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Detailed Salary Information Now Required in India

June 24, 2011— Foreign nationals must now provide a detailed breakdown of their salary and other taxable earnings to Indian immigration authorities when applying for new or renewed employment visas or completing local registration requirements when in India on an employment visa. The new requirement is already enforced at immigration offices in Bangalore, Pune, and Chennai and at numerous Indian consular posts abroad. The new requirement is not being consistently implemented in other locations at this time, but it is expected to be applied at all Indian consulates and registration offices in the near future. The salary breakdown is not required for holders of Person of Indian Origin (PIO) or Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status entering India for employment.

The requisite salary and earnings breakdowns must be presented in both Indian Rupees and the foreign national’s home currency, and in monthly and annual figures. Foreign nationals should use the template form found here to submit the salary breakdown. Employers should avoid altering the format and language of this form, because it follows the government’s guidelines for the requisite breakdowns.

This new requirement follows the introduction last year of a US$ 25,000 minimum salary for foreign workers in India. In requiring a detailed salary breakdown, India seeks to ensure that employers are counting only taxable payments towards the minimum salary amount and are not including non-taxable payments, such as allowances for housing, telephone, transport and entertainment, or other “monetized” salary components that are not directly paid to workers.

Indian immigration authorities have confirmed that foreign nationals seeking to volunteer in India for a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) are not subject to the general minimum salary requirement, even though they are required to obtain an employment visa. Indian authorities also confirmed that these individuals may receive up to INR 10,000 per month in salary and still be considered volunteers.

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AIReS, which was named to the 2010 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing independently owned businesses in the U.S., is in its 30th year of providing best-in-class relocation management services. With seven ISO registered U.S. offices and other strategically located employees located around the globe, AIReS is a recognized industry leader in delivering high quality relocation and assignment management services to leading corporations. The company boasts some of the industry’s highest annual customer-satisfaction scores and a client-retention rate of over 98%. For more information, please visit the AIReS website at www.aires.com.