I have earlier written on my experience on converting my tourist visa for India to an India entry visa in FRRO Delhi/Gurgaon, as a foreigner married to an Indian citizen.
This article is about how to extend Indian visa online through the e-FRRO portal(for Entry visa).
Since then I have tried to apply for an Aadhar unsuccessfully twice. Didn’t get it. I don’t think I will apply for it anymore. Got a bank account and a PAN card. So there is that.
The thing is sometimes you might think that you know the system, but then the system throws a curveball or two your way.
But I have received two India visa extensions by far. So I can presume with some confidence that, I know the process to extend Entry visa for India.
The thing is you need to keep on extending the India Entry Visa until you become an OCI.
In this article, I will recount my experience. The first time, it took me 3 weeks to extend Indian visa online, and the second time, only 5 days.
What is Indian Entry Visa & Who can Get it?
An Entry Visa to India is granted to:
- A person of Indian origin
- Spouse or a child of a person of Indian origin.
My experience is based on getting the India X visa extension from FRRO while being inside India. If you are doing it through an Indian embassy outside, the process will be different.
Table of Contents
How to Extend Indian Visa Online through FRRO?
An FRRO or foreign regional registration office is where your visa application is processed. Although I extended a spouse visa, you can also apply to extend a work visa, student visa etc.
What is e-FRRO?
The e-FRRO or FRRO online is nothing but a web-based application for all FRROS in India. It is a centralized online platform to cater to visa related services for foreigners.
The idea is that foreigners would not be required to visit the FRRO/FRO office to get a visa. However, there are chances that you would need to on a scheduled date and time for an interview. So there is that.
I know I did.
Where are the FRRO Offices in India
There are many FRRO offices in India, so no matter which part of India you are, you won’t be too far from one. But some of them are main offices which have more authority over a sub-office.
For example, the Gurgaon FRRO is actually an extension or subsidiary of the Delhi FRRO.
You need to choose the FRRO based on where you live. If you love in Gurgaon, your application will be processed through Gurgaon FRRO. But if you live in Delhi, it will be Delhi FRRO.
Here is map with address and contact details to help you out.
India Visa Extension Requirements for Spouse Visa
Here are all the documents you need to extend Indian visa for spouse in FRRO. Have the scanned copies of all these ready before you start the application process online.
During the process, they might ask you for an extra document or two, especially during police verification. But these are the ones that you would need to upload to the FRRO portal.
Except for the photo, all the other documents must be uploaded in PDF format only.
1. Valid India X Visa for Spouse
You need to upload the valid X-1 visa for India. This is the one which you would have received in your email from FRRO in the past.
2. Proof of Residence in India
All these proofs of residence can work.
- Utility bill
- Rent agreement
- Bank statement
- Form C, if you are staying in a hotel or Airbnb.
I uploaded the rent agreement.
3. Undertaking Letters from Spouse & Applicant
For Spouse to take Financial Responsibility
My husband wrote an undertaking letter where he mentioned that he was my husband and he would take all the financial responsibility for me.
For Applicant to not Work
The foreigner applicant has to write an undertaking letter that says you will not get employed or do business while in India, and that you want to convert your visa to a spouse visa.
How to Write Undertaking Letter
You can write an undertaking letter in a plain word document, print it, sign it and scan it to upload to the e-FRRO official portal. Depending on the FRRO where you are applying, they might ask you to notarize it. But I would say just try without notarizing and do it only if intimated.
4. Request Letter from Indian Spouse
When I got my X1 visa the first time and extended it, I did those in Gurgaon/Delhi FRRO, and a request letter was never asked.
I was asked for this the second time. So my husband had to write a letter where he talked about being my husband and requested them to give me a visa.
5. Passport Bio Page along with Entry Stamp in India
The bio page of your passport, the one with your name and pic along with the page that has the immigration stamp when you entered India the last time.
There are many websites like iLovePDF or smallPDF where you can join them and upload them as one document.
6. ID or Passport Page of Spouse
Your Indian spouse can join the bio page and address page of the Indian passport, and upload it as an ID proof.
7. Marriage Certificate
A scanned copy of your marriage certificate, received through the special marriage act.
If you got married through the Hindu marriage act or any other religious marriage act, you can upload that as well. This might delay the process. Just a heads up.
8. FRRO Registration or RC Certificate
An FRRO registration for foreigner or RC/RP certificate is the document that indicates the FRRO you are registered in with a unique registration number. When you get the India X visa the first time, you receive an email with a RC certificate as a PDF.
You would need to upload that.
How to Get India Visa Extension in Delhi FRRO
Step 1: Submit Your Application Online on FRRO
I am assuming that since you are applying to extend Indian visa, you already are registered in e-FRRO through your current visa. So you need to head to the FRRO log-in page and enter your user name and password.
Click on “Fresh/New Application Submission”. On the next page, you will need to fill in some information. Here is what you need to check for the X visa extension in India.
You need to choose your nationality as well as the state and the city you live in. Based on this, the FRRO will be assigned to your case.
Then select the following options
- Services desired: Visa Extension
- Visa Type: Entry Visa
- Visa Subtype: X-1
- List of questions: Option 2, Whether the applicant foreign national is seeking visa extension as Spouse/ Dependent of Person of Indian Origin / OCI Cardholders.
All other options are self-explanatory.
Once you submit, you will be taken to the next page where you would have to fill in a lot of personal details like name, profession, passport issuance … blah blah blah.
One important data to fill in the next page is the details of your FRRO registration or RC. This is a document that you should have received when getting your India X visa earlier.
