Before you start

A signed appointment letter from an entity registered and operating in India
Gross annual salary meeting the employment visa threshold — the Bureau of Immigration sets this above ₹16.25 lakh for most applicants and at ₹3.60 lakh for people of Indian origin and the spouse or children of an Indian citizen, PIO or OCI cardholder
A passport valid well beyond the intended stay, with blank pages
An address in Lucknow you can evidence, before the fourteen days run out

Step-by-step

1
Establish that the employment visa is your route
A business visa does not permit taking up employment and a tourist visa permits nothing. There is no nomad category. If you have Indian ancestry or an Indian spouse, check the OCI card first — it removes visa renewals and FRRO registration entirely and is a materially better position to be in.
Via employerWho: You and your Indian employer
2
Apply from your country of residence
Apply through the Indian Visa Online portal and submit at the Indian mission or its outsourced centre where you live. Your employer supplies the appointment letter, company registration proof and salary commitment. Expect an initial grant of one year, extendable inside India.
OnlineWho: You, with employer documentsStart 4–8 weeks before travel
3
Note the arrival stamp date — that is when the clock starts
The fourteen-day registration window runs from the immigration stamp at the airport, not from the day you find somewhere to live. This is the sequencing problem that catches almost everyone.
In personWho: YouDay 0
4
Check on e-FRRO which office your address routes to
FRRO Lucknow covers Uttar Pradesh, but Noida and Ghaziabad are administered by FRRO Delhi. If your employer is in the National Capital Region and your flat is in Lucknow, or the reverse, do not assume. Enter the address on the portal and let it tell you.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
5
File the registration application on e-FRRO
Create an account at indianfrro.gov.in and file a Registration application, uploading passport, visa, photograph, employment letter and proof of your Lucknow address. It is normally decided online; you attend in person only if you are called.
OnlineWho: YouWithin 14 days of arrival
6
Apply for PAN on Form 49AA in parallel
Do not wait for registration to finish. Foreign nationals use Form 49AA through Protean or UTIITSL — the free instant e-PAN needs an Aadhaar you will not have for months. Without a PAN, tax is withheld from your salary at a penal rate.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1

Documents you’ll need

Passport with the employment visa and the arrival stamp
Appointment letter, employment contract and the employer's registration proof
Proof of Lucknow address — a rent agreement, plus the landlord's Form C where applicable
Passport photographs to Indian specification
Proof of annual income meeting the visa threshold

Things most newcomers don’t know

Lucknow is a full FRRO, which most Indian cities are not.

India has only about fifteen full Foreigners Regional Registration Offices. Outside those cities the district Superintendent of Police performs registration as an additional duty — less familiarity with foreign cases, slower turnarounds and more chance of being asked for something that is not actually required. FRRO Lucknow handles foreign nationals as its job, so if you are called in you are dealing with people who do this every day. Nagpur and Surat, also in this app, are on the other side of that line.

Source: Bureau of Immigration — registration of foreign nationals

Noida and Ghaziabad are in Uttar Pradesh but do not register in Lucknow.

The two National Capital Region districts of UP are carved out of FRRO Lucknow's jurisdiction and administered by FRRO Delhi instead. This catches people whose employer is in Noida but who take a flat in Lucknow, or who move between the two during a posting — the address change is not a formality, it changes which office holds your file.

Source: Bureau of Immigration — FRRO jurisdictions

The fourteen-day clock starts before you can plausibly have a lease.

Registration requires proof of address, and finding, agreeing and stamping a flat inside two weeks is difficult even when it goes well. The standard fix is an employer guest-house or serviced-apartment letter to register against, followed by an address-change application on e-FRRO once you move. Ask your employer for that letter before you fly.

Source: Bureau of Immigration — registration requirements

The salary floor drops sharply if you are of Indian origin or married into an Indian family.

The Bureau of Immigration requires a gross salary above ₹16.25 lakh a year for most employment visa applicants, but people of Indian origin and the spouse or children of an Indian citizen, PIO or OCI cardholder need only ₹3.60 lakh — roughly a fifth as much. A great many applicants never check whether they qualify and rule themselves out of roles that would in fact have worked.

Source: Bureau of Immigration — work in India

Common mistakes to avoid

Counting the fourteen days from when you moved into a flat rather than from the arrival stamp.
Assuming an address anywhere in Uttar Pradesh registers in Lucknow — Noida and Ghaziabad do not.
Entering on a business visa intending to convert to employment inside India, which is generally not possible.
Paying an agent for e-FRRO services that are free and entirely online.
Delaying the PAN application and taking a penal withholding rate on your first pay packets.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.