rent apartments by forighner

There is no law or provision that prevents foreigners on a (short) tourist visa cannot rent apartments. The only requirement is that the tenant must be registered in local police station. This requirement applies to all tenants - Indian or foreign.

However, there are a few challenges for a tourist. A tourist can stay a maximum of six months (180 days) in India. It will be difficult to find landlords who will let out for short term. Yet this is possible and I know many (foreign) tourists in Goa, Kovalum, Puducherry, etc., live in rented places - either direct or sub-let.

As long as one can find a landlord willing to let, there is no issue.

The house owners should fill details about foreigners in form C and submit the form in the jurisdictional police station within 24 hours. The form could be downloaded from the bureau of immigration website (www.boi.gov.in),” said a senior police officer.

should also collect photocopies of the foreigners’ documents including passport and visa and submit them to the police, said the official.

No foreigners should be allowed to do business, if they had entered the country with tourist or education or medical visas,”

No foreigners should be allowed to do business, if they had entered the country with tourist or education or n students were seen as the ideal tenants to have. Most landlords preferred them to Indian students because they assumed foreign students could be charged more, that they would pay rent on time, were well-behaved, and could be vacated without much trouble. But this is not true anymore.

Recently, the Committee of an Apartment Complex in Mysuru sent a “secret” letter to the apartment owners requesting them not to rent out their apartments to foreign students, particularly students from the Middle East. Their reason was that the students were throwing loud parties and violating apartment rules.

Foreign students are just as good or troublesome as Indian students. But Indian landlords feel that renting out their homes to foreign students could complicate matters. Reportedly, even a Police complaint against them could lead to their country’s Consulate getting involved — a problem that no landlord wants to deal with.

This negative word of mouth is making it difficult for foreign students to rent homes. To make matters worse, there is a recent rule that makes it even harder for foreign students to rent a place. This rule also makes it difficult for landlords who previously didn’t care who they rented their homes to.

Since 2008, landlords have had to be responsible for their tenants, more so, if the tenant is a foreigner. But many don’t seem to be aware of this rule, and end up like Ashwatha Narayana Reddy, 54, a resident of Kalyan Nagar, Bengaluru.

Ashwatha Narayana Reddy had rented out a flat in Bengaluru to two students from Africa. These two students had overstayed their visa and now the Police have made Reddy an accused and charged him with abetting the illegal overstay of 

Reddy is fighting his case in High Court. If the Police prove him guilty, abetting a foreign national to overstay could mean a prison sentence or a hefty fine for Mr. Reddy!

Karnataka has the highest number of foreign students in India. According to Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, Karnataka has 38% of total foreign students studying in India. Now, Mysuru too is attracting a lot of foreign students, both for yoga and academics. So it is important that the landlords know how to rent or lease their property.

Indians renting their place to foreigners are now required to:

1. Check the tenant’s passport for identity and make sure their Visa is valid and retain a photocopy of both.
2. The landowner who is giving their property for rent to a foreigner should create a rental agreement only for the duration of the validity of their Visa.
3. The landlord then must submit the details of the residing foreigner in Form C to the Registration authorities within 24 hours of the foreigner’s arrival at their premises.

To do this, the landlord must first register himself online at https://indianfrro.gov.in/frro/FormC.  Once the landlord is effectively registered and verified, they must generate a Form C for each individual staying in their premises even if they are a part of the principal registrant’s family.