Regular Employment Visa for India

An employment visa is granted if you want to take up employment in India. It will be issued to you for one or two years and will be extended by the local authorities up to five years. Anyone who enters with an employment visa has to register after the arrival within 14 days at the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO). At least when you will stay longer than 180 days in India. Relatives who accompany you to India will be granted an employment visa as well. 

Generally an employment visa is only issued to you if you can provide proof of an employer-employee relationship and earn an annual salary of at least 25000 USD (about 20500 Euro). This minimum income does not apply for cooks, language teachers, translators and embassy employees. 

In case you are going to work as a volunteer for an NGO registered in India your visa will be limited to one year. Same applies if you exert a skilled manual work like installing a machine. Issuing the employment visa normally takes about three days – presumed you are submitting the document personally. If you send the document by mail the process will take about two weeks. 

You have to submit the required documents for your employment visa in English. Please, fill in the application form online, print it out and sign it duly. If you file your application, make sure that your passport is still valid for at least two months and that it has two empty pages. The two passport photos should show your face from frontal perspective and in colour. The required format is 5 x 5 centimeters. 

In addition, you need an invitation from the company in India where you are going to be employed. The invitation letter needs an official header and should explain the purpose and duration of the requested visa. You are also asked to submit a copy of the employment contract, a written reassurance that you are going to consider the rules of conduct and a proof of registration of the Indian company. Furthermore you have to submit certificates qualifying you for the profession and your bio. On top of this you need the certificate of incorporation of  the Indian company and of course you have to pay the visa fee. 

If you want to work as a volunteer in India you should be able to show the following documents: An invitation of the Indian organisation where you want to work, your prospective occupation and the duration of your employment. Aside from that you need the certificate of registration of the Indian corporation, organisation or NGO. Additionally you should be able to show the registration of the Indian organisation of the Ministry of Home Affairs. In case you are under 18 years old you need a certificate of bond of your parents and copies of their identity card and passport – and your birth certificate. 

In case you carry on a craft you need an official letter of the German company posting you which explains the purpose, duration and cost takeover of your stay. At the same time you have to show an official invitation of the Indian company which informs about the duration and purpose of your stay. 

The Indian Embassy may request you to provide further documents at any time. 

More details for Hamburg and Frankfurt you will find here: https://igcsvisa.de/arbeitsvisum/. For the representations in Berlin and München you will find more information if you click on the following link: http://www.ivs-germany.com/EmploymentVisa.aspx.

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Last Update: 24.05.2021

Written by: Antje Stiebitz

Photo Credit: Ananya Singh

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