Non-Indian citizens buying property in India - some guidelines

MadnoMad

Hi all,
for those of you who might be interested in buying property in India heres some official guidelines I found while doing some research on the topic....

============================== ================
Purchase of Immovable Property in India by Foreign Citizens of Non-Indian origin/Foreign Companies
============================== ================

Foreign citizens of Non-Indian origin (whether resident in India or not) and foreign companies including trusts, societies and associations incorporated/ registered abroad will be permitted by Reserve Bank, on application, to acquire immovable property in India, provided the following conditions are satisfied :-

1) The property to be purchased is for residential use only.

2) The consideration for purchase of the property is met out of foreign exchange remitted from abroad in any convertible currency through normal banking channels.

3) Income accruing by way of rent from the property purchased, or the sale proceeds of such property/income arising out of investment of such sale proceeds at any future date shall be credited only to the Ordinary Non-resident Rupee (NRO) account of the non-resident purchaser.

Applications for necessary permission for purchase of immovable property in India should be made in form IPI 1 together with the documents indicated therein to the Chief General Manager, Exchange Control Department, (Foreign Investment Division-III), Reserve Bank of India, Central Office, Mumbai 400 001.
============================== ================

The IPI 1 form mentioned above can be found here...

http://www.indiainfoline.com/lega/nri/ch02.html

__________________
One world, One man, One plan....Travel...unfortunately just one life!

pooch

Looks pretty straightforward from here but when I did actually buy a flat it was a no no till I got my residential permit.

JeRiKo1

Does that mean I cant start a hostel / restaurant / shop ??

MadnoMad

Hi Jeriko,
I'm not sure about that....you would have to contact the Reserve Bank of India rgarding that query I guess...heres the email address...hope it helps

rbecfidt@bol.net.in

cheers

Madnomad

P.S: Julls.....I guess you needed a residence permit first because how else would you be able tp prove that the property you are going to buy is actually for YOUR residence...if you dont have a residence permit...then you dont have the right to reside in India...so it figures...right?....

steven_ber

Does Portuguese law still apply when buying property in Goa?

This may sound like a strange question....

A friend who is a Portuguese solicitor was asked to represent a client who wished to buy property in Goa; the client said the authorities in Goa insisted he had a solicitor who understood Portuguese law.

MadnoMad

Hi Steven,
no idea bout that one...gimme some time and lemme ask around and find out bout that for you...

salima

how does one get a resident's permit? i have looked everywhere and asked everyone and there doesnt seem to be any way for anyone to immigrate TO india-only from.

i have a tourist visa that is one year multiple entry which six months will have expired before i arrive there. i understand it wouldnt be legal for me to have any plan to become a resident at this point. but if i did, how would i go about it?

lots of people laugh when i ask this question......

also how come when i try to put a smiley on here instead of the face it just says 'confused'...??

salima...

steven_ber

You should just have to click on the smiley to use them, it will appear in your post as 'confused', but when you submit your reply/post the smiley should appear.

Samsara

There is PIO (person of Indian origin) status - that's a sort of permanent residency (I'm eligible for that but haven't applied). Don't know if you would be eligible (the rules are a bit complex about who is eligible I find, haven't quite worked it out yet). Look up Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card - if one of your parents or your grandparents were an Indian citizen (or a descendant even up to four generations...don't know...I know it's three for sure...anyway, don't know if you fall into this category but it exists (but the rules are not quite straightforward so it's best to research it, there are even two sorts of PIOs it seems, I'm in one category but there's another - which effects things like buying property, etc ...ie you can be a PIO but some have more rights than others in certain areas). It depends on whether your ancestors to a certain close generation where Indian nationals and citizens born in India, but PIO excludes those who are Pakistani, Bangladeshi nationals (and perhaps other countries like Nepal etc not sure on this) and those like most Fiji Indians whos descent is too far removed within the generations specified (their descent from Indian nationals goes too far back).

salima

steven-thanks for the smiley help!!! i love these guys...

also thanks to samsara...as for person of indian origin, i thought i had tried that before and couldnt do it for some reason. my grandparents weere 'british subjects' but they remained there after independence. i doubt if that made them indian citizens-how can i find out?

