# NRI India Trip Checklist 2026: 10 Mistakes to Fix Ten things NRIs should fix on an India visit: PAN status, NRO conversion, demat, nominations, Aadhaar, will, property, joint accounts and your SIM. By Nikhil Varghese, CA · 10 April 2026 · https://finniki.com/blog/nri-india-trip-mistakes **Quick answer:** Use your next India trip to fix the ten things NRIs most often leave undone: update your **PAN** to non-resident status, convert your old **savings account to NRO** (and open an NRE account), move your **demat and mutual funds** to NRI status, update **nominations**, refresh your **Aadhaar** mobile number, get a **health check-up**, sit with a **CA and a lawyer** to sort tax and your **will**, tidy up your **property**, consider a **joint account** with your parents, and put your **Indian mobile number** on postpaid. Each fix takes an hour or two in person. Left alone, they become tax notices, frozen accounts, failed property sales and FEMA penalties of up to **three times the amount involved**. *Updated October 2026. Form 15CA and 15CB are now Form 145 and Form 146 under the Income-tax Rules 2026, the higher TDS for an inoperative PAN now sits in section 397(2) of the Income-tax Act 2025 (formerly section 206AA), and UIDAI's Aadhaar app has allowed mobile-number updates since January 2026 for people who can still receive an OTP on their old number. The joint-account rules in step 9 have been corrected to match the RBI's circular.* [Watch the episode: 10 NRI mistakes in India that can cost you lakhs](https://youtu.be/jmeRygLu8v4) ## Why should NRIs fix paperwork on an India trip? Because the system keeps running as if you never left, and most of the fixes need you in person. Most NRIs land, spend the trip with family and fly back thinking all is well. Months or years later a notice arrives, a bank account is frozen, a property sale falls through, or a penalty has been quietly building. Almost every one of those problems had a short fix while you were in India. Step 7 is the one that protects everything else, and it is the one most NRIs leave for next time. ## Step 1: Why should an NRI update their PAN? Because the Income Tax Department still treats you as a resident until you tell it otherwise. Your residential status probably still says resident, your address is wherever you lived before you moved, notices go to that old address, and TDS on your bank interest may be deducted at the wrong rate. You can fix this from anywhere, in India or abroad. Log in to the income-tax portal, check your PAN details (name, date of birth, address), change the address to your overseas one and **update your residential status to non-resident**. That changes how TDS is worked out on your Indian income. If your PAN shows as **inoperative**, often because the system treated an NRI as a resident who had not linked Aadhaar, you have two routes: raise a grievance with your passport, visa and overseas address proof so your non-resident status is recorded, or link your Aadhaar if you hold one. Until it is fixed, TDS is deducted at the **higher of the applicable rate or 20%**, and refunds are held back. Our guide to [PAN for NRIs](https://finniki.com/blog/pan-card-for-nri) walks through the fix step by step. ## Step 2: Can an NRI keep a resident savings account in India? No. Under **FEMA** (the Foreign Exchange Management Act), once you become an NRI your resident savings account must be **converted to an NRO account** or closed. Keeping it running is a contravention. FEMA penalties go up to **three times the sum involved** where it can be worked out, or up to **₹2 lakh** where it cannot, plus up to **₹5,000 for every day** the contravention continues. ![Old resident savings account as an NRI: a FEMA penalty of up to three times the sum involved, plus up to ₹5,000 a day.](https://finniki.com/blog/media/ff60b557b7971c29d5e0237e.jpg) Most NRIs keep the old account because it is convenient: auto-debits are running and family can dip into it. Convenience is not legality. Take your passport, visa copy, OCI card if you have one and overseas address proof to the branch, tell them you are an NRI, and most branches will convert it to NRO quickly. While you are there: - **Open an NRE account** if you do not have one. Foreign income belongs here: interest is **tax-free in India** and the money is fully repatriable. - **Keep Indian income in NRO.