A. Indian citizens who stay abroad for employment or establish business or work or are settled outside India, for any other purpose for an indefinite period are NRI's.

A foreign citizen is deemed to be of Person of Indian Origin (PIO) if:
i) He/She held an Indian Passport at any time
ii) He/She or their father or paternal grandfather was a citizen of India by virtue of the Constitution of India or the Citizenship Act, 1955. However this does not apply to citizens of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka or Nepal.

NRI's can acquire any immovable property in India other than agricultural / plantation property or a farm house without permission from RBI. Refer to the table below for a comprehensive list of transactions possible.

The purchase consideration can be met either out of inward remittances in foreign exchange through any Non Resident banking channels or out of funds from any non-resident accounts , i.e. Non Resident External Account - NR (E), Foreign currency Non Resident Account - FCNR or Non Resident Ordinary Account - NR(O) account maintained with banks in India.

There are no restrictions on the number of residential properties that you can buy being an NRI but repatriation is restricted to maximum two such properties.

NRI can make requests for acquisition of agricultural land / plantation property / farm to The Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India, Central Office, Exchange Control Department, Foreign Investment Division (III), Mumbai 400 001.

Reserve Bank has granted general permission for sale of such property owned by NRI. However, where another foreign citizen of Indian origin wants to purchase such property and funds towards the purchase settlement should either be remitted to India or paid out of balances in non-resident accounts maintained with banks in India as mentioned above.