How can a British citizen own property in India & live there?

Indeed; so what do I have to add? I said above, you don't need to go abroad for it (to work out, or to go awry).

People thinking let me get into a trust or business partnership just as a means to stay abroad should ask themselves some serious questions along the lines of have I ever tried this at home and succeeded, etc. To do it just as a means to an end I'd say would be ill-advised, anyway. It takes commitment, dedication, and all that, and then still won't be guaranteed to work. Far from it.

A lady around the corner from me has opened up a very nice cafe and eatery, has been giving it her best for some years, but recently she tells me she's not managing and has to shift her bills around now, and if it doesn't work out it will mean bankruptcy and the dole for her. And that's the rule rather than the exception. I know the field well enough.

I imagine at least she'll be poor in a place she knows, and where she's entitled to be, and so has certain rights.

Yes, I do know about people doing similar in a trustee partnership kind of thing. As I already hinted at, it gets only uglier of course, since now there's more than your wallet broken. Such as that trust and friendship, and you still not knowing what to do about tomorrow.

It is really worth repeating that in bold.

It's not about India. It's about how sensible it is to trust anyone in such a relationship. Would you do this at home? Probably not.

"I met this sweet guy..." Right. How many sweet guys does a person meet in their own country and trust with their property. Do they easily fall for the sweet-guy thing in Spain? Italy? Any other country known for being skilled at laying on the charm when money, sex, etc are available?

All such things should be approached with a does of pessimism and a heap of skepticism. Sweet guys and gals are for holiday flings, not for serious financial relationships.

A Trust is not a commercial entity or some sort of business arrangement, least of all some back door way of staying in India.

Clearly i said to the guy that a trust is a means by which the trust can own property and thereby the trustees have access to that property, all within the mission statement of said trust.

A trust is usually 'meant' to be engaged in some sort of philanthropic, enviro or social work. The trust owns the property, nobody personally owns anything! Therefore to register a trust one has to have previously come to the conclusion that any investment is going to be donated away - to the trust... it's not like one invests and is then shafted by co -trustees - that can't happen, everything is clear prior to registration.

Nope. One invests and then leaves it up to the trustees to shaft each other

My brother in law owns some land at the bottom of a lake as a result. We walk by it when I visit, I don't ask him to point it out to me. Trust but verify (Russian proverb)..

Well we all know it's Shaftsville out there or should do, but a lot of folks do get themselves shafted, beats me..

Another thing about a trust is that it can't be dissolved at some trustee's whim, nor can a trustee run away with immovables. To dissolve a trust the whole thing has to go to for court permission via the registrar, and even when the assets if any, are liquidised that money becomes public money - where it will mostly get eaten anyway. It's all basically a philanthropic enterprise.

well i'm applying for my tourist visa to india on monday.
if all goes well i will be in india at the start of august.


i think its true that i will have more of a clue what im doing when im there & able to get the lay of the land and see whats on offer.


Whatever happens, I'll keep you informed.
I may hear good news about being able to own property just outside the ashram....
Problem is, would it be true news or just a scam to get my money.

would the deal be done with a legit document or a fake one.?...
More research is needed, and/or a trustable 'estate agent' type third party... if it ever even gets that far.

Thanks for the offer of the contact numbers in puttaparthi, I may contact you about them when I am there.

sorry for the lack of capital letters in this reply, i'm using a tablet and typng on it is driving me mad.

Good luck, and please keep us all informed. Despite negativity from some, we do all wish you the best, and will be fascinated by your future posts.......

I would think that you will find and easily enough within the Sai community, which you intend to join, adequate information about all the requirements for property ownership as there are plenty of others who have completed what you intend.

And of course one doesn't simply had over a large wedge to some geezer in exchange for a promise, the whole thing will have its' process and surely you will be safeguarded if you ask the right questions.

Negativity, or some much-needed realism, that is always the question.

I would expect people who are serious about their plans to be not too easily put off by the latter. So it will work either way: Those who are deterred probably weren't up for it anyway.

