NRI bank account

Dear Experts,

Could you pls guide to clear a confusion with regards to NRI bank account ; considering my current status of living in abroad..

1. I was sent abroad by my employers since 2008 for a training project; while my Indian employment stuatus is still running in India; meaning I regularly get my monthly salary in India. ( and a stipend abroad)

2. Out of my income in India ; I am still filing for IT returns regularly.

3. My current assignment would run till 2013; upon which I might return back to India to continue my original assignement in India.

4.Under my current circumstances as explained above there's "No indication of an intention for an uncertain duration of stay abroad"---which is an essential element to qualify as an NRI.

Considering the above facts; could some body guide

a) If I could still open an NRE account to channelise my earning from abroad to some investment in India? if yes; then which is more suitable for me : NRE or NRO ; considering the fact that I might return back to India after 2012.

b) If not through NRE/NRO account ; which are the other channel through which I can remitt money regularly and continue investing in India through my domestic bank online account?

c) From a regulation stand point; is it allowed for an NRI to keep any domestic bank account running in India?

Appreciate any of the experts available in this forum could guide me.

Many thanks.

Bharadwaj

Hi

yes, you can open NRI/NRO A/C
If you are in USA, check SBI global website.
It can be opened with HDFC,ICICI,SBI and other leading banks.
NRI is maintained in INR and tax free But interest rate varies normally 4-4.8 %
This money can be bringed back in USA/UK/Anycountry whenever you want.
Remit charges will apply

NRO as far as remember store money in USD so its your choice..
currency conversion rate effect this a/c
Also you can open NRE FD.. i think they can NFO something..

Its perfectly legal to have NRE a/c(No indian tax) as well as other A/c's,
Also you can give autonomy to someone in your house to sign the cheque, I did the same.

Thanks
Kaps

Dear kaps,

many thanks for your reply.

I am currently in Hongkong; wherein opening a NRI account seems to be little inconvenient unlike in USA I guess. Not many options..Checked with SBI; they just said i need to send all the documents to a SBI branch in India..

Anyways; one more question came into my my mind.. as i understand source of the money for NRE account should be in foreign currency; in that case how about any income generated by that money in India..Can that money be credited back to NRE account?? For an exp : If i invest in a Mutual fund through NRE account; can the income generated by mutual fund go back to NRE account? or I need to have a NRO account for this income generation?

Kindly advise.

rgds/BB

Indian earned money(INR) can't go to NRE/NRO A/c it can be in Foreign currency.
Mutual fund money you can transfer back to NRE A/c But in that case you need to open NRE demat A/C with ICICI, HDFC leading brokers and charges differ for NRE demat A/C.

I would suggest to invest money using your mother/Father demat A/c and make profit then you can remoit back to Hongkong if required.
Currency conversion will only apply

Thanks
Kaps

Dear kaps,

Thanks for the good suggestion. Just to make sure I get it correctly.... I will regularly transfer money from my NRE account to another domestic Indian resident account ( Say of my father/Mother) and use that resident account to invest in Mutual funds & shares etc...Am i correct?

Btw....Does one need demat account even for investing into Mutual fund; no right? I guess you meant for investing into shares only...

For NRIs wanting to invest in Mutual funds is always a difficult situation considering all paper work formalities which he needs to coordinate with MF office in India. Your option sounds good as through Internet; I can transfer funds from NRE into this resident account and start investing..However I am wondering if there's any regulatory hurdles to operate like this?

In case I am wrong in understanding the whole thing; pls correct me..I am new to this area; so some of my questions may sound like very basic..kindly excuse me and guide.

Thanks again!

Rgds/BB