What Are The Steps To Open An NRI Bank Account?

Life could take you anywhere. Today, you might be living in India and the next minute; your job could take you overseas. But an opportunity like this does not mean you need to uproot your life altogether. If you have a family in India, you may want to return, sooner or later. To the very least, the financial management bit gets taken care of by the Indian banks, thanks to the NRI account offered to them.

Owing to this, NRIs can live in any part of the world and continue to maintain their finances in India and fulfil their financial obligations towards the family, by merely doing NRI account opening.

Steps for opening the account

NRI account is opened with three simple steps. However, you should do thorough research and decide the account type which suits your requirements. Following are the steps for opening one –

Visit the bank or open online

You need to select the bank in which you can open the NRI bank account. Once you have finalised, you can either visit the branch or open them online. The latter has made it possible to open account sitting overseas too. However, for that, you need to approach the domestic bank in India through e-mail. You need to provide your contact information to your Indian bank. The bank official gets in touch with and helps with account opening.

Choose the account type

Discuss your requirements with the bank official and determine the NRI bank account type, which works best for you. You need to select from three types of NRI savings account – NRE, NRO, and FCNR. Each of them has unique features. For example, you can safely park the earnings in foreign currencies converted to INR in the NRE account. Meanwhile, you can save your Indian earning such as rent, FDs, etc. in the NRO account.

FCNR accounts get opened depending on the fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. You should understand the tax charges and benefits of all three accounts and based on your needs, select one or more accounts.

Document submission

Submit the mentioned documents along with the account opening form to avail of the NRI account services. The papers include:

• Copy of your valid passport, including the first and last page where your details are included.
• Documents which confirm your Indian and overseas addresses. The address on the proof should match the one mentioned in the application form.
• NRI status proof like resident or employment visa copy, work or resident permit.
• Copy of Indian PAN card or Form 60.
• Recent passport-sized photographs.
• Initial payment cheques or demand draft for opening the account and maintaining a minimum balance.