THE Indian government has introduced guidelines for conversion of the entry ‘X’ visa granted to the spouse of a foreign national, on an intra-company transfer, to be converted into an employment visa within India.

Foreign nationals coming to India on an employment visa used to obtain an X-visa or entry visa for their spouses or dependents before coming to India. Under the earlier visa guidelines, an ‘X’ visa holder could not take up or engage in any business or employment in India. There was no procedure whereby the ‘X’ visa could be converted. In case, the ‘X’ visa holder wanted to take up employment in India, they had to repatriate back to the country of origin and obtain a new employment visa.

Following the changes introduced by the Ministry of Home Affairs, an ‘X’ visa holder can get the visa converted into an employment visa in India provided they fulfilled all the conditions related to the grant of an employment visa.

Also, such a conversion would be possible if the applicant was highly skilled or a qualified professional engaged or appointed by a company in India on contract or employment and drew a salary or remuneration in excess of US $ 25,000 per annum. However, the salary limit was not applicable to ethnic cooks, language teachers (other than English), translators, staff of the Embassy or High Commission in India.

All other conditions relating to duration and extension, as applicable to the grant of an employment visa would remain the same on conversion.

This step is expected to save time and cost of obtaining a new employment visa from the country of origin.