NRI Corner

 An NRI, or Non-Resident Indian, is an individual who resides outside India and holds Indian citizenship or is of Indian origin.The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, defines a person resident outside India as someone not residing in the country.

 This includes scenarios where:
   An individual stays in India for less than 182 days during the previous financial year or
   When someone has departed from India or remains outside the country

 A Person of Indian Origin (PIO) means a foreign citizen (except a national of Pakistan, Afghanistan Bangladesh, China, Iran, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Nepal) who at any time held an Indian passport Or who or either of their parents/ grand parents/ great grand parents was born and permanently resident in India as defined in Government of India Act, 1935 and other territories that became part of India thereafter provided neither was at any time a citizen of any of the aforesaid countries ( as referred above); Or Who is a spouse of a citizen of India or a PIO

 NRIs/OCBs are entitled to the following privileges:
- Maintenance of bank accounts in India.
- Investment in securities/shares of, and deposits with Indian firms/ companies.
- Investments in immovable properties in India.
- NRI PIO OCB are permitted to open bank accounts in India. These can be through funds remitted from abroad, foreign exchange brought in from abroad or out of funds legitimately due to them in India.

 Under the general permission available, the following categories can freely purchase immovable property in India:
- Non-Resident Indian (NRI)- that is a citizen of India resident outside India
- Person of Indian Origin (PIO)- that is an individual (not being a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh or Sri Lanka or Afghanistan or China or Iran or Nepal or Bhutan), who
1. At any time, held Indian passport, or
2. Aho or either of whose father or grandfather was a citizen of India by virtue of the Constitution of India or the Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955).
 The general permission, however, covers only purchase of residential and commercial property and not for purchase of agricultural land / plantation property / farm house in India.

 Certainly. Under the general permission extended by the Reserve Bank, NRIs have the authority to acquire any property, excluding agricultural land, farmhouses, and plantation properties. The purchase consideration should be fulfilled either through inward remittances in foreign exchange via normal banking channels or from funds sourced from the purchaser's NRE/FCNR accounts held with banks in India.

 To comply with the regulations, a declaration must be submitted to the Central Office of the Reserve Bank in the specified form IPI 7 within 90 days from the date of property acquisition or the final payment of the purchase consideration. This ensures adherence to the regulatory framework governing property transactions by NRIs.

 The Reserve Bank has accorded general permission to specific financial institutions, including HDFC, LIC Housing Finance Ltd., among others, as well as authorized dealers. This permission allows them to extend housing loans to NRI nationals for the acquisition of a house or flat for self-occupation, subject to specified conditions.

 The criteria for the loan's purpose, margin money, and the loan amount align with those applicable to resident Indians. Repayment of the loan must occur within a timeframe not exceeding 15 years, utilizing funds from inward remittances through banking channels or from the investor's NRE/FCNR/NRO accounts.

 The power of attorney (POA) plays an important role when an NRI wants to purchase a property in India, according to the Registration Act. The act states that the signatures of the buyer and seller of the property should be present on the documents and be validated by the registrar of the location where the transaction is carried out. Therefore, if an NRI is not present in-person to purchase the property in India, the Power of Attorney selected (a family member) should be certified by the Consulate of the country where the NRI resides.

 The NRI applicant is required to provide a duly filled loan application form along with the photographs of all the applicants with signatures across. A copy of valid passport, visa, age proof, PAN card, overseas address proof, Indian address proof is required to be provided along with a legitimate Power of Attorney (POA) document to authorise an Indian resident to correspond with the bank in this regard. Further, the bank will also seek your income details and copies of bank statements to ascertain your repaying capacity for the home loan. It must be understood that the documents listed above are just indicative and the bank may ask for any additional documents in support of your loan application.