Here’s a checklist for individuals moving overseas

livemint.com:

Are you planning to move overseas soon? If so, you should complete certain financial tasks before you become a non-resident Indian (NRI). First, let’s understand the difference between a resident individual and NRI. An individual is deemed to be a resident if (a) the person has resided in India in that financial year for 182 days or more; or (b) has been in India within the four years preceding that year for 365 days or more and been in India for 60 days or more in that year.

Exceptions to residential status are: (1) an individual who is a citizen of India and who leaves India in any financial year for employment outside India; (2) an individual who is a citizen of India or a person of Indian origin (PIO) and who is outside India comes on a visit to India in any financial year. The second condition stated above shall not be applicable and individual status will be determined only by the first condition in both cases above.

Following are some of the considerations an individual must look into before leaving the country to settle for an extended period of time:

Online banking: Before migrating, it is better to update your bank accounts to internet banking, increase your bank mandate limits and ensure that your Indian phone is still active so as not to miss any OTPs, or one-time passwords, etc. NRIs are exempted from linking their PAN and Aadhaar with their bank accounts but the same needs to be updated in the income tax portal. This is important to ensure investments can be liquid for purchase or sale at any time.

After completing 182 days of stay overseas, individuals need to update their status to NRI. Do note that rules of Fema (Foreign Exchange Management Act) will apply till such time the status is updated.

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