What NRIs can — and can't — buy under FEMA

Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), NRIs and OCIs can buy residential or commercial property in India without needing separate RBI permission for the purchase itself. What you generally cannot buy is agricultural land, plantation property, or a farmhouse — those can only be acquired by inheritance or gift, not direct purchase. If a farmland or farmhouse listing looks appealing, confirm this restriction with a lawyer before going further; it's a common point of confusion.

Documents to have ready before you apply

  • Valid passport with visa, or OCI/PIO card

  • PAN card — mandatory for any Indian property transaction

  • NRE, NRO, or FCNR bank account statements (this is the channel your repayments and, later, sale proceeds will move through)

  • Proof of overseas income — salary slips, employment contract, or tax filings from your country of residence

  • A registered Power of Attorney (POA) if you won't be physically present for registration or loan formalities — typically executed and attested at the Indian consulate in your country of residence

How the loan itself typically works

Most major Indian banks and housing finance companies have dedicated NRI home loan products, generally offering a loan-to-value ratio in a similar range to resident loans — commonly cited around 80–85%, though this varies by lender and changes over time, so confirm the current figure directly with the bank rather than relying on what a past applicant was quoted.

A few things that are specifically different for NRI borrowers:

  • Repayment channel: EMIs must be paid through your NRE, NRO, or FCNR account — not cash, and not routed through a third party's resident account.

  • Tenure: loan tenure is usually structured to end before a fixed borrower age cap (commonly cited in the 60–70 range depending on the lender), which can mean a shorter effective tenure than a resident applicant of the same age would get.

  • Co-applicant: some lenders require a resident Indian co-applicant, often an immediate relative — not universal, but common enough to ask about upfront.

If you plan to sell later: repatriation basics

Sale proceeds can generally be repatriated abroad, but how much and how easily depends on how the property was originally funded — loan, NRE remittance, or local NRO funds — and on RBI repatriation limits current at the time of sale. These rules and limits do change, so this is worth confirming with your bank when you actually sell, not based on what applied when you bought.

One practical tip

Since you may not be able to attend every step in person, working through a Power of Attorney and choosing a lender with an established NRI desk (most major banks have one) meaningfully cuts down the number of trips the process otherwise requires.

None of this is a substitute for advice from your bank's NRI desk or a chartered accountant familiar with your specific tax residency situation — treat this as the questions to walk in with, not the final word on rates, tenure, or repatriation limits at the time you actually apply.