INDIA: Short-Term Employment of Highly Skilled Professionals

Feb 4, 2020 | Global

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:

Related Posts:

INDIA: Overseas Citizenship of India Card Applicants Subject to New Travel Restriction

AT A GLANCE

Foreign nationals of Indian origin seeking to apply for an Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Card must now have lived in India or any third country for six months prior to submitting their application, where previously, foreign nationals could apply immediately after arrival.
OCI Card applicants can no longer travel internationally until their OCI Card application is submitted. If they leave the country, the six-month period resets and they must again not travel for six months to apply for an OCI Card.

COLOMBIA: New Entry and Stay Regulations Established

Effective 1 December 2019, Resolution 3167 of 2019 establishes new guidelines for the entry into, stay in and departure from Colombia of both Colombian and foreign nationals.

Entry and stay permits (PIPs), for short stays not intended for residence or profit, have been reorganised into three categories: a tourism permit (TP) for leisure and business, an integration and development permit (PID) and a permit to develop other activities (POA). In all of these categories, the duration of stay granted may vary, but will not exceed 180 calendar days in the same calendar year.