Navigating Visa Options for a Foreign Manager in India: What Steps Should We Take?

Our company is a manufacturing company in Navi Mumbai (headquartered in China). We are registered under the Factories Act. One of our foreign managers is going to stay here in India for a long time, so please let me know on which visa he should stay here. He arrived at the end of March and was here for one and a half months, then went back to China for one week. Now, he is back in India, and his visa period is until September 2013. What can be done to apply for a new visa after completing this period?

Thank you.

There is no link of foreigners with the Factories Act. The visa rules state that if a foreigner is working in India on deputation from their Head Office (HO) to work in an establishment in India, they must have an "Employment Visa." They cannot work in India on a Business Visa. Employment visas are issued for one year at a time and can be renewed from India only for one year at a time. They can apply for their visa extension to the Chinese Consulate in Mumbai.

Now, after September 2013, he has to take an employment visa, and can the formalities be completed in Mumbai? I have one more question: apart from the director, if our headquarters decides to grant this manager signing authority, what formalities need to be completed?

Regards,
Sushama

You seemed to have mixed up the issue. If any foreigner wants to extend his/her Employment Visa, he/she has to approach THAT country's Visa Processing entity. In this case, the Chinese employee has to get it done from the Ministry of External Affairs of India—NOT the Chinese Consulate in Mumbai.

@ Sushama—The first-time Employment Visa Stamping has to be done at the Indian Embassy/Consulate in the country of origin of the foreign national—in this case, the nearest Indian Embassy/Consulate in China (nearest to his address as per his Chinese passport). The company has to apply for his Employment Visa, and once the approval comes (which usually takes 3-4 months), he WILL HAVE TO RETURN to China to get the first-time Employment Visa Stamping. Later on, he can get the extensions even while he continues to work in India.

What Dixon mentioned is right regarding 'He cannot work in India on a Business Visa.' Strictly speaking, this is illegal in any country—so better be careful, especially if you happen to have any union. Infosys ended up spending millions in the USA for adopting these practices—finally, they settled out of court.

PFA the FAQs on this issue—hope they would guide you to the next step better.

Regards,
TS

I stand corrected by TS. The employment visa extension can be done by applying at the local FRO (not Consulate), which will then send the file to the Mumbai FRO.