Yelläks /ˈyæl•eks/

Every foreigner who wishes to stay more than 180 days continuously in India, needs to get registered at the Foreign Registration Residential Office (FRRO) or also just called Foreign Registration Office (FRO). There are dedicated FROs in a few major cities. As far as I know and accordingly to IGCS in Germany (http://www.igcsvisa.de/indvis-whatis-piocard2.htm) there are four FROs altogether:

• Hans Bhawan, Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, ITO, New Delhi (phone: +91 11 2671 1384)
• Tata Press Building, 2ND Floor, 414 S.V Marg, Mumbai (phone: +91 22 2262 1169)
• 237, A.J.C. Bose Road, Kolkata (phone: +91 33 2247 0549)
• Shastri Bhawan Annexe, 26, Haddows Road, Chennai (phone: +91 44 2827 7036)

Fortunately in most cities the superintendents of the police act as a FRROs. However most of the information given on the web page does not apply for most of the people. The Indian bureaucracy itself does not know, what documents are needed and it might vary each day. Also plan to spend three days at the office till everything is processed. Yesterday I was there, today I am just coming back from the office, and I have to go there again by tomorrow. In the hope, that this information might cut down your stay by at least one day, let me tell you, what documentation is really needed. First a little bit about my background: I have a student visa with a validity of 5 years and I am currently an exchange student at the Indian Institute of Science. I applied for a research visa so that I can follow the PhD program of the same institute. So far I am preparing my stay and getting in touch with the new surroundings. Since it might take more than 180 days till the application of the research visa is processed and a registration has to be completed within 14 days after arrival (This might be true for most nationals except Pakistanis and some more), I need to get registered. If you go to the FRO be prepared to see many frustrated faces and to hear plenty of discussions. I recite the man behind the helper’s counter of FRO: “This office is run by the Indian government and not according to your rules.” I just replied something like: what a poor government then. So discussions do not make any sense. The people behind the desk are well seated in their chairs and almost nothing can change that.
Here is what is needed to get registered:

1. Registration Certificate (You get it from them, make four copies. Most of the times a Xerox is just opposite of the office – what a coincidence.)
2. A letter to the superintendent, which is a form that you also get from them.
3. Your passport and visa (2 copies from each of them)
4. Student ID
5. 6 recent Photos (even if it says on the form which lists the necessary things that you need 5 five or less photos), each photo must be the same
6. 2 copies of a bonafide certificate that states where you live (on campus and that you joined your department successfully). This certificate has to be in a specific format with the letter head of the institute you joined. An example is below:
   

   This is to certify that Mr./Mrs. your name, born on date, a national of your country, holding passport no. number, valid up to date and visa type type, valid up to date, is a bonafide student of this institution. He/She studies in the number semester of the number year of PhD/MSc/ME/etc course of number years duration.

   It is also advisable to have a copy of the letter with the recognition of the university central/state board/AICTE. However in my case, I did not need to have it.

7. Mark sheets
8. Maybe they will ask for the admission letter.

Take also scissors, a pen and a glue stick with you, since the photos need to be glued to the registration certificate and its copies. And do not forget a good book or your MP3 player, since it takes some hours till everything is processed. Also be prepared that each time when you want to turn in all documents, something different is wrong and you need to fill out something more or need to change some things (which were fine, when you tried to turn in them previously). So it can be very frustrating. A single summary, what is wrong at once, is not possible.
The FRO of Bangalore is located in Infantry Road near Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Road (see map below), ZIP Code: 560051 (The office has been shifted). Office hours are noted down in another post.