Once you complete this, you would be taken to the document submission page.
So the second time, this is what I saw, which didn’t ask me to upload all the documents in one go for some reason. When I did the extension first time , I was able to see the list of all the documents at once.
And there were 10 documents in total.
Here is what I am talking about. When I submitted the application, it only asked me for 6 mandatory documents that didn’t include the marriage certificate and some other stuff.
In any case, I submitted the application, and received the email.
Step 2: Receive More Emails from FRRO to Upload Documents
So as I had mentioned earlier, I was doubtful why I wasn’t asked to upload all the documents. A day after I submitted the application, I received the email to upload more documents.
In case the same happens to you, you would need to log in to e-FRRO portal and click on “Re-upload Missing and Additional Documents”.
And if the remarks in the screenshot are confusing, wait until you get to the page where you would need to upload the documents.
So I upload the RC/RP FRRO registration even though, I had uploaded it earlier in the “others’ section. My husband wrote a request letter which I hadn’t uploaded earlier. No idea why it is required really.
And the undertaking letter that I had uploaded the first time, I simply uploaded in place of the recommendation letter.
Seems like, it worked, coz’ the next day I got another email for more documents and in the e-FRRO portal, I saw that they wanted me to upload the Indian marriage certificate.
Step 3: Indian Visa Extension Fees Payment
You should receive an email from FRRO to pay the Indian visa extension fees. Once you get that, you can log in to the portal and click on the “Payments” option. This will forward you to the page for payment.
It costs 8640 rupees, which might change a little depending on where you are from.
You can choose SBI e-pay or Axis. You can pay using a credit card, debit card, internet banking or UPI gateway like Google Pay.
If the payment goes through, you should see the confirmation page.
Indian Police Clearance for Visa Extension
An important step in extending Indian visa for spouse is the Indian police clearance or verification. Here is how it goes:
- FRRO sends your details with a form to the police station in the area where you live.
- An officer or two from the police station visit your place to verify your address.
- They write a report that basically says they don’t have any issues with your visa extension.
- They give you the report to get signatures from two people along with their address and ask you to attach the self-attested ID proofs for them.
- You submit these to the police station and they send the documents to the FRRO
When I extended the Indian visa the first time, the police verification happened.
But when I did it the second time, the police verification didn’t take place. It could be because of the COVID. I have various friends who got their extensions and there was no police verification. And sometimes, there was.
If your application is not moving forward after 10 working days, check with the FRRO. If the police verification is pending, go to the police station in your area and get things moving.
How Many India X Visa Extensions Can You Get?
You can get extensions for your entry visa from FRRO in India on a yearly basis up to a maximum period of 5 years.
The Visa Project’s Comprehensive Visa Series: Guides & Experiences
Visa requirements are always changing. Here on The Visa Project, they are kept up-to-date and should answer most visa questions.
And not just guides and tips, we also rely on real people’s experiences on visas, coz’ we know how much visas change based on your nationality, financial status, age, ethnicity, etc.
In the South Asia Visa Series: Experiences
- India Spouse Visa: How to Get India Spouse Visa in FRRO
- Indian Embassy Visa for Tourism: One Year Indian Tourist Visa
- India Online Visa for Tourism
- Visa on Arrival for Nepal
- Srilanka Online Visa
Get 1 year Indian Tourist Visa from any Indian Embassy without Hassle
India Business Visa Requirements: How I Got India e-Business Visa for 1 year
India X Visa: How to Convert Your Tourist visa to Spouse Visa in FRRO India
Hello Claudia, I have a doubt regarding Entry X visa.
Recently my wife got X visa on email.
My Question is what is next step we need to do after getting this Entry X1 visa ?
How to get Rc/Rp ? Does I need to apply from local FRO office or online or they will send us with email ? Local FRO have no idea about rc/rp.
In email we got only Entry x 1 visa PDF
Reply soon please
Hi Vishal,
Which FRO office did your wife apply at?
Does the X visa say “RP/RC/ Visa” on top? If it does, then your wife doesn’t need a separate RC. That visa is the RC. Also search for “RCF No./UCF No.” in the PDF? It should be there. That’s the registration number.
They send the RC/RP as a separate PDF when they grant the visa the first time.
Thank you for your reply.
We applied for FRRO Mumbai.
On the top of X visa its mentioned “SERVICE GRANTED: VISA CONVERSION”
and “RCF No./UCF No. : NA”
They grant the visa but didn’t send us RC/RP pdf on mail till now from june 2020.
so does it mean we need to fill application form at e-frro website again for registration ???Pls reply
That’s a little strange. They should send the RC/RP along with the visa as a separate PDF. It will say “SERVICE GRANTED: Registration Certificate/Residential Permit [RC/RP]”. It would have a unique service number for each foreigner. That service number would become the RCF/UCF No in the visa.
And considering Mumbai FRRO must be processing a lot of applications for foreigners, I don’t know if they missed it or something else. But I did the visa extension in FRRO Delhi and Bangalore and received the RC both times. The RC is valid for the time the visa is valid.
So I think you should talk to them or email them. Maybe visit in person if possible, which, because of the pandemic might be difficult. And yes, you might need to fill in an application for registration because you never know when these things might come back to bite you.
Thank you Claudia for reply.
I Called local FRO office regarding registration they said i has not chosen Registration option while filing application form for visa conversation so this might be the reason, maybe they forgot or what to give me RC with Visa, Dont know !
