Adventures at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office

When living in another country there is a bit of administrative paperwork that needs to completed to make things kosher. Without going into the details, India requires foreigners to go through a registration process within 14 days of entry to legally live and work in the country. Today was my day to finish off the process by visiting the dreaded Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO).

I was given a great briefing by my relocation consultant and blocked my morning and arrived promptly at 7:45 am to wait in line for one hour until they opened at 8:45 am. I was told this process can take 3 hours if things are all in place and much longer if documents are not in order. I couldn't believe how many people showed up so early and the line quickly grew in length.

Promptly 5 minutes after posted opening time, the office was open for business and folks from Amsterdam to Nigeria to China piled in. Once in the office you are wait in line to receive a "token" which is essentially your spot in line for the process (this entire process needs a Six-Sigma overhaul). Here's a flavor of what I dealt with for about 4 hours today...

After 4 check points of tasks I don't understand, interesting conversation with an Iranian student and a country brand manager for Nike, I became legal to work and live in India.

4.5 hours of time and all I got was this piece of paper that doesn't even have a watermark.

Cheers!