NRE (Non Resident External) and NRO (Non Resident Ordinary) are two types of accounts that NRIs (Non Resident Indians) can open if they need a way to transfer money, open a fixed deposit, or buy mutual funds, and stocks in India.
What follows is a sequence of events that will take place, and some pointers that you might find useful while getting a NRE or NRO account.
How to open a NRE or NRO Account?
1. Contact the Bank
There are usually two ways of getting in touch with a bank: either have them call you, or you call their helpline.
Banks like HDFC and HSBC have this option where you can fill up a contact form and then their representative calls you. Whereas SBI lists out its call center numbers for various countries and you can call them to discuss opening an NRE / NRO account.
The first step is to talk to a bank representative because once you talk to the rep – he will inquire which account you need to open, whether it’s joint or single account, and accordingly tell you what documents you need to open the account, and email you the forms as well.
2. Book an appointment to fill the form
Don’t be daunted if you see a big 10 page attachment in your email. The paperwork is not as intimidating as it looks. It will take about 20 minutes to fill up, and can’t be done on your own, but it’s not all that bad.
Because you need help to fill up the form – the bank rep will book an appointment with you (usually telephonic) to go over the forms and walk you through them.
You will have to print them ahead of time and you can fill the easier sections yourself. Leave anything you’re not sure of because there are a lot of things there that aren’t very intuitive. For instance at one point you will encounter a question asking you if you’re politically exposed, and you’ll be tempted to say hell yeah – I’ve been  exposed so bad I’m radioactive. While that may be true, it’s not what they’re asking. So, don’t try to fill the entire form without their help.
Oh, and keep a black pen handy; filling up tons of information while on the phone is a pain in itself – you don’t want to make it worse by having to hunt for black pens!
There are a lot of parts that they will just ask you to skip over or leave empty, so it’s really not as bad as it looks.
3. Get the documents ready
They will ask for documents based on your country of residence and what type of account you’re opening but here are some common ones that you should be ready with.
- Copy of first and last page of passport
- Copy of the visa page on your passport
- Two residence proofs – this can be things like your driver’s license, phone or utility bills, bank statements, pay – stubs etc.
- The filled up account opening forms.
- Passport photograph.
On their website – some banks have asked for these to be notarized, but in reality they don’t always need that. Self – attested documents also do, which is nothing more than signing on every document yourself.
4. Write a check in USD or your currency
You will need to write a check in order to open the account, and this can be done in USD or a few other foreign currencies. They will tell you if you can give the check in the currency of your country, or the alternative if that’s not possible.
5. Mail it to the PO Box or India Address
In some cases the banks will have a PO Box in your country of residence where you can send the documents instead of sending it to India.
However, before you decide to mail the documents to the PO Box check with them to see if there is a difference in processing time if the documents are sent to a PO Box instead of the India address.
These documents are generally processed in India, and sending your documents to a PO box may add to a delay of as much as 15 – 20 days, so before you decide where to send the documents it’s better to check with them on what they advise, and what the difference in cost is.
The bank rep will follow up with you and its a good idea to email him letting him know that you’ve mailed the documents so they can keep a track of when they receive it, and help in processing.
The one thing that’s missing from this post is recommendation on where to open an account, and that’s because I have no answer to that and nor do I have a reasonable way to compare one bank with another. You can choose one with which you’ve had good experience in the past and I’m afraid I don’t have much more input on that.
I’m really keen to hear on your experience with opening an NRE or NRO account so please do share that in comments, and of course all questions and other observations are welcome.
According to NRE & NRO account….why NRI person can’t withdrawn the money in their on currency?????,
Tell me answer as soon as possible.
Thank u…….
They can withdraw INR in India, that’s not a problem, but there are rules on how much you can withdraw in the foreign currency.
Hi ,
Sir ,Madam
I want to inform u that I need open an account for saving purpose m from India and I want to know how to open an A/ c. For sending money.
Thanks
Hi Friend,
I am working in Dubai and need to open a NRE or NRO account in India, may be some where in Bihar and Govt Bank (PNB,SBI or BOI etc)
please guide me or provide me some contact details if you are aware for my ease.
thanks
Hi Manshu,
Came across your website while trying to do some research and I was wondering if I could trouble you for some advice
I currently live in the UK and the father lives in India and looks after some familial property in India.
He has now come to an age that he will need to be looked after and he’s planning to come and live with me.