For visa conversion they charged me 8640 and 1000 as penalty
dunno why they charged me penalty.
yesterday i applied online for Registration. lets see…
Hi Claudia
I have the same problem as Vishal
The first conversion doesn’t have RCF/UCF No, at that time it was very confusing the registration and visa process I thought it is same. But when I got my visa extention it has RCF/UCF No. Does that mean I got registered with FRRO second time. Please shed some light.
Hi Lisa,
No, you get registered once in the FRRO. The visa extension has RCF/UCF no for that only. If your extension has the expiry date after a year, you are fine.
Thanks for this helpful blog. I wanted to ask can I marry my partner if he comes on tourist visa to India? He’s Dutch and earlier this year Indian Embassy at NL denied him X visa at the last moment even after sending them all the docs they asked and applying for court marriage in India. In case he may have to stay more than 90 days can we convert tourist visa to entry visa or is it troublesome process ?
Hii madam, I am india my husband Sri Lanka. My come from india multiple entry visa for x-1visa.. Rc/Rp certificate complete.. one toubt madam… Rc/Rp certificate how to address change… Visa extension any problem coming… Please reply madam how to Rc/Rp certificate address change process explain… Step by step please madam… My life big problem in the visa problem.. reply with my e mail madam please,,
Hi Claudia
Thanks for the blog
I have a question regarding travelling back to home country from india. Once you are married to an Indian and you got a visa and extended couple of times. If you are going back to home country after three years do you have an idea if immigration officer asks about any document?
Hi Kaushal,
No, they don’t ask for any document as long as you have a valid X visa. You should be fine.
Hey loved your blog, i recently got entry visa, but instead of X 2 i got X 1 , i am wife of an Indian national, as i know usually x 1 visa is for person of indian origin, i am little worried about entering india, after reading your blog i felt better hopefully i will not have an issue on boarder , as i got you also got x 1 visa , wonder how it usually works and if they distinguish from each other
Hi Nia,
Thanks for stopping by. I am guessing you got it from an Indian embassy and not FRRO? Now a days they are giving X1 only, although technically it should be for people of Indian origin. You should be fine when entering India.
Hi Claudia !!
Thank you very much for exploring the x-visa procedure for wife of an indian national. Recently my son got married to a foreign national and we need to apply x visa (x2) for her. She is already having e-visa (ebv) valid upto 6.2.2021. Can it be converted into x visa ? Is it necessary to upload financial soundness of my son as he has just started own company n doesn’t have much funds in account ? Moreover we are staying in joint family. Please advise.
Hi Sanjay.
Thank you for your kind words. She would need to apply for X1 visa. Earlier they used to give X2, now they are giving X1. Having an e tourist visa might cause some issues and delays, but it is definitely possible to convert it to X visa.
The financial undertaking from the Indian spouse is a mandatory requirement. Although the FRRO doesn’t talk about the amount, I know people who showed close to 1 lakh in their bank account and it was approved. So I guess you can work it out.
You should definitely start the process asap, as she has only two more weeks.
Here is the article on converting India tourist visa to X visa.
Hey Claudia, after two extension we need to apply for oci or pio ?
An OCI card can be applied after 2 years of marriage. So I am assuming 2 extensions.
Thanks for reply! I applied for 1st visa extension today.
I submit all her document visa, passport , marriage certificate , my document to police station for verification ….now police officer ask for my wife mothers document.
I wonder why they need my wife mothers document.
Hi Vishal,
Which document it is? Like an undertaking?
Hi, police officer asked her mother identity card ex. passport. its so strange , extension is of my wife visa , asking document which are not required.
If you don’t mind- which FRRO are you applying it? And where is your wife from?
Hi Claudia did you got OCI?
Not yet Vishal.
Hello Claudia,
First of all you have done a great job by writing these articles.Well done. Can you post one more article explaining about how did you get married to indian as per special marriage Act step by step or help me with this? What hurdles did you faced? It will be helpful to me.
There is definitely a system. And its bold of you to attempt to sort some sort of standardised process out. I recall when I first started the process of marrying and then getting visas the chap who had done it before just laughed out loud and left the advice there. I’ve known people who say it’s really simple I called my friend who went to school with some official. I’ve met people who say when they applied for a visa extension the official offered them OCI instead. Not sure how you managed to get a bank account without an Aadhar. But then again my wife was able to get an Aadhar but it took over three years for her to get her Indian passport. To update her Aadhar which we needed to do before getting her passport we had to get a friendly bank manager to start a new account then he sent his deputy manager to follow us home so he could give.a personal visual confirmation of our address. Then we used this account at the ICICI bank to update the address on her Aadhar card using another bank I have forgotten the name as the ICICI at that time wasn’t able to get its online Aadhar card update system working. I have another set of problems now with my visa extension. I hadn’t realised the OCI was another kind of lottery. But I’m not sure that it’s helpful to others other than to show that there is a Heisenberg uncertainty principle involved in Indian Bureacracy whereas you make it sound more like an orderly Newtonian laws version of the world.
I don’t know when you applied and what were the circumstances, but things are more or less standardized now. By now, I have done a lot of visa stuff- conversion, transfer, RC/RP, change of address and now I have also received the OCI. I am not gonna say that it’s a perfect and flawless system, but bureaucracy never is. Not anywhere in the world.
And I find it quite interesting that your wife got an Indian passport.
It’s very much possible to open a bank account without Aadhar. Aadhar was never a criteria. I opened it in HDFC bank. Opening one in a privatised bank is pretty straightforward.
Hi Claudia,
Just applied for my husband’s second visa extension. We were supposed to apply for his OCI later this year.
