Ever wondered of getting married to someone while you are on a traveling tour to another country? Of course, it’s possible! Love has no boundaries and, falling for someone outside your native land is absolutely amazing. Not only you get to know a different culture but, you also experience your soul blending into the same. Every year tourists come to relish the authenticity of India and, they do not just end up falling in love with the intense culture here but, also the people. Some foreigners even marry in India along with their Tourist visas and don’t find an option to stay more than the specified days. To help such travelers, we have lined up all the necessary details to convert your Tourist Visa into X Visa.
Earlier in September 2012, it was the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Delhi who took care of the applications related to extensions and conversions of the tourist visas. Now, the same issue is resolved by Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The applications are submitted online to the FRRO website along with your photo. Earlier you were asked to fix an appointment at the appropriate foreign regional registration office. However now, the process is carried away electronically. A Visa officer manually checks your application and connects to you through an e-mail or SMS. You can also check the status of your application online on the web portal.
Documents Required during the Process
Whenever you apply for Indian Visa, you have to submit all the required documents. Similarly, the conversion from Tourist Visa to X Visa also requires documents and, are as follows:
- A Recent Photograph
- Marriage Certificate
- Passport & Visa
- Proof of residence
- Spouse Identification
- An Indemnity Bond with 100-rupee stamp paper, signed by the spouse.
- Report from any local police station about marital status including confirmation of living together, observations, and security clearance.
Understanding the Process
The whole process may take a couple of months to get completed so don’t forget to also apply for the extension of your visa while applying for the conversion of the Tourist Visa. In case your Visa extend its validity and you haven’t applied for an extension, it’s more likely to land in trouble.
The FRRO will easily allow you for the extension of three months and will register you. After giving you the resident’s permit, an investigation will be conducted to know if the marriage was real and if you and your spouse are living together on the address stated in the documents. This investigation is conducted by the local police station. The report will be then submitted to the FRRO which will, later on, decide the status of your application for the conversion of the Visa.
Is X Visa Enough?
Having a family away from home always puts you in trouble since you cannot every time fly back to them. Once you get an X Visa the question is, is it enough to just have an X Visa? But, nobody wants to agree to it. For such long-distance families, OCI Card works best. While an X Visa gives you the time of six months to spend with your loved ones, an OCI Card has the validity of a lifetime. An OCI Card is only entitled to people who don’t belong to the heritage of Bangladesh and Pakistan. As soon as you complete two years of marriage, you get elected to apply for an OCI card. Before applying for an OCI Card, don’t forget to register at FRRO. FRROs are present in all the major cities and hold the authority to conduct all the visa applications.