I finally managed to register as a foreigner living in Delhi yesterday. Wooohooo! Unfortunately, due to the general incompetence of the Indian bureaucracy my official registration form actually lists an incorrect address. I should correct it, but apparently that would require me to fill out the entire application again, make a new appointment with the registration office, and hand in the exact same documentation that I've already handed in. So, yeah . . . I think I'll skip that.
But, as I learned, having the wrong address on my application form can have all sorts of repercussions on all of the other forms I need to fill out . . . to apply for a taxpayers card, to apply for a bank account, etc. For now I'm skating by on luck and crossed fingers, but I do think it's possible I will, eventually, need to re-register myself all over again. Oh! The insanity of it all!
On the bright side, I did find the form I filled out today for the tax payers card to contain these two gems.
From the "Dos and Donts" instruction section of the form:
"Do not mention Husband's Name in Father's Name column. Please note that even married women should give father's name only."
(In fact, every form I've filled out in India so far has asked for my father's name and many ask for my husband's name as well. But nobody really cares who my mom is).
"Do provide details of Representative Assessee in column 14 of application for, if applicant is Minor, Idiot, Lunatic or Deceased."
(Yup, indeed, apparently "Idiot" and "Lunatic' are legal categories here.)
You know, I'd really like to write some additional instructions for these forms myself. It would start with:
- Do complete this entire form within 20 minutes or else you'll be booted off the website and your application erased.
- Do upload your documents at a quality so low that no one can read them in order to meet size restrictions. Really, it's OK. No one is reading them anyway.
- Do carry some extra cash with you to the appointment. You never know when it will come in handy.
- Do not read any further instructions as they will only prove contradictory and totally confusing.
But, as I learned, having the wrong address on my application form can have all sorts of repercussions on all of the other forms I need to fill out . . . to apply for a taxpayers card, to apply for a bank account, etc. For now I'm skating by on luck and crossed fingers, but I do think it's possible I will, eventually, need to re-register myself all over again. Oh! The insanity of it all!
On the bright side, I did find the form I filled out today for the tax payers card to contain these two gems.
From the "Dos and Donts" instruction section of the form:
"Do not mention Husband's Name in Father's Name column. Please note that even married women should give father's name only."
(In fact, every form I've filled out in India so far has asked for my father's name and many ask for my husband's name as well. But nobody really cares who my mom is).
"Do provide details of Representative Assessee in column 14 of application for, if applicant is Minor, Idiot, Lunatic or Deceased."
(Yup, indeed, apparently "Idiot" and "Lunatic' are legal categories here.)
You know, I'd really like to write some additional instructions for these forms myself. It would start with:
- Do complete this entire form within 20 minutes or else you'll be booted off the website and your application erased.
- Do upload your documents at a quality so low that no one can read them in order to meet size restrictions. Really, it's OK. No one is reading them anyway.
- Do carry some extra cash with you to the appointment. You never know when it will come in handy.
- Do not read any further instructions as they will only prove contradictory and totally confusing.
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