Work & Settle Abroad | Permanent Resident

Ease Visa Rules For Foreign Spouses

While a lot of press attention has been devoted to the issue of dependent visa holders in USA, and what their fate might be, a lesser known fact has been the recent decision by the Indian government to change the existing rules for foreign nationals who marry Indian spouses.

Mr. Subhakar Alapati, Director of Global Tree

According to the proposed new rules, persons marrying Indians will no longer have to go through hoops of fire to getting their tourist visa converted to an Indian visa, when the marriage takes place out of the country. Mr. Subhakar Alapati, Director of Global Tree, hailed this move as a step in the right direction and opined that making these changes would ease the process of converting a tourist visa to dependent visa for foreign spouses of Indian nationals.

Sharing his insights in an interview on a local news site, he revealed that the move on the part of the government came as a result of the dilemma faced by a citizen of Philippines who married an Indian citizen and subsequently had to go through a lot of trouble to obtain the visa, as per existing rules.

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X-2 Visa

This was brought to the attention of Indias home minister Mr. Rajnath Singh, who intervened to solve the issue. According to a senior official in the Home Ministry, the existing rule of being able to convert to an X2 visa to a X2, only if the marriage takes place within the country, would be scrapped and a new rule would be put in place which would allow the couple to obtain a X2 visa irrespective of where the marriage took place. Mr. Subhakar of Global Tree, also shed light on why this was such an important move on the part of the Indian government.

He explained that prior to this rule, if anybody wanted to obtain an X2 visa, would have to go back to his home country and then apply from there. This would mean unnecessary separation and long harrowing wait times.

Not to mention the costs involved. Elaborating on the problem, Mr. Alapati explained that currently, there are two separate processes involved in applying for a dependent visa, one comes into effect, if the marriage takes place in India, and the other, if the marriage occurs abroad.

Dependent Visa Is Simpler & Easier

In the first scenario, the process of obtaining a dependent visa is simpler and easier, whereas it can get complicated in the second case. In such a scenario, the couple would need to initially submit an affidavit to that effect in a court in India, and then apply for a No objection certificate from the court.

[Read More: Types of Dependent Visas]

The court then, prints an advertisement in the local newspapers to make sure that no person has any claims for objection of the marriage. If no objection is found within a month, the court furnishes the NOC to the couple.

The applicant can file fondly when he has received the NOC from the court. Most of the foreign spouses enter India using a tourist visa pass, and then initiate the process of converting their visitor visa to dependent visa.

As the visitor visa is only valid for six months, they are forced to return back if they are not successful in the interim period. Mr. Alapati, expressed his happiness with the commitment of the government of India towards providing safe and easy entry process to legitimate travelers and immigrants, and provide visa related services in a convenient and timely manner.

To know more about this and other immigration based news, get in touch with us at Global Tree, Indias No 1 immigration consultant