Q675. Transfer money in Indian Bank to Bank Abroad - Legal Process to Transfer money from India

Question: I read your article on repatriation of funds from selling of property in India to abroad. Thank you it was very valuable to go through the step by step process. My question is - if an NRI wanted to repatriate funds that have been sitting in Indian banks from the time that the person used to live there, is there a legal process to do that? If yes, what is that process. Also, is an NRO account important for repatriation of funds? Do you have recommendations on trusted and well versed charted accountant? Thank you Neha Shah

Answer: Yes! NRO bank account is important if NRIs wish to be able to remit Rupee funds abroad. For instance funds from the sale of property in India by a NRI must first be credited to the sellers NRO account before banks can remit the funds abroad if requested by the account holder. Transfer of money received from property sale can be deposited in NRO account and then after submission of required documents to the bank, transfered abroad. Or Funds from an NRO account can be transfered to NRE accounts and then freely moved abroad without any problems or further paper work. If a person who has money in Indian bank accounts wishes to repatriate funds. They must first transfer the funds from their NRO account to NRE account. Suggest you read an article I have on this website titled: ‘Procedure to transfer money to Non Residents - Send money abroad’ This article describes a step by step procedure and shows samples of forms to be filled along with information on how to transfer funds from NRO account to NRE bank account. There is also a list on this page showing for what purposes money can be sent abroad by Indian residents. Regards to your question of my recommendation of a trusted chartered accountant, I don’t like to recommend anyone unless I had personally dealt with the person. Hopefully some of our readers who have dealt with such professionals can share their experience and help others find trusted professionals.