My new bank account
One of the first things we did as soon as we moved into this apartment in January was go to the bank to try and open a joint bank account or get me added to Gopal’s existing bank account. Try is very much the operative word, as nothing is easy in India.
For comparison, this is what happened in New Zealand. We sauntered into the KiwiBank branch on Customs Street, waited about 2 minutes in the queue and then were ushered into one of the side rooms. Gopal had to show his passport, the woman entered some things into the computer, issued him with a customer number and had him sign something and we were done. It took about 10 minutes all up.
Here is the process we took in India:
We visited the nearest HDFC branch to our place: Alwal. We had our passports and a copy of our rental agreement as proof of address, but they said we would also need our marriage certificate and another proof of address. We knew we would shortly have a gas bill so we said we could bring that next time. We were probably there half an hour, but it was air-conditioned, the seats were comfortable and they brought us a glass of water to drink.
About a week later (busy organising other furniture &amp furnishings etc), we came back with the necessary documents. They took photocopies of my passport, visa &amp the marriage certificate as well as the gas bill. They filled out a change of address form (incidentally, their forms are massive – almost A3 sized, but at least they fill them out for you – you just have to sign them). There was a lot of discussion centred on me being a foreigner and NRI status and my visa and a lot of confusion. They finally said they weren’t sure what to do and they would have to check with head office and we should come back in a few days. We were probably there half an hour to 45 minutes.
A few days later we came back and after much talking and pointing to an operations manual, this time they eventually said that they could only give joint accounts to married couples. If we shared the same surname, that would be proof enough, but since we don’t, we would have to show a marriage certificate. And our NZ marriage certificate wasn’t enough – they wanted an Indian marriage certificate. They insisted that only then could we open a joint account. They were unfailingly polite though, and we were probably there for 15 minutes, even though we’d arrived after closing time.
I’d already seen online that there was a provision in Indian marriage law to register a marriage that had already taken place (whether in India or elsewhere). While out shopping a week later, we went to a marriage sub-registrar’s office to enquire. He was very knowledgeable and helpful and explained the procedure and documentation we would need. There was a form to duplicate 5 times and then fill in (no, you can’t fill it in and then photocopy it), and we should provide evidence of our ages, address proof, and evidence of the marriage (in the form of photos and our marriage certificate). We had to take this to an office determined by our address, but could only do it after we had lived in that district for 30 days, meaning we still had to wait another 3 weeks. So we put it on the backburner and concentrated on sorting out other things.
It was March by the time we had dealt with other things and turned out attentions back to the marriage registration. One afternoon we rode to the local office (maybe 40 minutes away). Gopal had been there once years before so we only had a little trial and error finding the exact right street. Unfortunately we learned that they had split the office into two, each serving half of the district. The good news was that the office we had to go to was a lot closer to our place, but the bad news is that we didn’t have time to get there before it closed at 3:30pm.
The next day, we went to the local office (again, a little trial and error to find the exact location). We were directed to a couple of people, but neither of them knew anything about the particular kind of registration we wanted. The registrar (actually a sub-registrar)in charge of the office wasn’t there, but his assistant suggested we come back around 10 or 11 the next morning when he would be.
We showed up just before midday the next morning and the registrar was in. The entire conversation was in telugu so I don’t know the exact details but basically the guy initially professed not to know what we were talking about. We gave him a copy of the relevant sections of the legislation and showed him the official form we had been given. He asked us to wait. After a while, Gopal spoke to him again, and he was disinclined to help. He asked why we wanted it done and said we didn’t need it. Meanwhile I noticed that the office had processed a couple of other registrations of the same kind in the past. Part of the process is that our application is posted on a public noticeboard in the office for 30 days to give anyone a chance to object. There were two other such registrations posted (although the vast majority were standard marriage registrations). Perhaps he wanted a bribe, or maybe he just didn’t like us, but for whatever reason, he wasn’t going to help.
We left and enquired at a nearby notary’s office where the actual district registrar was located (this office was a sub-registrar for the local area). Cue an hour’s ride across the city in afternoon sun to the (MUCH busier) district registrar’s office. The first person we spoke to directed us to someone else. The second person asked about our religion, and we told we didn’t have one replied that he did and we should go upstairs. (There are different rules and laws for Hindu marriages, Muslim marriages and ‘other’ marriages – secular or interfaith marriages). Upstairs, it transpired that the registrar was out for the day. Another man was there, whose normal responsibility is dealing with objections raised to marriages. He listened to the situation and phoned the local sub-registrar to ask what was going on. I’m not sure exactly what the response was, but the upshot was that no, our local guy either didn’t know how or wasn’t going to do it. We were told that the district registrar would have to order the sub-registrar to do his job, and we should just wait a little while.
Gopal called back a few times to see if anything had been done yet, but with no clear outcome. One time, he was told that the district registrar had been at our local sub-registrar’s office the previous day, which would have been a perfect time to go there if we had known. But we ended up getting busy with other furniture &amp house things that I will/have write about in other posts and so this went on the backburner for a while.
Finally, after most of the house stuff was sorted for now, it was April already. And since even if the marriage registration process worked, it would take over a month, we thought we’d try a different tack. We had found out the last time we’d visited the Alwal branch of HDFS that they weren’t actually a personal banking branch at all – they specialised in rural lending. One of the guys had even said that he’d heard stories about Indians marrying foreigners but this was the first time he’d ever encountered it. It was fair to say they didn’t really have any experience in a situation like ours. I was pretty sure they were just out of their depth and making things up because they didn’t know what to do. So we decided to try another branch.
This time we went to the Sainikpuri branch, which is only a little further away. It was much bigger and more crowded, and disconcertingly, had a guard walking around with a massive rifle slung over his shoulder. They were much more helpful, although there was still some discussion over exactly what sort of account they could give us. As a foreigner, there are only certain kinds of accounts I can have, and so apparently I can’t just be added to Gopal’s existing account. And they can’t create an ordinary account in joint names either. But they can create an account in my name, and then add Gopal as a additional account holder. That doesn’t bother us, so that’s what they did. We were probably there at least 40 minutes, while they took copies of all our documents, explained various fee options for different kinds of accounts, and then had us sign in half a dozen places (before they’d even filled out any of the 4 A3 sized forms they had on the table). It seems like we had been successful.
On the 14th of April, I got a text message to say that my account had been set up. Followed a few days later with a txt saying that my PIN number had been sent to me via courier. And then a day later, another message saying that my Welcome kit had been sent. The PIN numbers arrived two days after the message. Yesterday I got a call from the bank saying my Welcome kit should have arrived. It hadn’t then, but it did about an hour later, so they were pretty on to it. I now have a bank account with internet banking, a cheque book and a debit card.
It is the debit card that I love the most of all. There was one for me and one for Gopal:
Guess which one is mine and which one is his?
My cute pink card is an ‘EasyShop Woman’s Advantage card’, while his is simply an ‘EasyShop International card’. It comes with a number of helpful features, including a concierge service that will help me with restaurant advice and booking assistance, assistance with ordering gifts and flowers and help in arranging diagnosis and repair for any electrical or electronic appliances that my fail in my household.
And of course, I can now use EFTPOS and get money from an ATM. And it only took 3 and a half months :).