commute and water, power backup, internet, maintenance, inventory, deposit return and early-exit terms. Confirm who will act as the Rule 17 accommodation keeper and provide the lease, address proof and cooperation needed by FRRO, bank, telecom provider and school. A registered foreigner must also use the Rule 15 process for a change of address or an absence of eight weeks or more, while a resident OCI cardholder reports a change in permanent residential address or occupation under Rule 12.

Separate immigration, income tax and social security

India tax residence uses day-count tests with special rules for Indian citizens, persons of Indian origin and deemed residents. The core tests include 182 days in the year and, in some cases, 60 days plus 365 days in the preceding four years; exceptions can change the result. Track every travel day, work location, equity event and overseas payment, and obtain advice before assuming the visa duration determines tax residence.

EPFO treats a foreign national working for a covered establishment as an international worker under its special provisions. A social-security agreement and valid Certificate of Coverage may displace corresponding contributions for a covered posting, but nationality alone is not an exemption. Ask payroll for the establishment status, enrolment or exemption evidence, Universal Account Number where applicable, and exit-withdrawal process.

Arrange healthcare now; treat Aadhaar as a later identity option

Do not assume a visa creates universal public-health entitlement. PM-JAY and other public schemes use defined beneficiary lists or population categories. Confirm the employer medical plan, direct-billing network, outpatient and emergency cover, maternity, mental health, medicines, pre-existing conditions and evacuation. Identify a nearby hospital and keep a payment fallback during onboarding.

Aadhaar is not an arrival requirement for a resident foreign national. UIDAI says a foreign national becomes eligible after residing in India for 182 days or more in the twelve months immediately before applying, then applies at an Aadhaar Seva Kendra using the foreign-national form, passport and valid visa or OCI evidence plus acceptable Indian address proof. Its validity can be tied to immigration status, so do not delay essential banking or care while waiting for it.

Open the right bank account and preserve the remittance trail

Account type depends on whether exchange-control rules treat you as resident or outside India, not merely on nationality. RBI guidance allows a person resident outside India to use an NRO account for bona fide rupee transactions, subject to customer and nationality restrictions; a foreign national who becomes resident may need a different resident account treatment. Ask the bank to classify you from the facts rather than copying a colleague.

Take passport, visa, Indian address, tax and employer records requested by the chosen bank. Keep an overseas card and accessible funds until salary credits and outbound transfers work. Preserve inward-remittance evidence and tax-paid records for later transfers or departure, and reconcile the romanised name across bank, payroll and immigration records.

Sequence family, school and driving decisions

Before choosing housing, ask schools about curriculum, admissions cycle, transport, language support, vaccination and previous-school records, and which parent and child immigration documents they require. Carry legalised birth and marriage records if requested for dependant processing. A family member should not begin work until their own status authorises it.

Do not rely on an overseas licence or international driving permit without confirmation for the state and vehicle class. Indian driving-licence administration is state-based through transport authorities. Ask the relevant Regional Transport Office which licence, test, residence proof and medical documents apply before driving, and price safer alternatives while that process is incomplete.

Clear pets in advance and calendar every expiry

For a dog or cat, the Animal Quarantine and Certification Services process requires an advance no-objection clearance, origin health and vaccination evidence, arrival notification and final clearance at the entry point. Use the current ATITHI pet module and the instructions for the specific port before booking; airline acceptance does not equal Indian quarantine clearance.

Calendar passport, visa, registration certificate, employment document and family expiry dates independently. e-FRRO handles registration, extension, conversion and exit-permit services online and advises advance filing rather than last-day requests. Employer change, a new passport, new address, birth or early termination can trigger a service before the next renewal.

Your moving checklist

Tick off the tasks that apply to you. The timing is a planning order, not a substitute for the deadlines on your permission or an official instruction.

0 of 15 tasks completed

Before you move
On arrival
Your first month
Later and before renewal

Sources and checks

The linked authorities set the rules. VisaAtlas explains how the steps fit together; planning suggestions are not a decision on your immigration status, tax residence or entitlement to services.

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