Foreigner Registration Branch

The Foreigner Registration Branch is the police office Lin is directed to for a visa extension, and a point where official immigration rules meet personal influence. For him, it represents no straightforward route to legal security: although Anand recommends seeking an extension, Lin fears that appearing before the authorities could expose his expired visa and jeopardize his freedom.

Role in Visa Enforcement

Hotels in Bombay must maintain a C-Form register listing foreign guests, their passport numbers, and valid visa details. The police supervise these records. Overstaying is a serious offence that can bring a prison term of up to two years, while hotels permitting irregular entries risk heavy fines. After signing Lin into his hotel, Anand warns him that his visa has expired and urges him to visit the Foreigner Registration Branch at police headquarters immediately to seek an extension.

Informal Influence

The Branch also figures in Lettie’s account of how visa renewals can be obtained through personal connections. She has a contact there, a senior police official with an interest in sapphire gems, and supplies him with stones at or below wholesale price. In return for this favour, she can sometimes arrange a visa renewal almost indefinitely. Maurizio sought another year on his visa and, according to Lettie, misled her about his feelings before abandoning her once he had secured what he wanted. The arrangement shows how access to the Branch could be shaped not only by formal applications but by private exchange.

Lin’s Dilemma

Anand has already altered the hotel register for Lin, whose Marathi conversation with him had won his goodwill. He believes the police might treat the expired visa as an oversight and grant an extension without inquiry. Lin cannot rely on that possibility: he has little money, cannot remain in a Bombay hotel without valid documentation, and cannot risk visiting the office while already an overstayer. Nor can he safely leave India, since he lacks the money for a plane ticket. The Branch thus marks the narrow passage between regularizing his status and being exposed as a fugitive; caught between those risks, Lin concludes that he cannot approach it.