A bit worried because they haven’t asked for bank details and stuff before. This time the FRRO officer did and asked us to verify the source of income and all. Its also been delayed for over a month. Visa approval has never taken so much time before. After all this, we get a mail saying “Visa Extension for foreigner service has been referred to higher authorities for approval”.
We are in Delhi. All this is happening for an extension of just 1 year that we asked for. Not 5.
Any idea what might have happened?
Hi Dita,
I also find it weird that they would scrutinize this much for an extension. But usually they would ask for your bank details as you are the Indian citizen and you would be taking the responsibility since he wouldn’t be working. My husband provided the bank statements the first time. They didn’t ask for it after that.
They always extend for a year only even if you ask for 5. 🙂
Hi Clauida,
Thanks for the detailed post and your responses to the comments. I am planning to extend the x1 visa of my 1 year US born daughter. I see that we cannot apply for OCI unless she lived here for atleast 6 months so its not an option for me and I also see no registration required for kids under 2 years. How is the extension given- Do they need US passport to stamp with another entry visa or is it just a pdf that we need to carry when travelling? How long it takes to get the visa? I tried calling the frro hyderabad office so many times, but its always busy.
Hi Anand,
The extension is online. So you would get an email with a PDF. There is no stamping involved. The visa can take 3 weeks or more. It depends on the FRRO.
You could apply for the OCI in the US if you are there now.
Thanks so much Claudia for your response- greatly appreciate it! I am still in India, so planning to extend it here.
I have applied RC/RP extension for my wife after visa extension. But today i have recieved email stating that Registration extension application is closed and no remarks from mention in email FRRO Hyderabad as well as on FRRO website.
1. What would be the reason, is RC/RP extension required or not?
2. In visa extension it mentioned : SERVICE GRANTED: STAY VISA
RP/RC/ Visa Extended From 15/09/2021 (dd/mm/yyyy) To 14/09/2022 (dd/mm/yyyy). So RC/RP extension already done with visa extension? Kindly reply.
Hi Tabrez,
Yes, the RC/RP extension is already done with the visa extension. It’s all good.
Hi Claudia
Can People get married on tourist visa?
Sorry I am posting my comment again since I can’t see my previous one and also mailed some queries
Hi Nancy,
Yes, you can get married on a tourist visa. I got married on a tourist visa and changed it to spouse visa. Here is my article: https://thevisaproject.com/experience/india-x-visa-entry-for-spouse/.
The comments are posted after approval. That’s why you didn’t see it right away.
Hi Tabrez,
Did you have police verification for spouse when you applied at hyderabad frro?
I paid my visa fee today after submitting additional documents. I am not sure what the process would be now. Would it now go to police verification? How long did they take to provide extension after submitting the payment?
Thanks.
Hi Claudia
They gave My fiancé entry X misc visa single entry just for one month! Unfortunately it’s expiring before our court marriage date. can this X misc visa be extended through FRRO so We can get married. Also the tourist visa is resuming from 15 Nov but only for 1 month & that will delay our marriage.
Hi Nancy,
Sorry to hear that. Kind of strange. I believe it can be extended.
Hi Claudia,
We have gone through the same process and can very well relate to whatever you have mentioned. I am sure it will help a lot of people.
Also, I was wondering on what ground was your Aadhar application not approved? Hope you won’t mind telling us about it.
Regards.
Hi Mona,
I never got an answer really. It went into a limbo and after that I never really cared to reapply. I have a PAN and OCI, so they are good enough for me for now.
I see.
What documents did you submit for the Aadhar card application? I am planning to go tomorrow to apply. If you can let me know today, it would be a great help.
Cheers.
Hello Claudia,
Thank you for your article.
How much time did it take you to receive the OCI from the time of application?
My marriage happened in September and my Visa was received in December which gives me almost 3 months before my visa is over. Would it be enough for the OCI or should I extend my visa again?
Hi Claudia,
I’ve been reading your posts about personal experience and discussions with various people trying to apply for X visa. It’s been exhaustively informative and thank you for your initiative to be of help to people in the same boat!
I’m an Indian married to a Russian and my wife will be getting X visa from Indian embassy in Russia.
I’ve a query. Since our marriage is registered in Russia, will it be valid as a supporting document when we’ll require to extend my wife’s X visa? Or do we need to register it into Indian legal system through some process?
Thanks in advance.
Vijay K
Hi Vijay,
Glad to help.
It will surely be valid as a supporting document as long as it is translated and attested. Since this process is different in different countries, you can check with the Indian embassy in Russia on this.
Hi Vijay and Claudia,
I have an X Visa since 6 years and facing huge problems to extend my visa each time. They are specially doubting my marriage certificate as Switzerland gives a very unexited certificate with no spectacular stamps or things like the look of a stamp paper. But why I am writing to you, it is compulsory to get your marriage certificate from Russia Apostilled. And of course it should be in English.
Hello Claudia! My husband and I moved from Bangalore to a different state (west bengal) recently. I now need to apply for his visa extension because his X1 visa expires on 26th Dec. This is the 2nd extension; however, our court marriage would complete 2 years on 16th December . Do you suggest that i apply for OCI or do i extend the X1 visa ? If i apply for OCI after 16th December or on 16th december then how long does it take for the OCI to be approved? It would be risky to do this i suppose ? Also, since i moved from one state to another, do i need to do a chnage of address ? how do i do this, could you please guide me?
Hi Tania,
You should extend the visa first. They will not accept your OCI application if your visa is not valid for at least 3 months or even 6 in some FRROs.
