Apply for extension of Indian visa in India

I recently went through the process of extending Indian visa in India for my daughter. The process used to be combination of online + offline processing and require few visits to the local FRRO office as well. Thanks to pandemic, the application and processing are completely handled online now.

Making a note of the process for my future reference and others who may be in the same boat as me.

• Create a new account at FRRO
• Create a new application for extension of visa. Fill the application form online. Before submission, there will be an option to print the application (make a PDF copy for later reference)
• Documents to upload in the first phase
  • Passport sized photo (in .jpg/.jpeg format only, at a resolution of 150x150)
  • Fill Form C from here and download it.
  • Request letter signed by both the parents (A letter to the Office of FRRO of the respective jurisdiction) (here is a sample letter. Update the address of FRRO as needed)
  • Undertaking letter signed by both the parents (similar to request letter, but with details of residence and duration of stay specified) (here is a sample undertaking letter. Update the FRRO address as needed)
  • Copy of passport and Indian visa

After reviewing the application and the supporting documents, officials may ask for more documentation as needed. The following docs were requested in our case:

• Copy of parents’ passports
• Copy of parents’ Indian visa (if applicable)
• Birth Certificate Apostille or birth certificate endorsed by the Ministry of External Affairs in USA and India. (I used the apostille since that was much easier to obtain than getting the endorsement from MEA)
• Marriage certificate

Due to recent incidents of people using fraudulent birth certificates, FRRO office is no longer accepting self attested or notarized documents. The document has to be authenticated by the home government for legal use in another country. Documents authenticated this way are referred to as apostille. In the US, for state issued documents like birth certificates, registration deeds etc., the apostille is typically issued by the Secretary of State department of that state (an example here).

Once all the documents are provided, they took about two days to process. Visa extension approval and registration permit (aka registration certificate) were sent via email.

Note: There is no way to contact the application processing authorities through the application portal. The only way is contact the FRRO office (listed under Support Centers tab) through phone or email regarding any queries about the application. The phone line was rarely answered. Email responses may take 2-3 days on an average.