Who is a Non-Resident Indian (NRI)?
A non-resident Indian (NRI) is an
Indian citizen or a person of Indian origin who stays abroad for employment,
business or vocation outside India, or stays abroad under circumstances
indicating an uncertain duration.
Who is a Person of Indian Origin (PIO)?
A Person of Indian Origin means a
citizen of any country (other than Bangladesh or Pakistan), if the person: (a)
at any time held an Indian passport; or (b) or the persons parents or
grandparents were citizens of India; or (c) is a spouse of an Indian citizen,
or of a person referred to in (a) or (b) above.
Other terms with vaguely the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate
Indian. In common usage, this often includes Indian-born individuals (and also
people of other nations with Indian ancestry) who have taken the citizenship of
other countries.
According to Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, India has the second largest
diaspora in the world after Overseas Chinese. The overseas Indian community
estimated at over 25 million is spread across every major region in the world.
Who is a Foreign Institutional Investor (FII)?
An FII is an institution
established or incorporated outside India which proposes to invest in Indian
securities and is registered with SEBI.
Who is an Overseas Corporate Body (OCB)?
An OCB includes overseas
companies, partnership firms, societies and other corporate bodies owned
predominantly by non-resident persons of Indian nationality or origin outside
India.
Can an NRI maintain a bank account in India?
Yes. NRIs can maintain accounts in rupees as well as in foreign
currency.
What types of rupee accounts may NRIs maintain?
There are 4 types:
1. Non-resident (External) Rupee Accounts (NRE)
2. Non-Resident (Special) Rupee (NRSR) Account
3. Ordinary Non-resident Rupee Accounts (NRO)
4. Non-resident (Non-repatriable)
Rupee deposit accounts (NRNR)
What are NRE, NRO and FCNR accounts?
Non-Resident (External) Rupee
(NRE). This is a Rupee account from which funds are freely
repatriable. It can be opened with either funds remitted from abroad or local
funds which can be remitted abroad.
Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee (NRO). This is a Rupee account and can be
opened with funds either remitted from abroad or generated in India. These
funds are non-repatriable. However, under certain circumstances, these are
allowed to be repatriated.
Fully Convertible Non-Resident
Rupee (FCNR).This account is similar to the
NRE account except that the funds are held in foreign currencies and can be
maintained in Pound Sterling, U.S. Dollar, Euro and Japanese Yen. FCNR accounts
can be maintained only in the form of term deposits, i.e. a deposit kept for
fixed periods ranging from 6 months to 3 years.
How do NRE, NRO and NRSR accounts differ?
Balances held in NRE accounts can be repatriated abroad freely, whereas funds in NRSR and NRO account cannot be normally remitted abroad but have to be used only for local payments in rupees. Consequently, funds remitted from abroad or local funds which can otherwise be remitted abroad to the accountholder can only be credited to NRE accounts.
Checklist for NRI Investment
A) Create your account
NRI investors are allowed to invest in India on repatriable as well as the non-repatriable basis. You need to create your investment account by providing your necessary details as required, along with the scanned copies of the documents requested according to your tax and residential status. We also require your overseas address proof to get your KYC compliance done
B) One Time Mandate Registration
In case an NRI wants to start a SIP, he has to sign and send us One Time Mandate which enables auto deduction of monthly SIP from his bank account.
C) KYC for NRIs
You are a first-time mutual fund investor, then you might be required to furnish additional details, sign the KYC Form (which will be emailed to you as a downloadable link), sign and send us the hard copy of the form.
D) Start Investing
The NRI can start making lump-sum (one time) investments online immediately after Investment Account registration. SIPs can be started online after the mandate is registered which usually takes around 20 to 30 working days.
1. An Indian Passport or OCI/PIO Card
2. PAN Card
3. Aadhar Card
4. An Overseas Address Proof
5. An NRE or NRO Account Bank Statement / cancelled cheque leaf