Yes, since you moved from one state to another, your husband would need to register in the FRRO that covers your jurisdiction. You would need to do an RC/RP transfer in eFRRO portal. This is to be initiated at the FRRO where your husband was registered earlier and might involve a police visit to your old address. Once that’s complete, the RC would be transferred to the new address. Bangalore FRRO needed me to do an RC transfer first when I moved from Gurgaon to Bangalore and I wouldn’t have been able to extend my visa without that.
Hello.
Thanks so much for this.
I’m here on medical visa which is valid for 2 months.
It expires January 4, 2022 though.
I’m a US citizen married to my Indian wife since February 2019.
What can I do to extend my visa? I would like to stay here longer.
Thank you.
Hi James,
You can surely try and convert the visa to an X visa.
https://thevisaproject.com/experience/india-x-visa-entry-for-spouse/
would my overstay be forgiven? it expires first week of january
Yes. Once it gets approved, you won’t have any issues.
SOrry, just worried. because it’ll take few weeks to get accepted.
Just waiting for my marriage certificate.
Guess i’ll just see
thank you
Claudia,
I am a US passport holder. I tested positive and could not board my flight. Two days later my e-visa expired. I was told to apply at e-frro for an exit permit. I did. My minor child had to stay back with me (although negative test) and so I applied for an exit permit for her as well. The fee that I am being charged for an exit permit to leave India 10 days after the e-visa expiry date is 12,000 rupees per person. The fee schedule is not published anywhere – at least I could not locate it. Does this fee sound accurate?
Hi Z.Robinson,
I think they are charging you for the overstay. I wish I could help you with this but I haven’t found any info on how much it would be.
Hello Claudia,
I currently have x visa (as foreigner spouse to indian national) which expires on 5 April 2022.
I submitted application for x visa extension in Delhi Frro on 31 January 2022. I received email from Frro that application is in/under process & then 30 minutes later received second email that application is closed (not rejected, not deleted).
My indian husband took police tenant verification form filled in & signed along with notarised lease agreement & building owner signed id & received back a copy of police tenant verification with police stamp which I scanned & uploaded while doing x visa extension application.
I neglected to take photo but believe I only applied for visa extension and not for both visa extension and registration extension….I did write to Frro requesting clarification on meaning of application closed on Monday 7 February 2022 and am still awaiting response.
Any idea what application closed means?
Suggestions on how to further proceed appreciated as your site has been a valuable resource to successfully convert medical visa to x visa last year for which I am most grateful.
Hi Lisa,
I have been hearing cases of people getting these kind of emails that say application was cancelled, deleted or closed. I am not very sure why they are getting them. Although you got the email, do you still that the application is under process on the website? If not, you would probably need to visit the FRRO office.
The email response from Frro on 31 January said application is “under process” and then a bit later a second email said application is “closed” (NOT deleted, NOT cancelled). I wrote requesting clarification on meaning of application “closed” on Frro website feedback section query and am still awaiting response.
On Frro website it shows application as “closed” (not rejected, not deleted).
Indian spouse believes this may be related still to Covid & best to wait as current x visa expires on 5 April 2022.
Important to NOT apply too early or the file will be “closed” and not processed.
Hi Claudia,
I’m an Indian citizen and my boyfriend is a uk citizen. Now since India has opened its borders on February 2022. We hope to have a court marriage once he arrives. Now because of the pandemic restrictions, he can be here for 30 days. The notice period for court marriage is 30 days so he exhausts the entire permitted visa days.
Please advise what to do. I’m am so lost and confused ☹️
Hi Sharda,
Lots of people are in the same boat, unfortunately. https://thevisaproject.com/experience/india-x-visa-entry-for-spouse/#comment-2071
Thanks for your really helpful articles. Do you know if there’s a way to register your marriage in India if you’ve already been married overseas? My husband is Indian and we were married five years ago. We tried to apply for an OCI card but were told that it needed to be Apostilled, the only problem is the country where we got married doesn’t issue Apostilles (we have all the stamps from the various embassies, but were told this may not be enough). We were told to try and register our marriage in India, but my research suggest that you have to declare you’re single which we’re not as we’re married to each other! Is that correct, or are there other ways of doing things that I don’t know about? Thanks so much, Rachel
Hi Rachel,
Where did you get married? And can you try at the Indian embassy in that country to register the marriage?
That probably would be the easiest option.
If not, the other option would be to try and see if the Ministry of External affairs in India would agree to apostille it.
All the best, Claudia.
Hi Claudia,
I hope you can help me with a query and my next steps. I really thank you in advance. Your blog post took the edge away from the application process 🙂
Today I received my Ist Visa extension on my X-1 Visa which was granted by the Indian Embassy in my country. That was Six months ago, and it was to expire coming April 19. So we went through the entire process and your blog describing the process made it a lot easy by taking the edge off from the anticipation and the follow-up queries and visit to the FRRO ). Although I might add that every case might just be a tad different in terms of FRRO interactions and their additional document requirements.
In my mail, I got two documents:
1) Stay Visa
“RP/RC/ Visa Extended From 20/04/2022 (dd/mm/yyyy) To 19/04/2023 (dd/mm/yyyy”
2) Registration Certificate/Residential Permit [RC/RP]
Valid From : 15/03/2022 (dd/mm/yyyy) To 19/04/2022 (dd/mm/yyyy)
Both the documents state in Observations: MARRIED TO AN INDIAN. EMPLOYMENT/BUSINESS/STUDY NOT PERMITTED. FAILURE
TO REPORT CHANGE OF ADDRESS WITHIN 8 WEEKS ATTRACTS $ 30 PENALTY.
