NRI CORNER

A Non-Residential Indian is a citizen of India who lives abroad for employment, business or vocation purposes for an uncertain amount of time.

NRIs do not require the permission of the Reserve Bank of India in order to purchase immovable property and can obtain loans for the purchase of such property from certain financial institutions. However, the repayment of the loan must be made within 15 years of taking the loan. Furthermore, NRIs must have stayed in India for a period of 182 days or more within an assessment year or they should have stayed in India for at least a total of one year or more.

NRI investors have different conditions for purchase than residents. He/she must be at least 21 years of age with a minimum of $2000 monthly income. An NRI is not allowed to make Equal Monthly Installments (EMI) through any source other than his/her NRE/NRO account. The eligibility of loan will be determined on a number of factors such as income stability, number of dependents, repayment capacity, cost of property etc. and can range from 5 lakhs to 1 crore. As in the case of a resident, an NRI can enhance his home loan eligibility by applying with a co-applicant who has a separate source of income.

An applicant will be eligible for a maximum of 85% of the cost of the property or the cost of construction as applicable and 75% of the cost of land in case of purchase of land, based on the repayment capacity of the borrower. Furthermore, the interest rates on home loans for NRIs are higher than those offered to residents. The amount differs by 0.25%-0.50%. Some Housing Finance Company’s also having an internally earmarked ‘negative criterion’ for NRI home loans. As such, the NRIs who hail from locations that are marked as being ‘negative’ in the books of HFCs, find it difficult to get a home loan.

Documents Required

• Passport copy
• Passport
• Visa/work permit
• Copy of work contract
• The power of attorney
• A copy of the appointment letter and contract from employer
• Labor card/identity card
• Bank statement for last 6 months
• For self-employed persons, a business profile, the computation of income and balance sheets certified by a CA/CPA for the past 3 years is required
• If the NRI is a person of Indian Origin, a photocopy of the PIO card also needs to be submitted. If the POI card is unavailable, the applicants current passport, with birth place as ‘INDIA’, the Indian passport, if held by the individual earlier or the applicants parents/grandparents Indian passport/birth certificate/marriage certificate is required.

Some Relevant Information

NRI’s can invest in any immoveable property in India except the following:

• Agricultural property
• Plantation
• Farm house

Payment of purchase price for acquisition of property can be made only through the following:

• Funds received by way of inward remittance through normal banking channels b. Funds held in any non resident account

NRIs may acquire property in India by ways other than purchase-

An NRI being a PIO can acquire immoveable property by way of a gift from the following:

• Funds received by way of inward remittance through normal banking channels
• Funds held in any non resident account

An NRI being a PIO can acquire immoveable property by way of inheritance from a person resident outside India (who has acquired the property as per the provisions of law as may be applicable with respect to foreign exchange)

Transfer of Immoveable Properties in case of an NRI citizen of India:

• An NRI can transfer the immoveable property other than the properties mentioned above to a person resident in India
• An NRI can transfer the immoveable property to another NRI