for anyone looking to open a business in India, detailing my experience:
> figured I need a new bank account so apply for one at 4 leading banks
> they all need a physical PAN card even though RBI directed that e-PAN will suffice
> lost my physical PAN card, no other option so I check how to request for a new PAN card, govt points me to protean website
> protean refuses my PAN because they don't have the data, it's with another website utiitsl
> utiitsl refuses my application because there is already a pending request from years ago that I did not close (may have quit the form mid-way)
> find out from somewhere that requesting to change details on PAN card will override previous open request and process a new one
> it works, I pay ₹102 fees and fill out the form
> form makes it mandatory to put my Aadhar number
> form gets rejected because my Aadhar name does not match my PAN name (no middle name)
> play chicken and egg between PAN and Aadhar but name change requires another affidavit even though it's just removal of middle name (first name and surname is unchanged)
> give up, no refund for ₹102, move on and open a US bank account in 2 hours, Stripe active next day, open for business
> never bringing this income to India, googling how to become non-tax paying NRI
for anyone looking to open a business in Dubai, detailing my experience:
> landed monday, flight was delayed so could not go for the admin stuff
> tuesday morning got medical done, residence visa application directly after (took 30 mins total, expected 4 hrs)
> tuesday afternoon residence visa approved 😱
> wednesday morning went for fingerprint for emirates ID
> wednesday evening emirates ID number approved
> thursday morning got message from courier to deliver emirates ID
> thursday afternoon ID delivered to doorstep 😱
> thursday early evening applied for bank account
> thursday night bank account approved 😱
> thursday late night applied for stripe account
> friday morning stripe approved 😱
these guys have taken efficiency to an uber-german level, mind blown