Registration

Little memo on my employment visa says: "must register within 14 days". Been to the FRO (foreign registration office) this morning. Turns out that there is one guy who deals with my nationality, he will process my papers along with my countrymen. Seems he'll do a better job for an extra 300 Rs slipped in my passport. A useful hint given to me by one of the locals. Still not sure about this kind of tipping. Tipping the car park attendant is one thing, bribing a govt. employee just doesn't seem quite right.

Anyhow, I still have to fill in the various forms and submit photocopies of my passport and passport sized pictures in order to register.... that is one dozen forms (one in quadruplet, another in triplicate) to fill in. "Welcome to India" they forgot to say. I have been told that if I want to apply for an extension to my visa next year, I can do it 3 months before this one runs out.... along with the same forms as the ones I have filled in and the grand sum of 65 dollars. OK. What they don't tell you is that it can take up to 9 months for you to get your extension.