Investing in India from abroad

What you'll need

• An NRE or NRO account. NRE for funds you may want to repatriate freely; NRO for income earned in India, with repatriation limits and different tax treatment.
• KYC as an NRI. Passport, overseas address proof, PAN and a recent photograph. Documents usually need attestation — by the Indian embassy, a notary, or an authorised bank official, depending on the KRA.
• FATCA/CRS declaration. Mandatory, and it's where jurisdiction restrictions surface.

If you're in the USA or Canada

This catches people out, so it's worth stating early: many Indian AMCs do not accept investments from NRIs resident in the USA or Canada, because of the compliance burden FATCA places on them. Some accept them only with additional paperwork, or only for offline transactions.

It isn't a blanket ban — a subset of fund houses do accept US and Canada-based NRIs. But your scheme choice is genuinely narrower, and it's better to know that before building a plan around a fund you can't actually buy.

Taxation, briefly

NRI mutual fund investments are subject to TDS at source on redemption, unlike resident investors who pay at filing. Rates differ by fund type and holding period. India also has Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) with many countries, which may let you offset tax paid here against your liability at home.

Tax treatment depends on both Indian rules and your country of residence, and it changes. Please take advice from a qualified tax professional in both jurisdictions — that's outside what a mutual fund distributor can properly advise on.

Repatriation

Investments made through an NRE account, along with gains, are generally fully repatriable. NRO-based investments face annual limits and additional documentation. Deciding which account to invest from is worth thinking about upfront, because it's hard to unwind later.

Where we can help

Working out which schemes accept investors in your jurisdiction, getting NRI KYC completed correctly the first time, structuring investments across NRE and NRO sensibly, and handling the ongoing paperwork from a distance.