** NRO interest is taxable, with TDS of **30%** plus surcharge and cess, so parking foreign money in NRO costs you. - **Check every auto-debit**: EMIs, insurance premiums and SIPs linked to the old account will bounce once it is converted or closed, and reconnecting them takes longer than you expect. ![Interest on an NRE account is tax-free in India; on an NRO account, TDS is 30% plus surcharge and cess.](https://finniki.com/blog/media/55934984c346dc2ef3914429.jpg) The costliest FEMA mistakes, with real examples, are in [NRI FEMA penalties](https://finniki.com/blog/nri-fema-penalties). ## Step 3: What should NRIs do with a resident demat account and mutual funds? Move them to NRI status. FEMA does not allow an NRI to keep operating a resident demat account. If you have been an NRI for two years and your demat still says "resident", the problem surfaces when your PAN, bank and KYC records are cross-checked, during a KYC update, a change of bank status or a compliance review, and your broker can freeze the account. Either convert the resident demat or close it and **open an NRI demat** linked to your NRE or NRO account, then transfer your holdings. Brokers usually want your passport, visa and NRI bank details, and many need you in person. The full process is in [NRI demat account](https://finniki.com/blog/nri-demat-account). Mutual funds have the same issue. Your **KYC and FATCA declaration** must show NRI status, or SIPs can stop without warning. Update them through a KYC registration agency or the fund's registrar with your overseas address, and link SIP debits to your NRO or NRE account. If you hold large **NRO fixed deposits**, the 30% TDS on interest is a drag every year. NRE deposits are tax-free in India, and growth-oriented mutual funds or ETFs are taxed only when you sell. Decide with a CA, not on the fly. ## Step 4: Why should NRIs update their nominations? Because blank or outdated nominations are how money ends up unclaimed. In October 2025 the government put unclaimed financial assets at about **₹1.84 lakh crore** across bank deposits, insurance, provident funds and shares, and insurers alone held about **₹21,700 crore** of unclaimed amounts in March 2024. Much of it is unclaimed because a nominee field was left blank, or names someone with an old address and a phone number that no longer works. Your bank accounts, fixed deposits, life insurance policies, mutual fund folios and demat account all have nominee fields. Update each one, especially on **NRE and NRO accounts**, where a nominee or legal heir has to claim the money. And check your life insurance: if you moved abroad with an Indian policy, confirm it is still valid for overseas residents, because some policies restrict cover outside India. ## Step 5: What should NRIs update on their Aadhaar? The **mobile number**, first. Your Aadhaar is probably linked to an Indian number you have not used in years. Inactive prepaid numbers are deactivated and eventually reassigned, so someone else may now receive the OTPs meant for your bank, income-tax login and investments. - **Mobile number:** since January 2026 UIDAI's Aadhaar app lets you change it online if you can still receive an OTP on the old number. If you cannot, visit an Aadhaar Seva Kendra. - **Documents:** UIDAI recommends, without making it mandatory, that you update your identity and address documents every **10 years**. If yours are older, update them to avoid verification failures. - **Address and biometrics:** biometric updates need an in-person visit; do the address at the same time. If you are non-resident for tax and do not hold an Aadhaar, you are exempt from PAN–Aadhaar linking. If you do hold one, keep it current. More in [Aadhaar for NRIs](https://finniki.com/blog/aadhaar-for-nri). ## Step 6: Is it worth getting a health check-up in India? Usually, yes. A specialist consultation in India typically costs **₹500 to ₹2,000**, and an MRI at a private centre about **₹10,000 to ₹25,000**. Abroad, if insurance does not cover it fully, the same appointment or scan can cost several times as much, and in public systems such as the NHS or Canada's a non-emergency specialist can be weeks or months away. Get a full check-up for yourself and your spouse, dental work and an updated prescription. Just as important: sit with your parents' doctors in person, ask questions and understand what is going on. For most NRIs, this visit is the one chance a year to do that. If your parents' health cover feels thin, a **super top-up** policy usually costs less than raising the base cover. And check whether their plan covers them if they travel abroad: most Indian health plans offer little beyond emergency cover overseas. Our [health insurance guide](https://finniki.com/blog/health-insurance-guide-india) explains how much cover is enough. ## Step 7: Why should NRIs meet a CA and a lawyer in