At Mumbai Acres, we specialize in personalized realty services for NRI’s and harness the power of technology to make property buying & selling a simple affair. In India, realty transactions can be complicated and you can run into unforeseen hurdles at every step. It surely helps to have your personalized representative to make the home buying & selling a hassle free and rewarding experience. Don’t take our word for it. Contact us and enjoy the ‘Pain free’ Realty Experience. 

The following general guidelines are provided to help you understand the various requirements and regulations governing the purchase of property by NRIs. These are summarized guidelines only and we encourage you to obtain informed regulatory and financial advice before entering into any financial commitments.

To qualify as NRI you need to be an Indian citizen who stays abroad for employment/carrying on business or vocation outside India or stays abroad under circumstances indicating an intention for an uncertain duration of stay abroad as a non-resident. (Persons posted in UN organizations and officials deputed abroad by Central/state governments and public sector undertakings on temporary assignments are also treated as non-residents). Non-resident foreign citizens of Indian origin are treated on par with non-resident Indian citizens (NRIs).

You are defined as being of Indian origin if (PIO), 1) you have held and Indian passport at any time or 2) your father or paternal grandfather was a citizen of India by virtue of the Constitution of India or the Citizenship Act, 1995 (57 of 1995) and are not a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Nepal or Bhutan.

Under the general permission available, if you meet either of these two sets of conditions you are able to freely purchase immovable property in India. The general permission, however, covers only purchase of residential and commercial property and not for purchase of agricultural land / plantation property / farmhouse in India. There are no restrictions on the number of residential / commercial properties that can be purchased.

An NRI / PIO who has purchased residential / commercial property under general permission, is not required to file any documents with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Foreign nationals of non-Indian origin, resident outside India cannot purchase any immovable property in India nor can they be a joint holder with an NRI or PIO of immovable property.

However if you are a foreign national resident in India you may be able to invest in immovable property subject to obtaining approvals, and fulfilling any requirements required by other authorities, such as the relevant State Government, etc. However, if you are a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Nepal or Bhutan you will require prior approval of the RBI.

NRIs and PIOs can freely acquire commercial or residential property in India by gift from residents of India and other NRIs and PIOs. Equally, if you are an NRI or PIO you are able to sell or gift your property to a person resident in India, an NRI or a PIO.

As an NRI or PIO you can mortgage your property to:

• An authorized dealer or housing finance institution in India
• A party abroad, with the prior approval of the Reserve Bank

Payments for your property can only be made from:

• Funds remitted to India through normal banking channels
• Funds held in NRE/FCNR(B)/NRO accounts maintained in India

As an NRI or PIO you may rent out your property without restriction. Rental income received can be credited to NRO/NRE account or remitted abroad. In receiving this income you should ensure that any applicable taxes are paid or provided for.

Provided the funds used to buy your property have originated from NRE/FCNR(B)/NRO accounts then you can repatriate the sales proceeds (up to the amount for which the property was purchased) outside India in foreign exchange to accounts denominated in a foreign currency. If you used Rupee resources to buy your property and/or the loan is being repaid by close relatives in India (as defined in Section 6 of the Companies Act 1956) then you can credit the funds to your NRO account. You can repatriate up to one million US dollars each financial year from your NRO account, subject to tax compliance. Capital gains, if any, may be credited to the NRO account.