My queries are:
1) The RC/RP Date is until 19/04/2022 only!
What does this mean?
And do I have to worry about this not being for the duration of my VISA Extension expiry; which is 19/04/2023?
2) What does the comment mean – “FAILURE TO REPORT CHANGE OF ADDRESS WITHIN 8 WEEKS ATTRACTS $ 30 PENALTY.” Do I need to do something about it?
Thank you in advance!
Regards/
Elena
Hi Elena,
Hope you are doing well. Glad to help.
1) Don’t worry about the RC/RP date. What matters is that you are registered. The visa extension will serve you fine, as it is valid until the next year April.
2) In case you move to an address different from the one mentioned on the visa, but still live in the same city, in that case, you would need to register yourself at a new address through RC/RP. Then they will send you a revised RC/RP with that new address. If you move to a different city altogether, which doesn’t come under the purview of the FRRO where you are registered, it would be a longer process.
Good morning
I’m south Africa citizen
And marriage to India citizen last 21year so many times I was in India the last time I was 5year in India
I have to go back to India to look after my family I need 5year visa please help me out
Sadiya Saqibuddin Qureshi
South Africa
Western cape
Oudtshroon
Hi Claudia,
Is it mandatory to endorse spouse name in either my passport or my husband’s passport ? What happens if endorsement is / are not done, can I still get X1 visa extensions while in India from FRRO
Is this really mandatory for me at least ?
Reply with as much information as you can provide
Maya
Hi Maya,
No it is not mandatory ay all.
Hi Claudia!
Thank you so much for detailed information! Loved it!
I have few questions based on following information.
1. I applied for the visa extension for my wife on 14th April, her X Visa expires on 2nd June.
2. Today is 19th May and I haven’t heard anything from FRRO.
What will happen if we don’t hear from FRRO by 2nd June, neither rejected nor accepted, can we stay in India?
Thanks!
Hi Pinakin,
Yes, your wife can stay in India even if her visa expires, as long as her application is under process. However, do follow up with the FRRO and try to sort it out.
Hi Claudia, thanks for the wonderful job you are doing in helping the confused lovebirds across borders. I am an Indian and I recently got married to my Bangladeshi wife in Bangladesh. She applied for the Entry Visa through the Indian embassy here in India. However, she got an X-1 visa of 6 months validity and multiple entry (though the Visa mentions “Spouse is an Indian National” as Special Endorsement), instead of the X-2 visa. Are you aware of any changes in the categories? I called up the IVAC, Dhaka and HCI, Dhaka, but they were equally confused. Also, do I need to get my Bangladeshi marriage registered with the Indian embassy here?
Hi Rizwan,
Now a days, they are giving out X-1 mostly. Even I got X-2 the first time, and then X-1. Don’t worry.
I believe you live in Bangladesh. It is always better to register the marriage with the Indian embassy. You never know when that can come handy.
Hey Claudia,
Thanks for the incredibly clear writeup.
I have a question that you can perhaps help with!
If my (foreigner) wife has an Entry Visa, and she applies + gets the extension, can she then leave India briefly and come back under the same visa — or will she have to apply for a fresh Entry Visa in her home country all over again?
Best,
Gamin
Hi Gamin,
Yes she can leave and reenter. No new visa is needed for this.
Claudia,
Thanks for the reply.
That sounds positive.
There’s a little subtlety though. My wife’s original Entry Visa is a single-entry type. Do you happen to know whether the provided extended visa (i.e., after extension) be multiple-entry, despite the original being single-entry?
Regards,
Gamin
The X visa is usually a multiple entry visa. Any idea why she got a single entry visa? Which FRRO was it?
Ideally the visa and the extension should be multiple-entry only. This is the case for every foreigner spouse I know.
I am applying today (15/12/2022) and at the beginning of this year I was shocked to see that they had given me a single entry visa here in Bangalore after I had explicitly told them I want a multiple entry! I even went to the office and asked why this is the case. Their response? “Well the tourist visa you came in on originally said single, so we assumed you would want another single entry visa”. I don’t understand that logic at all…well hopefully this time extending it will be different!
Hellow sir,,
I have same problem my wife’s visa will expire on 30 August 2022 today 12 August but i applied for extension 30 june 2022
Still frro portal showing under process.
Can you please inform me finally what happened with you and when u got extension??
Please help me …thank you.
Hi Arabinda,
As long as it is under process, your wife is fine even if the visa expires. However, do follow up with the police station and the FRRO to see where it is stuck.
Hello Claudia,
Do you have a guide on OCI application for a foreigner?
Thank you.
Namaskar Claudia,
may I ask if the extension via FRRO also applies to the 30 day e-visa?
Gracias de antemanos.
Katy
Namaskar Katy.
Yes FRRO has that option but I don’t know of anyon who has done it. Please update us if you are able to.
Extension application > Additional documents requested > “please upload bank statements of all accounts of yourself and your spouse for last one year.”
lol wtf
Update from FRRO after submitting 1-year of financial data…
They asked how we were making money (as the Indian wife doesn’t work), so I said I was doing remote work online.
“as you have stayed for more than 182 days in India your all income including global income is taxable in india. please submit income tax details for processing your application. ”
Awesome…
Has anyone else had this experience?
It is possible that you would have to pay taxes. Do consult with a CA or tax consultant, and sort it out.
It’s possible. Then they asked for all my employment contracts. I gave them.
Then after a long time they said “please upload clarification for indulging in employment/earning while on x-1 visa.”
What does that even mean?
I have to work cause my wife doesn’t and we have to live. I don’t know what they’re asking.
