Getting re-acquainted with bureaucracy

Foreigners are required to register with the Foreigners Registration Office (FRO) or Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) within 14 days of their arrival if they intend to stay in India for more than 180 days.

I found this out on the 3rd day after arriving in Bangalore.

A bit of googling on the web revealed that in Bangalore one needs to go to Commissioner of Police (CoP) office for the registration. I assumed the whole process will require me to show up at the CoP office with the passport and it shouldn't take more than couple of hours -- give or take. A colleague of mine -- who happens to be a long term resident of the city -- warned me that it may take up to half a day. Half a day? May be I should call the CoP office to understand the process a bit more.

for my $attempt in (1..10) {

Me: (dial CoP office)

CoP office: (Automated message: Please call later)

}

A day later...

Attempt 1:

Me: (dial CoP offic

CoP office: Yes?

Me Thinking: (Yay!!!)

Me: I need to register as a foreigner. I was wondering what are the documents that I need to bring?

CoP office: I can't hear you.

Me: I NEED TO REGISTER AS A FOREIGNER. I WAS WONDERING WHAT ARE THE DOCUMENTS THAT I NEED TO BRING TO YOUR OFFICE?

CoP office: I can't hear you.

Me: Alright, I will call you again from a different phone.

CoP office: OK.

Me Thinking: (Huh? He heard the last part?)

Attempt 2:

Me: (dial CoP office)

CoP office: Yes?

Me: I need to register as a foreigner. I was wondering what are the documents that I need to bring?

CoP office: Sir, you come here, we will give you the list.

Me Thinking: (List? What the ...)

Me: Would it be possible for you to give me the list on phone so that I don't have to make multiple visits to your office?

CoP office: No Sir, you come here, we will give you the list.

Me: Can you fax it to me?

CoP office: No Sir, you come here, we will give you the list. Or you check our website, it should be available there.

Me: OK. Thanks.

I soon found out that clicking on most of the links on BCP's website display the lovely "Page not found" message. I marveled at the fonts for some time. More googling revealed

that the there is laundry list of things needed. More here.

Continued googling for more information but by now I was quite resigned to the idea that I will miss the 14 day deadline.

And then there was a ray of hope. On Indian Embassy website there was this tiny little sentence describing the benefit of getting Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI):

'Exemption from reporting to Police authorities for any length of stay in India'

Me Thinking: (!*&%$)

I decided to double check.

Me: (dial CoP office)

CoP office: Yes?

Me: I'm an overseas citizen of India, OCI, and I'm wondering if I need to register as a foreigner.

CoP office: No need.

Me: So I don't need to register?

CoP office: No need.

Me: OK. Thanks!

So after two days of mental stress/agony/despair I had my answer. It is quite a relief none the less.