Hyderabadculture & etiquette

Employment visa holders with a visa valid for more than 180 days must register with the FRRO covering their Hyderabad address within 14 days of arrival. The process is fully online through e-FRRO — no agent needed and usually no office visit. You need passport, address proof, appointment letter, employment contract and proof of annual income.

The Permanent Account Number gates banking, salary and most financial transactions, and without it your employer must deduct tax at a higher rate. Foreign nationals can apply online. Start it in week one because everything else waits on it.

Telangana charges a small monthly professional tax on salaried employees, deducted at source, on top of national income tax. It is a modest sum, but it is one of several ways state choice affects an Indian package, and it is worth knowing it exists rather than being puzzled by a line on your payslip.

HITEC City, Gachibowli and the Financial District are planned, wide-roaded and full of gated communities and glass offices. The old city around Charminar is dense, historic and largely a different world. Most foreign professionals live and work entirely in the west and visit the east — which is a shame, because the old city is the reason Hyderabad is interesting.

Hyderabad has better roads than Bengaluru, cheaper housing than either Bengaluru or Mumbai, cleaner air than Delhi, and a planned western corridor with an eight-lane orbital that actually functions. The trade is a smaller startup scene than Bengaluru and a smaller international community than Delhi or Mumbai. For quality of daily life on a tech salary, it is the strongest option in the country.

Hyderabad sits on the Deccan plateau with no major river supply, and summer water stress is real. Gated communities rely on a mix of municipal supply, borewells and tankers. Ask where a building's water comes from and whether it has ever run short in April and May — the answer varies enormously between developments a kilometre apart.