The stipulation is that you can’t work *in* India, right?
I don’t know… any ideas?
That is sort of like a Catch-22 Elron.
I honestly don’t know how this is going to turn out.
You could write in the clarification that you never worked for an Indian employer.
For my “clarification for indulging in employment” I wrote a letter saying that because my wife doesn’t work, and since we need to buy food and pay rent, I started online work. (And really, my foreign affairs shouldn’t be any of their business).
So after a long pause, they finally just requested the FRO meeting. We went to our city’s DCP office and that went well. They sent a letter to our home-address local police station. We visited the police station. The chief there was just asking a lot of questions about bank accounts and money.
Then he yelled at us because we had submitted the required affidavit that my wife (the indian citizen) accepts financial responsibility, “but how can it be possible if she is not earning!” Okay… I didn’t write the laws. Writing a notarized affidavit seems quite anachronistic anyway…
The police chief dismissed us. Now we wait. I love this country’s bureaucracy.
Hello Elron,
I understand your frustration and I truly hope that your experience helps everyone else. In the past, a lot of people have asked about this.
You should also consult an immigration lawyer just in case.
Finally got it. 3 months after applying. A long wait. Referred to “higher authorities” for approval. Then quickly paid and received.
Let’s see if the OCI card proves to be difficult too.
The problem is, if they ask “What is your employment?”, I can’t just lie, can I? Because without that, then there’s no way to prove an income source. But the fact that I’m working remotely overseas seems to confuse their bureaucracy (even though my remote employment outside of India is none of India’s concern).
The OCI card should be a fun process. I can’t wait.
So glad to know everything was finally sorted out Elron. Hope the OCI goes through without any setbacks.
Cheers,
Claudia
Dear Mam
My husband is here on a 3 months single entry-x1 visa issued from the high commission outside India ,we have filed for the 30 days notice period for our marriage under the special marriage act and we should have the certificate by 15th of Dec ,however in the mean time i applied for registration yesterday and not for visa extension ,today i get an intimation from FRRO that i need to pay 18000 INR for visa extension
please suggest if i should pay or wait until i get my marriage certificate and is the amount 18000 charges for Entry x1 visa extension as i do not see in the website the payment structure
Visa is going to expire on 1st of Jan
please advise
Hi Sam,
Yes, there is no payment structure for this, however, this seems a little too much. If the visa extension is based on marriage then they will definitely need the marriage certificate. However, FRRO does not ask anyone to pay for the visa unless all the documents are in order. So this is a little ironic.
If you are fine with sending some documents, please feel free to send the pic of the visa and the screenshot from FRRO website to thevisaproject@gmail.com, and maybe we can give a better reply.
Dear Mam
I have sent you an email with the screen shots of the details
Hi Claudia,
Thanks for the helpful article on Visa Conversion! I have applied for Visa Conversion from a tourist visa to an X-1 Visa for my just married spouse. We have also submitted the documents as required on the portal.
The issue is we haven’t received any further confirmation from the portal for almost a week. The expiry date of the tourist visa draws near.
I remember reading somewhere that if a visa conversion process is in continuation, the current visa expiry will not force the Applicant to leave the country. Is it true? Can my wife stay here after the current visa expires since her application is in process?
I shall be grateful for your response.
Thanks and Regards!
Hi Tsering,
Yes, your wife can stay here as long as her application is under process, even if the current stay expires.
Sometimes, these things take time.
All the best,
Claudia
Hello Everyone
Let’s say I’m married from Indian wife and overstayed more than 5 years my pervious Vis was Student Visa
I have one daughter she is holding Indian passport as her mother
I applied for Visa conversion all process was done they’re visited us at home for notification
Visa conversion was deleted and started Exit permit and I have to pay the penalty and book my tickets
The problem currently my wife she is in second pregnancy recently
and FRRO starting calling me and inform me I have to pay for penalty and booking tickets I told them my situation currently
and I told the if there is any guarantee I will not got blocked if travel my country to came with X visa or any other visa
I know it’s complicated
If anyone have any idea please let me know
Thanks
Hi Claudia,
Do you know anyone staying in India in X-visa and got an Aadhar card ?
Staying over a year. If yes can you share your experience and how to apply / documents required + how many days to get the card in hand
Thanks
My wife (on X-visa) got e-Aadhaar recently in just 2 days. I would suggest you to visit Aadhaar Seva Kendra (Dhaula Kuan) with your passport and visa extension (FRRO).
Centre opens at 9am, better to be there early and be out in 15mins.
We tried at Inderlok centre, they did not help.
Hi Claudia,
My step father (deceased) was Indian and my mother is a OCI card holder.
I came here on a student visa, since I grew up abroad.
I have applied for X visa conversion because I came back on a tourist visa valid for 6 months as suggested by frro.
I had submitted all my documents and was called and interviewed at frro blr.
Today I received a mail stating that me application is “Deleted”.
What does this mean?
Hi Silas,
Can you still access your application on the FRRO website? If yes, then the “Deleted” email might be random. If you check the comments, other people have received them too.
By the way you should be able to get the OCI card directly as the child of an Indian and OCI holder.
Hi Claudia,
I am going through your post and it helped me to apply for my son’s X1 visa from India. He got his foreign citizenship while he was in India. We got his foreign passport in India. Surrendered Indian passport and applied for X1 visa.
Now after applying and submitted all requested documents we got payment request today.
Want to know how what’s the next step. Is this last state.
Thanks,
KC
Hi KC,
Yes, it is the last step. Once you make the payment, your son should get the visa.
