Facilities to Returning NRIs

C. Facilities to returning NRIs/PIOs

● Returning NRIs/PIOs may continue to hold, own, transfer or invest in foreign currency, foreign security or any immovable property situated outside India, if such currency, security or property was acquired, held or owned when resident outside India
● The income and sale proceeds of assets held abroad need not be repatriated.

Foreign Currency Account

● A person resident in India who has gone abroad for studies or who is on a visit to a foreign country may open, hold and maintain a Foreign Currency Account with a bank outside India during his stay outside India, provided that on his return to India, the balance in the account is repatriated to India. However, short visits to India by the student who has gone abroad for studies, before completion of his studies, shall not be treated as his return to India.
● A person resident in India who has gone out of India to participate in an exhibition/trade fair outside India may open, hold and maintain a Foreign Currency Account with a bank outside India for crediting the sale proceeds of goods on display in the exhibition/trade fair. However, the balance in the account should be repatriated to India through normal banking channels within a period of one month from the date of closure of the exhibition/trade fair.

Resident Foreign Currency Account

● A person resident in India may open, hold and maintain with an authorised dealer in India a Resident Foreign Currency (RFC) Account.
● Proceeds of assets held outside India at the time of return can be credited to RFC account.
● The funds in RFC accounts are free from all restrictions regarding utilisation of foreign currency balances including any restriction on investment in any form outside India.
● RFC accounts can be maintained in the form of current or savings or term deposit accounts, where the account holder is an individual and in the form of current or term deposits in all other cases.RFC accounts are permitted to be held jointly with a resident close relative(s) as defined in the Companies Act, 1956 as joint holder (s) in their RFC bank account on ‘former or survivor basis’. However, such resident Indian close relative, now being made eligible to become joint account holder shall not be eligible to operate the account during the life time of the resident account holder.