Visa Length: The Indian employment visa allows for short-term employment for an organization registered in India for a duration of generally one year. Foreign technicians are eligible for a five-year employment visa. Highly skilled foreign personnel being employed in the IT software and IT-enabled sectors are eligible for an employment visa for a validity of up to three years.
Experience Requirement: The applicant should be a highly skilled or qualified professional being employed at a senior level or as a technical expert. There also should not be a qualified Indian available for the same job that the visa holder will perform. The employment visa cannot be granted for routine, ordinary, or secretarial/clerical jobs.
Petitioner: Although the employment must be in an organization registered in India, it may also be granted for a person who is employed by a foreign company or organization engaged for the execution of some project in India.
Salary Requirement: The employee’s salary must be in excess of INR 16.25 lakhs (approximately $25,000) per year. However, this condition does not apply to: (a) ethnic cooks, (b) language teachers (other than English language teachers)/translators and (c) staff working for a foreign embassy or high commission in India. The salary requirement is also not applicable to an employment visa applicant who intends to do volunteer work with charities or nonprofit organizations in India.
Foreign Registration: Foreigner registration is a mandatory requirement by the government of India under which all foreign nationals (excluding overseas citizens of India) visiting India on a long-term visa (more than 180 days) must register themselves with a Foreigner Regional Registration Officer/Foreigner Registration Officer within 14 days of arriving in India. This registration can be done online. Further details are available at https://indianfrro.gov.in/eservices/home.jsp. Additional extensions of employment visas can be facilitated through the FRRO for up to five years subject to the applicant’s good conduct, production of necessary documents in support of continued employment, filing of income tax returns, and no adverse security inputs.
More Information:
- Further details are available in the Business and Employment Visa FAQ issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs at https://mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/work_visa_faq.pdf.
- Details regarding the requirements and documentation for the employment visa are available at https://www.in.ckgs.us/visa/employment-visa.
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