GREETINGS FOR THE DAY MAM
I APPLIED FOR VISA CONVERSION AND EXTENSION FOR MY WIFE IN FRRO AFTER LONG 25 DAYS THEY ASKED PAYMENT OF 1000 RS ONLY FOR VISA CONVERSION IS THAT THE ACTUAL FEE FOR THE CONVERSION OR THEY PROVIDE EXIT PERMIT ? KINDLY CLARIFY THIS
Hi Hari,
You can pay what they are asking for. I imagine it would be only for the extension. You won’t need Exit permit if you are extending the visa.
Hi,
Thank you for starting this excellent blog and for your informative responses. I have applied for visa and registration extensions for myself and my children. I did the same last year and was granted the extensions and paid INR 8640 for each of us. However, this time the portal is asking me to pay INR 8640 for myself but INR 14400 for my children. Why is there so much of a discrepancy?
Any ideas?
Thank you.
Hi Mona,
If by children, you mean more than one child, then I think they are getting a discounted extension, right?
Hi Claudia,
Thanks for your blog. It is very helpful for first time users like us.
My wife recently converted her employment visa into Entry X1 visa. On top it only shows “Service Granted – Visa Conversion” .
In the observation section it is mentioned ” Apply for Registration service on new visa earliest if intends to stay more than 180 days”.
When applying for registration service from FRRO portal, it mentions one of the documents required is “Surrender Passport” i.e. Passport Surrender Certificate from the Concerned regional passport office along with copy of Cancelled Indian passport. We understand that this should not be applicable for her since she is not having an Indian passport. Please advise.
Also now we are also planning to apply for her OCI card.
Can you please suggest whether we should proceed with the registration first and then on completion apply for OCI card or we directly proceed for OCI application??
Thanks in advance.
Hi Mrugank,
She does not need to register separately. She should already be registered which you can see on her visa. Have you been married for more than 2 years? Then she can apply for the OCI.
I appreciate your time and spirit for writing this which is so much helpful.I also want to know what will happen after 5years when x visa cannot be extended any more?how can the foreign spouse keep on staying in India and also visit own country and comeback?
They could apply for the OCI card after 2 years of marriage, which is valid forever.
What if they are not eligible for OCI card as not every country’s citizen can apply for OCI card
Any thoughts on the after process on how to get visa extension after 5 yrs
Hi Claudia,
Do police verification happens everytime when you apply for visa extension ?
Can anyone share their experiences too
I am having a very bitter experience
Thanks
Yes Maya. They do the verification when you apply for extension.
Did you have a bad experience? Is everything ok? Please elaborate.
Hi Claudia
Is X1 still valid once my spouse exits India? If yes, how long before the expiration can it be used for India entry?
Hi Mahesh,
Yes, it would be valid until the expiry date mentioned on the visa.
Hi Claudia, i am in process of applying for X1 VISA extension and registration extension for my wife(We married last year in India). While filling the application i see a option “Whether newly born child (born in India only)” . What does this option mean ?
Recently we have child so if answer this option as “yes”, it only ask for photo as document requirement and if i choose no then it ask couple of documents. So little bit confused.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Hitesh,
I think that option is for applying for visas for children born in India. You are applying for your wife, so you can ignore that one.
Hi Claudia,
My wife apply for x1 visa on June 1st and they sent a police verification on 16 June.
After that the application shows under process. Then the police called us on 30 June reconfirmed all the information and the application is still in progress.
My wife’s visa is about to end in five days and we plan to travel to the Philippines next month.
My question is in case my wife doesn’t get approved until the time we need to travel out of india. Will she face any problems with immigration while leaving the country because technically she’s overstay in India for a while?
Hi Sheik,
Sometimes it can take time for the visa approval. It is a good idea not to travel while this is pending. As long as she is inside India while the application is under process, she should be fine even if her current visa has expired.
Documents required from me:
1 AFFIDAVIT
2 FINANCIAL STATEMENT – Financial Guarantee
3 REQUEST LETTER TO EXTEND YOUR VISA – Request letter
4 UNDERTAKING FROM SPOUSE – Undertaking from Indian spouse
…
I’m confused on what exactly the “Financial Statement” means here.
They are referring to the bank statement(s) from the Indian spouse.
Hi Claudia- after the payment was made for visa extension
Was the visa issued immediately? Or was there a waiting period ?
Hi Karan,
It is usually pretty fast once the payment is done. Maybe a day or two.
Hey Claudia
Nicely expalined.
I wanted to ask you – is there any limit to when you can enter india? My wife has a spouse visa. Shes outside India right now. Can she come back 2 days before it expires? I’ll apply for an extension the day she lands.
Hi Kitr,
Speaking in strictly legal terms, I believe she can enter India 2 days before the visa expires, although they might ask her a few questions in the immigration. I personally would recommend not doing this 2 days before and have some more time, unless it is impossible.
All the best, Claudia.
Hi. I have indian entry visa extension by paper. Due personal reason I had to go England so I am planning to come back India soon to be with my husband. Can I use certificate e-frro of entry visa extension to come back? It say expire on 08/02/2024. So I am not sure it is invalid since I departed from India before. Thank you.
Yes you should be able to use it Raquel.
Hi Claudia,
Thank you so much for writing this piece.
My partner is an American citizen on a business visa in India for 5 years.
We are planning to get married in mid 2024 in India and apply for the Visa.
Once she gets the visa X, will her business visa still be valid for her to operate her business?
Hi Puneet,
She can have only one type of visa. If they give her the X visa, the business visa stands cancelled.