You Need An Exit Visa.
If you are in India on a valid visa which hasn’t expired then you do not need to get an Exit Visa. However, if your visa has expired then you need to go to the local FRRO and apply for an Exit Visa. If you try and leave the country with a visa that has expired – even by a day – you will be turned away at Immigration and not allowed to leave.
To get an Exit Visa you need to go to the local FRRO office and apply. You will be charged a fee, which varies depending on which country you are from, it can range from a couple of hundred Rupees to thousands of Rupees if you are from the UK or Israel.
If you are on an Employment Visa and waiting for your Visa Extension to arrive (which never happens), you will need an Exit Visa when you leave the country for the last time or if you have used up your allowance of two Return Visa’s. To get an Exit Visa when you came on an Employment Visa you need to submit the same documents as for the Visa Extension and Return Visa’s.
Since you only pay for your Extension Visa when it arrives, if you apply for an Exit Visa you will be asked to pay the full cost of the Extension Visa.
Be warned, they are very particular about the tax and TDS statements so ensure they are all up to date for the most recent financial year. The documents you will need to submit are:
- Application Form
- Original Residence Certificate
- Contract extension letter from the company
- TDS Statement (for all years up to the previous financial year)
- Photocopies of passport photo page
- Photocopies of visa to be renewed
- Photocopies of PAN card
- Two passport sized photos
- Proof of residence
Exit Visa’s are usually processed the same day, regardless of the Visa type you are on.
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Salary Requirements For Employment Visa
In September 2010 the Indian Interior Ministry changed the requirements for issuing Employment Visa’s to foreigners. All foreign workers must earn the equivalent of $25,000 per annum in order to be considered for an Employment Visa.
If an employment visa was issued prior to September 2010 it is still valid until it expires. However if you try to renew your Employment Visa and don’t meet the salary requirements then it will get rejected and you will be asked to leave India.
It does not matter how long you have already been here for and doesn’t matter what type of job you are doing, you must earn the equivalent of $25,000 to get a new, or renew an existing, Employment Visa.