I'd prefer that over "the universe will provide for you" (i.e., like meets like and such); sorry, Paleface, but you know it doesn't always work that way, and it tends to exclude those of the very many for whom for some reason it doesn't work out like that. Isn't it in a way a re-working of many a religion's notion of "sin": See, it's not working out for you, so it must be you who's doing something wrong! (Not being in touch with that universe, etc. Not having said your due mantras or prayers or done your due pujas or worship and so on today, or in the past, and so forth and etc., or even being duly "mindful" or whatever it may be called.) Never mind of course if perhaps societal structures and the likes are effectively preventing you from it. (Mindful? I say blow it out your ass, I want to get stupid drunk and sniff speed all night long and see this incredible hardcore band and banging a girl I'm not supposed to, now gathering my wits if I can in the morning.)

Rather, do keep your ff'ing wits about you. As Nick said, you'd be doing so at home, wouldn't you (or if you don't, you shouldn't be moving, until you have that somewhat sorted out).

I love it!

India: we are like this only!

Uhm... are you sure? I know plenty of foreigners who are desperate to own flats in Vrindavan... and also know many who lost a lot of money trying to buy one with an Indian partner, but it turned out that legally, only the Indian partner owned it etc. (I mean 'business partner', not life partner).

I believe that most foreigners who really own property there are married to an Indian, which is also the reason they are allowed to legally stay in India. Because even if you did manage to buy property as a foreigner, your biggest problem would be to legally stay / live there.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I really do not see how foreigners with tourist or other temporary visas could legally purchase and own property in Vrindavan or anywhere else in India under their own names.

They can't, and even if there was some way that they could, the Goa twist on things a few years ago, as far as I understand, meant that they couldn't any longer, and some that did were held not to have been able to...

Having said that, residence (specifically as defined in FEMA and not any other understanding of it, legal or otherwise) is they key. Plenty of people, for instance, work or study in India for long enough to satisfy that requirement. Furthermore, there has, IIRC, been a slight softening on the X-visa front for some of those people.

We cannot say that no foreigners have been, are, or will be entitled to own property and live here. We can say that is, as of now, so difficult or long-winded and complex to get to be able to, that it is practically impossible.

The short version of that, and specifically excluding those with legitimate employment (including spouse ) etc, is...

I fancy buying a house in India and living there. Can I?

No.

.

Ownership of land, house or appartment in Auroville is called stewardship, as the property bought there is technically owned by the Auroville Foundation, an entity recognized and factually organized by the Indian Government.

The Auroville Foundation had to be established as it became clear in the early 90ies that Aurovillians were not able to agree how to legally establish and organize themselves. The conflict was and is that ideally from its Charter point of view (authored by the Mother, a French person, heir of Sri Aurobindo's ideas and institution in Pondicherry) Auroville should be anarchic, without established leadership, and decisons should happen unanimously. But as this never happens, and practical decisions have to be taken at some point, an outside-umbrella had to be created, which is the Auroville Foundation. The Mother's Charter for Auroville which is cosmopolitan, universal and internationalist in outlook (Auroville as a Laboratory of Evolution for all of humanity) is recognized by the Indian Government.

Stewardship means that for all practical purposes a person or family owns what they buy, while legally it is owned by the Auroville Foundation. No one can be driven from their home (except by the Indian Gov of course), but it also cannot be sold (but is/was sometimes done anyhow). The right to stewardship of property is lost, if someone leaves the country for more than 5 years.

All these rules have emerged over the decades with all kinds of unhappy experiences. Building a house in Auroville meant and means cultivating the land around it, which 40 years ago was a deserted arid strip of nothingness impossible to be lived in: Today it is a lush green forest, a miracle for those who know.

@theVenerable:

There's a reasonably clear explanation by the Reserve Bank of India as to who can and cannot buy or hold immovable property in India:

http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/FAQView.aspx?Id=33

The legal position is that a person resident in India, including a foreign national (but not a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Nepal or Bhutan) can buy such property. A 'resident' is defined so as to include any person who has stayed in India for over 182 days on employment, for carrying on a business or vocation, or for any other purpose which would 'indicate his intention to stay in India for an indefinite period'.

So anyone who's working here other than short term, or doing business here, or anything else that shows that he's here for an indefinite period is a resident, and can buy property. He still can't buy agricultural property, and still has to comply with State governments' laws. But buying a flat or house shouldn't be a problem.

In view of the large scale abuse of law that has taken place, particularly in Goa, the authorities are quite particular about registering property transactions involving foreign nationals, so it would be wise to err on the side of caution.