I was looking to open a bank account which me and my brother (who lives in the US) can manage it online from abroad and primarily deal with funds coming from tenants and also if necessary transfer some money from the UK or from the US if any property maintenance is needed.
It’s all Kosher and needs to be quite straightforward for both of us to use.
Is there such facilities available in India and if so would you be kind enough to point me in the right direction.
Most banks seems to be intrested in opening savings accounts but have been unable to find this information
Many thanks in advance
Raj
Hi Raj,
If you open a NRE or NRO account, then both you and your brother can deposit money into it. However, I’m not so sure that tenants will be able to deposit money into it. Perhaps not. I’m not aware of an option to do this. Sorry.
Hi Manshu,
Thank you for sharing this information online. My brother will be leaving to stay abroad for a while. He currently has an account with HDFC bank in India. Once abroad, what is the easiest way to transfer money to this HDFC bank account in India?
Can the transfer be done in INR or does it have to be done in local currency only?
cheers
Vijay
Some of the banks provides pickup service, where there agent can pick your filled forms instead you are sending them to courier.
Amrita,
For ICICI NRE Account: You have to park some money in NRE deposits and some in NRE savings account. The logic is open NRE savings account, pump savings money in it. Then you can create your own deposit online and transfer to deposit account. The demerit is that these deposits are period of one year minimum and if you withdraw before one year, you are not paid any interest.
The transfer from NRE account to overseas account is free. Pls check with icici bank advisor. I also came to know recently that HSBS offering good service. Pls check with it too.
However i am against HDFC due to stupid paper work to withdraw funds from NRE to overseas account
R
Amrita,
You can open ICICI NRE account. It will fecilitate transfer from NRE Accont to Any overseas bank account with ease. Moreover no outward remittance forms need to be filled like HDFC.
Its simple and service is excellent
Hope this helps
Ravi
Hi
Been living in Dubai for many years, put my money into mutual fund investment & it did not benefit me or grow at all despite the fin. consultant making big promises. I want to open an account in India & save the money there. But I understand that saving money in India as NRE, I cannot bring it to Dubai when I need. Is this right, could you please guide me as the money being saved is for the kids’ university need & I will need the money in Dubai when required.
Thanks
Hello Sir,
I recently became an US Citizen. I bought a land in India few years back. Now I need to sell that land and transfer that money to US for my son’s tuition fees. Please advise, how can I transfer those Indian rupees to dollar amount ?? Do I have to open an NRE/NRO account to get the money in US ?? Your advise is highly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Kind Regards
Raj
What is the value of money?
If this is less than 200.000 USD in a financial year of India, you can do wire transfer of such amount from your indian account to overseas account
Also if you donot like wire transfer ask your buyer to transfer to your overseas account using Thomas cook.
If you donot have indian account, then as you are non resident account holder, open a NRE savings account using foreign denominated cheque of 300 USD. Once you open the account, sell the land and deposit such money in account. Use online facility to withdraw the funds.
Pls see sale of land subjected to tax and please seek financial advisor help
Hi,
I will be opening an NRE & NRO account shortly. I have a doubt about excahnge rate during transfer. When I transfer funds from my France bank(Credit Mutuel) to Indian bank (ICICI, HDFC, Kotak, etc). Will the exchange rate I get vary from bank to bank in India or it will be dictated by Credit Mutuel.
If it varies – which bank gives better rate in India?
With Regards,
Sachin
When you transfer from Francais Bank (Euro) to Indian Bank (INR), the first bank which is French will not do exchange rate calcualtion as you can only transfer in euro. The receiving bank will calcualate the exchange rate as on that day. Pls check with bank phone officer for further info. I donot know why you are opening NRE/NRO account. Just to transfer money to india alone, you can use money2india and several options to transfer money to india without having NRE/NRO bank accounts.
EU banks has online facility to transfer directly to india using foreign transfer switch option. The only details you need are your bank account number,benefeciary details, swift code of receiving bank in india,
R
Dears,
Very recently i shifted to Riyadh Saudi Arabia and wrkng in a private company i need to transfer money to my indian(HDFC,ICICI,BOI) account,am aware that i need to open NRI account first to transfer..,can anybody exactly share with me wat i need to do?????
Am having a doubt after opening an NRI account will i be able to fund tranfers through net banking to my indian banks?????
Regards,
Parvez
If you just want to transfer money and your status has not changed to a NRI then you don’t need to open a NRI account just for that. You can use a money transfer service like Money2India to do that.
