In addition to previously introduced occupancy reporting procedures, Chennai authorities have now introduced residence departure reporting formalities.  Hotels, guest houses, serviced apartments and landlords must now report departure or checkout of foreign national guests and tenants through an online portal. It is likely that this requirement will be made mandatory across all other locations in phases.

Notification Procedure
Previously, the Bureau of Immigration launched the online portal for hotels, guest houses, serviced apartments and landlords to register and complete a residency reporting form called Form C within 24 hours of a foreign national's arrival. They must now report departure or checkout of foreign nationals whenever they permanently move or check out from the premises under the Departure/Checkout section of the portal.

This formality must also be completed for foreign nationals who are currently residing in Chennai and have changed their residential address or who have repatriated during or after the month of June 2016.

The Foreigner Regional Registration Office in Chennai is currently conducting an audit of their Form C record since June 2016 to confirm that departure or checkout formalities have been completed.

What This Means for Employers and Foreign Nationals
Although hotels, guest houses, serviced apartments and landlords must report departure or checkout details through an online portal for foreign nationals whenever they permanently move or check out from the premises, the responsibility to ensure these formalities are completed lies with employers and foreign nationals.  However, the impact of noncompliance has yet to be announced by the authorities.

We worked closely with Fragomen Immigration Services India (Pvt.) Limited ("Fragomen-India") to prepare this alert. It is provided for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to IndiaQueries_NewPolicy@fragomen.com.

Fragomen in India is Fragomen Immigration Services India (Pvt) Ltd., operating exclusively as an immigration consultancy and not as a law firm in India.

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