Overview

NRI_Overview

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• 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 / carrying on business or vocation outside India or stays abroad under circumstances indicating an uncertain duration of stay abroad.

• Who is a Person of India Origin (PIO)?

  A Person of Indian Origin means a citizen of any country (other than Bangladesh or Pakistan), if:

  • He at any time held an Indian passport; or
  • He or either of his parents or grand parents was a citizen of India; or
  • He is a spouse of an Indian citizen, or of a person referred to in (a) or (b) above.

• Who is a Foreign Institutional Investor(FII)?

  An FII means an institution established or incorporated outside India which proposes to make investment in Indian securities, and is registered with SEBI.

• Can an NRI maintain a bank account in India?

  Yes. NRIs can maintain accounts in rupees as well as in foreign currency. Accounts in foreign currencies can, however be maintained with authorised dealers only.

• What are the different types of rupee accounts permitted to be maintained?

  Four types of rupee accounts viz.

  • NRE: Non-resident (External) Rupee Accounts ,
  • NRO: Non-resident Rupee (Ordinary) Accounts
  • NRSR: Non-Resident (Special) Rupee (NRSR) Account, and
  • NRNR: Non-resident (Non-repatriable) Rupee deposit accounts (NRNR) are permitted to be maintained by NRIs.

• What are NRE and NRO accounts?

  • Non-Resident (External) Rupee (NRE) account 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) account is a Rupee account and can be opened with funds either remitted from abroad or generated in India. The amounts in such account are generally non repatriable. However, funds in NRO accounts can be repatriated subject to /a s per per various directives in force at the time of repatriation. More details can be found on RBI website www.rbi.org.in

• What is the distinction among NRE, NRO and NRSR Accounts?

  Balances held in NRE accounts can be repatriated abroad freely, whereas funds in NRSR and NRO account cannot be 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 account holder can only be credited to NRE accounts. Funds due to the non-resident account holder which do not qualify, under the Exchange Control regulations, for remittance outside India are required to be credited to NRO accounts.

  The account holder can freely transfer funds from NRO/NRE/FCNR accounts to NRSR account but transfer of funds from NRSR account to other accounts of NRI is not permissible irrespective of the source of funds.

  However funds in NRO accounts can be repatriated subject to / as per various directives in force at the time of repatriation. More details can be found on RBI website, www.rbi.org.in

  Snapshot

  Type of account	Currency	Repatriable / Non Repatriable
  NRE – Non Resident External	INR	Freely Repatriable
  NRO – Non Resident Ordinary	INR	Non Repatriable, repatriable subject to RBI conditions
  NRSR – Non Resident Special Rupee	INR	Non Repatriable
  FCNR – Foreign Currency Non Repatriable	USD, GBP, Yen, Euro, DMK	Repatriable

• Can an NRI, OCB, & FIIs invest in mutual funds in India?

  NRI & FIIs can invest in mutual funds in India.
  OCB,s cannot invest in mutual funds in India

• Does an NRI, PIO, FII require any approval from the RBI to invest in mutual fund schemes?

  No special approval is required.

  NRIs/FIIs have been granted a general permission by RBI [Schedule 5 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India) Regulations, 2000] for investing in /redeeming units of the schemes subject to conditions set out in the aforesaid regulations.

  However, PIO's need to attach a copy of the PIO card with the application form at the time of investing.

• What is a PIO Card? Who Issues PIO Cards? How to get a PIO Card?

  PIO Cards are issued by Ministry of External Affairs (CPV Division), Government of India to persons of Indian origin through Indian missions abroad. Specific information on rules, forms, particular offices, missions is available on the website http://www.passport.nic.in

• Who are QA 22 Account holders? Can they invest in Mutual Funds?

  These are NRI investors for which we normally have resident rupee accounts - QA22.

  QA22 accounts are for non-resident or overseas corporates who want to establish a branch / liaison / export office in India for which an RBI approval is required.

  After the introduction of FEMA, QA22 accounts are being treated at par with normal resident accounts, though RBI approval is still required for setting up the branch / liaison/ export office.