Hi
Our purpose is to accumalate money in and account where we in India as well as our relative in UAE and deposit money from time to time and then use the same of pay of our LOAN in India.
Does opening an NRO account entail the same or what is the best way of doing this. Also what are the tax implications if any for the same.
pls precise your request. your first sentence is absolutely not clear
R
Hi,
I live in UK and very much interested in NRO / NRE accounts.
Please suggest me which one is the best. I am looking for FDs
What about the taxation issues with FDs in NRO /NRE accounts
Do I have to pay tax in India and UK both or in one country only?
Please suggest which bank is good for NRO /NRE accounts in India.
Best Wishes
Rabi
FDs in NRE account is tax free in India. You will have to declare them as income in UK so better check how they treat foreign income. This link shows you some of the best NRE rates http://www.onemint.com/2012/01/06/best-bank-nre-interest-rates/
Many Thanks Manshu,
hi sir
i am working in raiydh. i want opening new nri account state bank of india.
any facility in riyadh?
Hi, I have recently shifted to Singapore. I have a homeloan from HDFC bank.
I want to fully pay out my homeloan & principal remaining is INR 11,00000.
Could you pls suggest me a way where I can take cash advance & fully payout my homeloan at once. I would like to incur minimum charges while completing this transaction, I can repay the whole amount in monthly installments within six months.
I have already checked with my HR here & theres no company policy for cash advance.
pls suggest possible routes !!
Hi, Digvijay. Hope you are doing fine in Singapore. I am working in Riyadh as an Export Manager and i wanna apply for home loan of 15 lakh to HDFC bank, where i have a NRO account. Could you suggest me what percentage the bank charged you or do you have nay other suggestion to get from.
will really appreciate to have your swift response.
Hi Yusuf, I had taken my home ,oan in August 2008 & Interst rate that time was 10.5%, For past 6 months its been 12%. I have heard from friends that IDBI offers a good deal w.r.t interst rates, You might wanna have a check there.
Regards
Digvijay
Thank you Harsh and all of you who wrote. I got all senior executives email address and wrote to them but received same response from Senior Executive Desk: The Bank Manager followed the Bank Protocol!. So much for the services. We even argued that what if an honest public servant’s account gets compromised by some fraudster who puts money in this public servant’s account and then starts blackmailing him with media exposure? Their policy should not allow deposit without account holder’s permission. Hopefully Courts or RBI will provide such directives. (I am told by some other bank that they ask this question when a person is opening a bank account and put note on the account accordingly.) Some banks allow you to freeze your NRO/NRE account when you expect no activity. My friends says treat this money as gift not rent since you have not issued the rent receipts to him. Other regular tenants pay by check and gets rent receipts from us. The rent is so minimal I rather not have rent from them. One another residential tenant is also a Fraudster. He has a DDA apartment for last twenty years and he rents this DDA Apartment out at 100 times more rent than mere 100 rupees he gives us for his posh two bedroom apartment. I hope the courts will serve the justice. These tenants think we roll in money. But they do not realize we work very hard for our money and we pay all the TAXES!
Its very sad that you are trapped by not one but more crooks. I think,you should once visit India and contact some good lawyer. This way,you will get your other flat(DDA) also back in your possession. Afterall,its your right to get proper rent of that flat,that tenant has no right to earn higher rates by giving the flat to a third party.
You are working hard to earn your money,so don’t let anyone else to cheat you by thinking that you are getting some ‘easy or free money. Infact even if you are making ‘easy’ money,it doesn’t give anyone a right to steal that money from you.
One more advice. I think,you should find out the numbers of the DCP or ACP of your local area in Delhi though DP’s website. Then talk to them on phone. There are many good officers who would understand your concern and help you. Atleast you should try.But don’t tell them the story that bank is not helping you.
Good luck.
One more thing. I would advice you to send emails to the senior most officials of ICICI. Tell them your whole story. Its not like everybody is a crook like the deputy Manager of your base branch. You will find the email IDs on their website including Chanda Kochchar’s. I expect some positive response from them,so i would highly recommend this step before you go to the court.
Here are the links-
http://www.icicibank.com/aboutus/pdf/business-heads-details.pdf
http://www.icicibank.com/aboutus/pdf/Zonal_Head_details.pdf
When you talk to them,do tell that you are gonna tell this entire story to all of your NRI friends and would also post on several complaint boards. But say this not in a threatening manner.Just say that this is the only option which would be left if the senior management guys don’t help.
Best of luck.