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.
Dear Sir,
I am, Abdul Mannan Mohammed Shafi, working in Riyadh, KSA.
I have already my NRE account with Canara Bank, Kawsa branch, Thane, Maharashtra.
I will be in Mumbai by next week. To open my NRO account with the same above branch, what documents will be needed to be presented to the bank, for this purpose.
Pls advise clearly, as soon possible.
Sincerely yours,
Dear Sir,
I am, Abdul Mannan Mohammed Shafi, working in Riyadh, KSA.
I have already my NRE account with Canara Bank, Kawsa branch, Thane, Maharashtra.
I will be in Mumbai by next week. To open my NRO account with the same above branch, what documents will be needed to be presented to the bank, for this purpose.
Pls advise clearly.
Sincerely yours,
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You can get the details of “How to open NRO/ NRE accounts?” on clicking below links:
http://www.codeforbanks.com/banking/nri-service/how-to-open-nro-account/
http://www.codeforbanks.com/banking/nri-service/how-to-open-nre-account/
Hi,
We have a Kotak account and moved to Canada on PR status 1 year back, we need to change our bank status to NRI account so that we can transfer money from India to Canada, can we do it from Canada or I have to go to India to change that ?
Hi was reading your article and the comments . Am on Singapore on employment visa for 1 year .. Currently have account with DBS, but would like to know what are options available to transfer the money to India.. Just open nre and transfer from my Singapore salary account?? And then do I have to pay double tax??
Hey Priya. Just open a NRE acc and get your funds transferred to it. And no, you wouldn’t any tax on NRE accounts. Only profit generated from Indian soil (and deposited into the NRO accounts) is taxable.
Hi,
I am Ravi, currently I am in USA. My visa expired on 12/31/2016 but extension has been filed with USCIS. I need to open a NRE account, can any one help me in doing so.
Thank you very much
I’m in Saudi Arabia in Jubail industrial city. I want HDFC in open NRE & NRO account. so how open the account please any buddy have suggestion or any contact please give me.
I bhumi patel residing in india and my husband is residing in USA and he is a US citizen,and at present i want to open a joint account of our both,so how can i do??
Sir I am in now kuwait . interested to open a NRE account in FEDERAL BANK . can you help me
Dear sir
I have nre and nro account in hdfc bank (rural branch) under same costumer id so what will be MAB of both account. Can i transfer money from resident account(sbi) to nro a/c by netbanking. Please reply
Sir I am in now K S A Dammam . interested to open a nre account in HDFC . can you help me ??? My contact no is 966566455984
BY
shabeer malappattam
Dear sir,
im now in KSA i want open NRI a/c new so how open. in BANK OF BARODA.
My home nearst bank of baroda. branch. is bajuwa baroda gujrat 391310
DEAR SIR
I LIVE IN NEW YORK ,i WANT TO OPEN NRO ACCOUNT IN SBI JAMUI , BIHAR INDIA .
CAN I GO TO SBI MANHATTAN CAN STAFF OF MANHATTAN SBI BE ABLE TO HELP ME TO FILL THE FORM .
LAST ONE YEAR I AM THINKING TO OPEN THE ACCOUNT
THANK FOR YOUR INFORMATION .
I WILL APPRECIATE IF YOU REPLY ME ON MY E.MAIL
qazichak@aol.com THANKS AGAIN
Sir I am in now Qatar . interested to open a nre account in SBI . can you help me ??? My contact no is +97477368989
Please send me online form to open normal account from Riyadh ksa
Dear sir.
I want to open nre account I discussed with canara bank they told that. I have to stay more than 6 month abroad then only eligible for open account. Is that correct or I have any other option. My mail seenulogistics1@gmail.com
Ph 7358699973
I am working in Saudi Arabia. I want to open NRI account online sbi…..
Sir, I am working in Saudi Arabia, Dammam(jubail). I want to open NRI account in india through online.
pls help me.
mail id: harikrishnan174@gmail.com