I’ve been in India for two months now, but I thought I would share a story about the challenges in getting started in my work with Drishtee. It reminded me a lot of the exercise in “Everyday Barriers” that the fellows went through during our training in New York.
My business visa, which was issued in the U.S., notes that I am employed with Acumen Fund Advisory Services, Ind. Pvt, Ltd. in Hyderabad. It states ‘Registration Required Within 14 Days of Arrival in India’ although it does not say with what office or where. The Tuesday after I arrived in India, I went to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (with several documents) in New Delhi, but, unfortunately, it was closed by 3:00 and I got there too late.
On Wednesday, I went back to FRRO, and after waiting in line and submitting the documents, I was told that since I was in a different state (Uttar Pradesh), that I needed to go to the Main Noida Police Station (Noida is where Drishtee is headquartered and where I live) to get registered. They would not give me the address or the exact name of the place – I asked many times and was told by the staff at FRRO that everyone in Noida knew where the place was. As you can imagine, when I got to Noida, no one had ever heard of this office. I finally found the address and went there, meeting with a Mr. Singh, who informed me that my visa was not valid for Noida and that I needed to go to Hyderabad if I wanted to stay in India. After much discussion, he suggested going to the Foreigners Visa Office in Delhi. If they would provide a document approving a visa change, he would register me in Noida. I rushed back to Delhi on Wednesday, but you need to get a pass to enter the Foreigners Visa Office in Delhi. No passes are given out after 12 noon, so nothing else could be done that day.