Visa Extension & Tax Clearance Certificates

[sukishan]

If you stay in India for more than 120 days you need a 'tax clearance certificate' to leave the country. This supposedly proves that your time in India was financed with your own money , not by working in India or by selling thing or playing black market.

Basically all you have to do is find the Foreign Section of the Income Tax Department Jaipur and turn up with your passport, visa extension form, any other similar paperwork and a handful of bank exchange receipts (to show you really have been changing foreign currency into rupees officially). You fill in a form and wait for anything from 10 minutes to a couple of hours, you are then given your tax clearance certificate. We have not heard from anyone who has actually been asked for this document on departure, but I recommend you to obtain one to be on safer side.

Photocopies
Keep photocopies of your important travel documents, which obviously should be kept separate from the originals in the event that these are lost or stolen.

Take a photocopy of the first page of your passport (with personal detail and photograph), as well as a copy of the page with your Indian Visa, a photocopy of your travel insurance policy, and keep a record of the traveller's cheques you have exchanged, where they were encashed, the amount and serial number. Encashment receipts should also be kept separate from your airlines tickets and your credit card, It's not a bad idea to leave photocopies of your important travel documents with a friend or relative at home.