Samsara

any indian embassy or consulate online has the PIO card guidelines on their site (just search for the nearest one to you or any one really and look for PIO card link). british subjects doesn't sound good - i'm with you there - but never hurts to check - and there should be lots of information on site anyway for citizens of other countries in relation to rights in india. i can't look into it right now but it's been on my mind for the last few months and i have been researching it but it's a bit confusing. once i work it out i could i guess post a summary here but i don't have time at the moment. maybe someone else has more information than me for salima?

salima

here's a quote from a non-government site (indiahotels):

"Those who or whose parents, grandparents or great grandparents was born as a permanent resident of India as defined in the Government of India,1935 and other territories that became a part of India thereafter."

this agrees with what is on the ny consulate site except pio is required to register anyway, and it doesnt mention whether or not a person visiting india with pio card would be required to leave after 180 days.

and as i read in madnomad's post a non-resident can buy property anyway. but the person with pio card is entitled to price breaks the same as nri's i think if i read this right.

maybe i dont understand this 180 days thing either-if you register does that mean you dont have to leave the country after 180 days? everyone has been telling me all you have to do is cross the border and then come back, but i dont want to have to do this. i would be happy to register if that is all is required to stay beyond 180 days.

i notice also that the pio does not have political rights, which i interpret to mean voting privileges. does that mean i wonder that they also do not pay income taxes? technically i do not have any income because i am retired, but there would be some small amount of interest income.

here is the page telling you how to go about it samsara:
http://www.indiacgny.org/pioinst.html
next i am going to find a copy of the Government of India Act 1935

Samsara

Thanks, Salima, but I feel that the PIO guidelines are talking about Indian origin people, not British origin living as British subjects in India...were your ancestors within the PIO guidelines of Indian origin domiciled in India due to Indian descent, or of British origin and British subjects in India, whether born there or not? I really don't believe the latter category is entitled to the PIO card...and I don't know what provisions apply to non-Indian residents (they usually apply for certain type of visas, like long term visas etc 5 years or 10 years...) 180 days for PIOs only means that they have to register after the 180 days (or just within or on) but it doesn't mean they have to leave the country (only those on tourist visas do).

PIOs don't have political rights, some fall into the rights categories of NRIs (re property, investment and businesses), some don't (have lesser rights). I don't know about taxes, didn't look into that.

I am entitled to apply for the PIO, I know that, as I was born an Indian citizen from Indian descent on paternal side after Independence and held an Indian passport before my current Australian passport so I'm in a different situation to you. But I was researching the PIO guidelines for a volunteer organisation and it was necessary to get a correct legal summary...I got half-way through the research and then other things came up for me and the person I was working with so we agreed to shelve it for the while (also dual citizenship is going through the governmental process in India, don't know when it will come into effect, may take time or it might be sooner than expected - but also the dual citizenship is restricted to a certain very strict category of NRIs and PIOs, as in a certain type of PIO and only to about six countries overseas and then it won't be a full dual citizenship in that you won't be able to stand for office, defence forces, vote, stuff like that).

Were your ancestors of Indian descent or purely British descent and British subjects? If the latter, consider a 10 year visa? (don't know much about non-Indian origin residents but there are threads on this subject here at IndiaMike).

Here are the guidelines at Indian Embassy Washington - http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/...ction_PIO.html

But the various sites I checked didn't provide completely clear guidelines (I'll have to track down the 1935 Act too - thanks for that info, Salima). I never even looked at or considered the situation of a British subject born in India of two British subject parents (but I do feel strongly that this person would be excluded from the PIO guidelines...as that person is de facto then a British citizen who happened to be born in an overseas dominion of Britain).

salima

hi samsara-
i had no luck at all trying to get the actual government of india act of 1935. if you read the guidelines literally they say 'permanent resident' rather than citizen. since i know my mother had to go through naturalization, her papers would say she was a british subject i suppose. in america if a child is born here they are american citizen i thought, right? whether they want to be or not? it probably doesnt work that way in india.

my mother's father's ancestors were portuguese and lived in goa-now that is interesting, maybe my grandfather was an indian citizen? i do know he had to become a british subject to work for the british government. he was already going to school in india. my grandmother was also a british subject born in india. both died there.

the ten year visa is one thing-but it doesnt allow you to remain past 180 days. but i am also told there is always a way of getting around things in india, just another many one of the reasons i find it appealing.

wonderwomanusa

AFAIK, if your grandfather was born in Goa of Portuguese ancestry, he was probably NOT Indian, because Goa didn't become part of India until 1961.

__________________
The map is not the territory. --Alfred Korzybski