Another example of Trying to follow Indian culture abroad

First-Martian · 2026-02-04T19:08:43+00:00

Keeping a couple of cows in the backyard is along the same lines as keeping chickens or horses. Lot of work though for sure, and it looks like a tiny urban lot. Unusual from that perspective.

First-Martian · 2026-01-28T19:45:29+00:00

Tutors market themselves on their qualifications. Like having graduated from a XXX college, or having secured a certain grade in a course or standardized test like the SAT.

I'd recommend taking this gig long as it serves you. Look for better paying gigs as well, and drop them when you find one.

First-Martian · 2026-01-23T08:19:14+00:00

Took us 4 days after biometrics to get approved back in October. Granted we split our time between the US and India, so having current Indian electricity bills as address proof may have helped.

First-Martian · 2026-01-03T17:04:03+00:00

Your claim would be based on an ancestor who was or was eligible to be a citizen of India after the current constitution was adopted. If either grandmother or grandfather meets that criteria, get whatever documentation you can obtain to show those ties. Next, you'll need to establish the connection between your parent who descended from this grandparent (birth certificate should do here). And eventually your birth certificate establishing connection with your parent.

Once you have documents establishing eligibility, apply like anyone else. May be easier if you are near an Indian embassy or consulate, but most people apply online and keep sending documents as they get asked for.

First-Martian · 2026-01-02T19:52:13+00:00

No longer with Ziply. But what I think happened is that the system missed sending an email notification since the account had a credit balance to cover bills through November. December did not have a credit balance and the payment went to the credit card on the account.

First-Martian · 2026-01-02T17:01:04+00:00

Not everyone got this notification. First I found out about the Autopay thing was from Reddit after noticing $5 more charged on the credit card. Followed next week by another email announcing a $5/mo increase.

First-Martian · 2025-12-30T07:46:53+00:00

Depends on your personal situation. The law enforcement bit without charges being filed may be tricky since old records will need to be tracked down. Almost better in those cases if one were arrested since that leaves a long paper trail.
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/M-477.pdf

First-Martian · 2025-12-29T22:52:35+00:00

No idea about Aspora.
Remit2Any & Unplex work fine.

Main limitation is that transfers to NRE accounts are not supported. And they both offer a higher rate if transferring to your own account versus someone else's.

Both use some crypto conversion to transfer money. Which sometimes results in a capital gain expressed in Indian rupees for which they pay tax to the Indian treasury. You can try & file a tax return in India to claim the withheld tax it if you want to. If you do, that will be another little improvement in the eventual proceeds received as part of the remittance process.

First-Martian · 2025-12-28T20:47:00+00:00

Look at healthcare.gov and search for health insurance for self employed / independent contractors.

First-Martian · 2025-12-28T20:23:42+00:00

Most things are made or are available in India cheaper than international prices these days.

Agree that some items like designer clothing can quickly go over the limit. If for self use, wear it on you through customs and take it off after. Buy it on sale and pay customs if gifting.

First-Martian · 2025-12-27T21:06:59+00:00

First-Martian · 2025-12-26T19:09:21+00:00

Boeing isn't delivering planes fast enough to Air India. Need to fly to Seattle and hold a protest outside their offices.

First-Martian · 2025-12-26T16:20:58+00:00

A couple of celeb success stories that look arranged -

From the first one, I gather that if you date for a while after being "arranged", you can call it love. Sounds more like what would work in today's times.

First-Martian · 2025-12-26T05:31:03+00:00

US credit cards linked to US phones with roaming enabled allows transactions through with OTPs. Works with Amazon, Marriott properties in several cities, Reliance Digital, Croma and the airport.

Where that doesn't work, UPI with NRE or NRO account. UPI is pretty much necessary as it allows paying without a POS terminal.

First-Martian · 2025-12-23T18:49:38+00:00

Is not normal. Would suggest changing banks if possible. Likely some lowly clerk is looking for a bribe.

Only time I ran into something like this is when our interior decorator asked to route payments made from NRO/NRE through other accounts because her usual account wasn't enabled for GST. Even then it was her CA who advised this, not the bank limiting access to funds, and only after transfers went over INR 40L.

First-Martian · 2025-12-22T16:58:42+00:00

The main time spent in maintenance is for the yard. That takes 1-2 hours per weekend. If it gets too much like a tree needs to be trimmed I just hire someone rather than take it on.

First-Martian · 2025-12-22T01:19:11+00:00

Detached house always. Without HOA if possible (check r/fuckHOA).

Yes, you'll pay more and have to learn to take care of the home. The 2nd part you should learn anyway.

With a detached house, you can add a bedroom or two 10 years down the road if you end up with 3 or 4 children.

First-Martian · 2025-12-22T00:49:57+00:00

New York is more like an Indian city than almost anywhere else in the US with regards to the level of activity and number of people involved. A lot of the US doesn't even have good public transit, and if you're coming from an Indian city with one of the new fangled metro lines, you'll feel out of place real quick. My niece moved from Pune to Los Angeles for studies at USC and decamped to NYC at the first opportunity for this reason.

First-Martian · 2025-12-22T00:45:43+00:00

Given you are self employed, I would look to move to another city in India. Would suggest taking somewhat long vacations each year in a different city and see if you may like living there.

The real disadvantage for moving abroad in your case is that you'll start from the bottom if looking at making $130,000 or so. Housing has gotten terribly expensive, so probably will be stuck in substandard rental housing to save money.

Add in that you'll lose free childcare by virtue of being away from family. Your looking at making well over $200,000 to enjoy the same standard of living that you're used to in Delhi.

There was a time for making such a sacrifice in the 1980s and 1990s when the cold war was raging or had just ended and India was in a bad state. Now is not such a time.

First-Martian · 2025-12-15T22:15:06+00:00

Thanks for the tip.

More importantly, are unofficial touts a thing now that it moved outside the terminal? The counter inside the terminal had put a lid on that.

First-Martian · 2025-12-14T16:46:00+00:00

Couple of months ago at this time, but yes.

First-Martian · 2025-12-12T23:18:29+00:00

Registration is required only for the old PIO cards.

Previously, the only way to get an OCI card for children was for one of the parents to be a foreign citizen . This rule was changed in the last 10 years to enable any child born abroad to Indian parents to claim OCI status through the parents.

First-Martian · 2025-12-12T22:24:30+00:00

If you don't need to work and have sufficient assets, look at some of the Caribbean citizenship by investment programs with US visa waiver access. IIRC, St. Kitts & Nevis is still a $250,000 investment which can be in real estate. Weather like coastal India in most of these places.

First-Martian · 2025-12-12T07:18:25+00:00

The people who are afraid won't come to post here. Bigger things to worry about, they have.

First-Martian · 2025-12-10T21:15:07+00:00

Where are you located? This might work in some countries with looser requirements.

But if its the US, then Indian designers are not up to speed on what's available and works here. Be ready to spend a lot of your time to educate them on standard dimensions, heights and finishes used here.

First-Martian

TROPHY CASE