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 Gujarat 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.
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, not from the day you find somewhere to live. This is the sequencing problem that catches almost everyone, and it is worse in Surat than in Ahmedabad because you cannot walk into the office to sort it out.
In personWho: YouDay 0
4
File the registration on e-FRRO against FRRO Ahmedabad
Create an account at indianfrro.gov.in and file a Registration application. FRRO Ahmedabad covers all of Gujarat from the Government Polytechnic campus in Ambawadi. You upload passport, visa, photo, employment letter and proof of your Surat address; the process is designed to be decided online.
OnlineWho: YouWithin 14 days of arrival
5
Have a bridging address ready
Registration needs evidence of where you live, and a stamped Surat tenancy inside a fortnight is difficult. An employer guest-house letter, a company-leased flat or a serviced-apartment letter will do, followed by an address-change application on e-FRRO once the real lease exists. Ask for that letter before you fly.
Via employerWho: You and your employerBefore 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 Surat address — an e-stamped 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

Surat is a big city with someone else's registration office.

Gujarat has exactly one full Foreigners Regional Registration Office and it is in Ahmedabad, covering the entire state. Surat is India's eighth-or-so largest urban area and registers through it. In the normal case this is irrelevant because e-FRRO decides applications online, and the local police perform Foreigners Registration Officer duties for anything that needs a physical signature. It stops being irrelevant the moment something is queried and you are asked to attend — that is a 265 km round trip, not a taxi ride, and it is the single practical difference between provisioning your life here and in Ahmedabad.

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 e-stamping a flat in Surat inside two weeks is difficult even when everything 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.

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

Aadhaar unlocks at 182 days and is worth diarising.

Foreign nationals resident in India for 182 days or more in the preceding twelve months may enrol for Aadhaar. It is not compulsory, but a large amount of Indian daily infrastructure — some banking steps, delivery verification, certain state services — assumes you have one, and life gets noticeably smoother the day you do. Nobody reminds you when you become eligible.

Source: UIDAI — enrolment for resident foreign nationals

Common mistakes to avoid

Counting the fourteen days from when you moved into a flat rather than from the arrival stamp.
Assuming Surat has its own FRRO because it is a major city — it does 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.