๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ New Delhi ยท Paperwork

Registration, banking and utilities in New Delhi

A visa category chosen before you arrive, a registration that follows quickly, and an identity number that unlocks daily life.

Get started in New Delhi

The thing people get wrongIndia's visa categories are specific and are not freely interchangeable once you are in the country. Employment, business and entry visas carry different rights, and arriving on the wrong one is a problem that is much harder to solve locally than remotely.

Indicative figures

  • e-FRRO registrationWithin 14 daysOn visas of more than 180 days.
  • Employment visa salary floorUS$25,000/yearWith narrow exceptions.
  • Aadhaar eligibility182 daysOf residence in the previous twelve months.
  • Governing lawImmigration and Foreigners Act, 2025In force since 1 September 2025.

Checked . Ranges, not quotes โ€” your Insider confirms the current numbers in New Delhi before you commit to anything.

Visas

Employment visas are tied to a sponsoring company and a skilled role, and generally to a salary above US$25,000 a year; business visas cover meetings, sales and setting up, and do not permit local employment; there are separate categories for research, journalism, students and dependants, and the OCI card for people of Indian origin and their spouses. You apply on Indian Visa Online and submit at the mission or its visa centre; the employment visa is not available as an e-Visa. Since 1 September 2025 the whole system has sat under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which replaced the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, so older guides cite repealed rules.

  • The employment visa is sponsored and tied to the specific employer and role, and extended in India through e-FRRO, generally to a total of five years.
  • A business visa is not a work permit; the distinction is enforced, and you cannot convert one into the other inside India.
  • Dependants travel on an entry (X) visa and cannot take paid work on it.
  • OCI status is a separate and far simpler route for those eligible: no visa and no FRRO registration.

FRRO registration

Foreigners on visas of more than 180 days โ€” employment, student, research and dependants among them โ€” register on the e-FRRO portal within 14 days of arrival. Most registrations are completed online and the certificate is emailed, though the office can call you in. You will need the lease or a landlord's letter confirming your address, so it is worth having housing sorted quickly. Under the 2025 Act, hotels and other lodging providers, hospitals and universities also report the foreigners they host, so the address you give must match theirs.

  • Register within 14 days of arrival on a visa of more than 180 days. OCI holders are exempt.
  • Upload your passport, visa, a photo, proof of address and the employer's or institution's letter.
  • Report address changes and extend the visa through the same portal; keep the registration certificate with your passport.

PAN, Aadhaar and banking

A PAN is the tax identity number and is needed for a bank account, a salary and many contracts; foreign citizens apply online on Form 49AA with their passport and visa, and an e-PAN usually arrives within a few weeks. Aadhaar, the biometric identity number, is open to foreigners who have lived in India for 182 days or more in the previous twelve months, and makes a great deal else easier. With a bank account and an Indian mobile number, UPI becomes the payment method for essentially everything โ€” it is hard to overstate how much of Indian daily life runs through it.

  • PAN first โ€” it gates the bank account and the salary. Apply on Form 49AA.
  • Aadhaar after 182 days' residence in the last twelve months; it simplifies verification everywhere.
  • UPI through a local account covers rent, shops, autos and bills. Until then, a UPI One World prepaid wallet works for some foreign passports.
  • Banks vary in their appetite for foreign customers; ask colleagues which branch.

In order

  1. Confirm the correct visa category with an Indian mission before travelling.
  2. Have your employer complete its side of the sponsorship early.
  3. Secure housing quickly โ€” FRRO registration needs an address.
  4. Register on e-FRRO within 14 days of arrival if your visa is for more than 180 days.
  5. Apply for a PAN, then open a bank account.
  6. Set up UPI; obtain Aadhaar once eligible.
  7. Give the landlord what they need for tenant police verification.