Indian Samurai इंडियन सामुराई

The other day I went on my yearly pilgrimage to the (now famous) Foreign Registration Office (FRRO for the inner circle).  

So here I drove, all the way from Khar to CST (also known as Victoria Station), near the Police Commissioner Office and Crawford market. 

I thought I had become an expert – it was my fourth renewal of my employment visa mind you – and got a bit overconfident. As a result, I had missed one paper, a new one, some form you have to fill online, and get an appointment. I had checked the website but never found the right page so I didn’t put any fight and left. 

Thinking I still stood a chance to get an appointment the same day (it was not even 11 AM), I went roaming around in Crawford Market in look for an internet café. Walking 30 minutes in the chaos of this market and under 35 degrees was a baaaaad idea… And since I am still shy, it took me a long time to gather the courage to ask someone. But it’s good I did it coz the guy was used to the visa applications (since he owns the closest internet place to the FRRO) and found the form for me!! To be downloaded here for these who need…

A computer like you don't see them anymore, worth struggling to find an Intern café!

So I went back to work, slaloming between taxis, carts, people, bikes and god knows what. You name it and it is there in the streets of Mumbai… Driving and texting is not even an option here as you would kill someone within five minutes!

The next day I went back. Counter 12, ticket 3. I sat, expecting someone to come and call. I did some work on my phone and decided to go inspecting the office. Good I did so… There were only 8 counters… I asked the lady who collects payments and found out that they have converted the old computer section into more counters. And my counter was free, I could have waited long like that… Sunita (the officer in charge of counter 12) was simply sitting and chatting with an African lady! But well… 

She started dealing with my case. Now I have to say the FRRO has come a long way… From completely manual 5 years ago to completely computerised. Quite impressive.

She sent me out for 3 hours, the time to prepare the visa. I decided to walk a bit, up to Pain Quotidien in Colaba. Doing so, I got lost – but google map was there on my Blackberry! And anyway it gave me the chance to discover new things, like Starbuck (okay okay when you come to India you despise Starbuck and prefer the local chai stand in the street, but hey, a good coffee in a nice place (this one is quite stylish by the way), when you have walked 30 minutes in the Mumbai madness, it is something of a blessing! – my personal opinion).

Kala Ghoda Starbuck

Full of Starbuck frapuccino and Pain Quotidien tartine, I walked back to the FRRO and what a walk. I had to stop every five minutes to take pictures of amazing stuff happening (pics to come in the coming days). And listening to this music:

And my visa (last and final, though not mentioned on the paper) was ready! Since I have used this visa for 5 years (with four renewals), I have to go back to France to get a new employment visa next year!!

On October 12th I happened to watch the news and to see an outraged journalist asking that “how could the UK plan to tighten immigration rules?” Yeah what the hell huh? hat the least they owe the Indians!!

The story here is that till now, “temporary immigration led to an automatic right to settle here”. So if you are a foreigner and you have worked in the UK for 5 years, you can stay without a visa. And now they want to control the immigration of workers.

Before crying wolf, it would be interesting to look at your own immigration rules. Because India is also trying to prevent workers from coming to India and “steal jobs from Indians”! Basically, to prevent Chinese (and some other Asian) laborers to come and take the jobs of Indians, India makes it very difficult for any foreigner to get an employment visa. And then they complain!

So not only do the Indian authorities make it hell to get an employment visa (you need to earn a minimum of US $ 25, 000 per annum,

except if

you are (a) Ethnic cooks,(b) Language teachers (other than English Language Teachers)/Translators, (c) Staff working for the concerned Embassy/High Commission in India and (d) Foreigners coming for honorary work (without Salary) with NGOs registered in the country). And here is what happened when you have renewed your visa 4 times (and thus stayed 5 years working in India)!

Now you go back home and get a new visa my friend!!

But I guess that since we can count around 50,000 foreign workers in India (out of which 1/3^rd is Chinese) against 5 million Indians working abroad, the rules of visa to India do not interest Indians much!  

PS: Foreigners working in India

I found it impossible to find out how many foreigners live in India and how many foreigners work in India!

I found a figure of

Note: the following remarks come from personal experiences and exchanges and if it is very general, I think that it is quite true. One can certainly say also a lot on the French who travel…

First: choosing the destination. The Indian is not an explorer at heart and will prefer to avoid the unknown regions – so if parents, friends went there (or better even better live there), it is preferable.

Second: the visa. Indians need visas to go about everywhere. And though in the majority of the countries the procedure is not too complicated – and on top of that most of Indians use the services of an agent, time management to get a visa is not easy easy. As for everything else, waiting for the last minute is preferable.

Once on the holiday spot, the paramount question will be the food. If the Indian is vegetarian, I don’t want to even mention the situation… In any case, after a couple of days, the Indian will want to visit about all the Indian, or Chinese, restaurants that he will come across. He will not force his partner to share his dinner, since anyway eating is about eating – you really have to be French to think that dinner is more a moment of sharing, talking, than just gulping food.

Very recently, my “own” Indian really played with my nerves (this is my point of view, not his obviously). After obtaining his visa in a record time (4 days before departure), he looked at the weather on Internet, discovered that the monsoon was starting there and panicked – and yes we had checked before and we knew we could expect some rain but not to the point to ruin holidays (apparently he forgot that)… So he mentioned changing the destination. Or at least suggested that I call my friend who lives there (yes, even if she is on holiday in the Vietnamese countryside, she has access to facebook not?) so that she tells me the weather. One week in advance…

If I did not have him, I would have to invent him…