The Superintendent of Police in Chittoor district issued an extraordinary public advisory on 4 October reminding every hotel, hospital, hostel, ashram and private landlord that details of foreign guests must be uploaded to the FRRO/FRO portal within 24 hours of arrival. Citing Section 8 of the new Immigration & Foreigners Act 2025, SP Tushar Dudi warned that failure to file Form III and Form C could lead to fines up to ₹1 lakh or imprisonment of two to seven years. Chittoor—including pilgrimage towns such as Tirupati—hosts thousands of foreign students, researchers and medical travellers each year. Police say data-lags in accommodation reporting have made it difficult to trace overstayers and raised security concerns after last year’s arrest of two foreign fugitives hiding in a temple guest-house. The fresh order also clarifies common misconceptions: Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) holders remain “foreign nationals” for registration purposes; they still cannot vote in Indian elections or buy agricultural land. Establishments have been told to reproduce visa and passport data exactly as printed, upload departure information, and maintain digital copies for three years. For businesses that house expatriate technicians or consultants—even for short projects—the Chittoor circular is a wake-up call. Travel managers should review lease agreements to make sure landlords understand their Form C obligations, and corporate security teams may need to build automatic feeds to the FRRO API to avoid manual errors.
Source: National Revealed
