Dealings with Indian bureaucracy
Excerpts from the book Living and Working in India
Even before your trip to India begins, the first hurdle to cross is to obtain a visa. The forms are available online from the Indian Missions abroad and the process appears straight forward but it is not. On a busy day the Indian embassies and consulates has the atmosphere of a bustling Indian market, with plenty of pushing, shoving and shouting. It certainly pays to enter with plenty of patience and good humour. If you have not visited India before, then a trip to the Indian mission to apply for a visa may be your first real contact with Indian culture.
As such it is quite an experience and may give you your first inkling that the ‘real India’ is not quite what you had imagined from television programmes replete with sitar music, or a ‘curry’ with your mates on Friday night
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Be aware, that there are no standard visa application forms or procedure. Forms vary from embassy to embassy and from consulate to consulate. For example, Indian consulate in Sydney refuses to accept visa applications with application forms filled in from Indian High Commission in Canberra. At the Indian mission, you may be told to fill the forms in triplicate and then sent back rudely for flimsiest reasons such as photographs not being alike or of the same size or not having the exact amount in local currency for the visa.
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After arriving in India, you’ll have to go thorough a few more bureaucratic nightmares mainly with the local police. To a large extent, the police in India are a law unto themselves, and it is best to be very polite, respectful and appreciative. While India has an anti-corruption bureau, and Indian officials are required to swear oaths against bribery, some police officials (more likely the ones who have desk-jobs as clerks) may ask you to grease their palms. This suggestion may come in the form of, ‘I have helped you very much, haven’t I? You should give me some gift.’ Sometimes they may feel a little ashamed (or afraid of being caught) and if you ask how much, you may be told, ‘Just friendly,…….. friendly). It is best to take your company’s representative or a friend who speaks the local language and will know how much ‘bakhsheesh’ (bribe/tip) is required.
Nowadays bribes (which are not always asked for) should not be too high. Also, remember not to use the word, ‘bribe’, or bring up the subject. If the Indian police require anything, they will find a way of letting you know. In one case (while getting a visa extension) we remember being asked to walk outside the police station, take a folded piece of paper, place some money inside and bring it back to the counter. When a 100 Rupee note was not enough, a second trip outside, and a total bribe of 200 Rupees saved the day.
As we mentioned earlier, It is very important that you go for Police Registration accompanied by an Indian (preferably from your company’s Human Resources department) who speaks the local language. We noted this in the Southern Indian city of Bangalore where we observed that the police representative who dealt with foreign nationals could not speak a word of English!!!!
For complete details on visas to India, police registration, residence permit and Indian Immigration, see the Chapter ‘Immigration’ in Living and Working in India