India? Because this is the step that protects everything else. If you have property, rent, bank interest, investments, a share in a family business or any Indian income, you need a CA who works with NRIs: someone who knows the tax treaties, **Form 145 and Form 146** (formerly 15CA and 15CB), repatriation rules and non-resident filings. India has Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements with the US, UK, UAE, Canada, Australia and many others. Without someone who understands them you could pay tax twice, or underpay and find out through a notice. Even with no Indian income last year, a review before you fly back is worth it. Then the part most people skip: **if you own assets in India, make an Indian will on this trip.** Without one, your assets pass under succession law, and your family, abroad and grieving, can spend years in legal proceedings to reach what was always meant for them. While you are in India: 1. **Draft or update your Indian will.** 2. **Review your power of attorney**: make sure it is specific, registered and still valid. 3. **Check any property matters** in person. 4. **Create one shared folder** (any secure cloud drive) with your will, POA, property papers, insurance policies and investment details, and share it with one family member you trust. ## Step 8: How should NRIs manage property in India? Check it yourself, with the paperwork. NRIs lose property deals every year not because of the market but because paperwork was not sorted while they were in India. If your only updates come from a broker or builder on WhatsApp, you do not really know what is happening. The document most often missed is the **Occupancy Certificate (OC)**. If your under-construction flat is now "ready", visit it, ask for the OC and check its RERA status. Without a valid OC the property cannot legally be occupied, and selling it later gets complicated. For each property: - **Property tax:** paid, with receipts verified on the municipality portal. - **Electricity, water and maintenance:** settled and in the right name. - **Society records:** updated with your NRI status and current address. - **If rented:** the agreement is registered and rent goes into your **NRO account**. If you plan to sell, gift or manage the property remotely, get a **specific, registered power of attorney** before you leave. An old general POA may work for renting, but it will not do for a sale. ## Step 9: Can an NRI open a joint account with their parents? Yes, but the rules are narrower than most people think. Since 2014 the RBI has allowed a resident to add a **non-resident close relative**, such as a son or daughter, as a joint holder on the resident's savings account, on an **"either or survivor"** basis (banks may also offer "former or survivor"). - **Your parents remain the main holders** and use the account as they always have. - **You may operate it only for them**, for their domestic payments, for example paying a hospital bill on their behalf, and not for your own benefit. - **Your own money cannot be paid in.** The RBI does not allow cheques, remittances or other proceeds belonging to the NRI to be credited to this account, so it is not a channel for sending money home; use your NRE or NRO account for that. - **If you become the survivor**, the account is re-designated as an NRO account; tell the bank. Survivorship gives you access to the account, but it does not decide who inherits the money: that follows your parents' will or succession law, so make sure their will says what they intend. Talk to the bank and a tax adviser before setting it up. ## Step 10: Why should NRIs keep their Indian mobile number active? Because every account above runs on it. Your bank, PAN, Aadhaar, demat, mutual funds and UPI all send OTPs to one Indian number. Under TRAI's rules, a prepaid number with no use for **90 days** can be deactivated (unless it holds a balance of ₹20 or more), and after a further holding period it can be given to a new customer, who then receives your OTPs. Visit your operator on this trip, **switch the number to postpaid**, which stays live as long as the bill is paid, and set up autopay from your NRE or NRO account. Ask whether the SIM needs re-verification while you are there. ![Before you fly back from India: a will and POA signed, nominations updated, and your Indian SIM moved to postpaid.](https://finniki.com/blog/media/ef641c9ed540becd1b05bfa8.jpg) ## FAQs ### Can an NRI keep a resident savings account in India? No. Under FEMA it must be converted to an NRO account or closed once you become an NRI; penalties run up to three times the sum involved, plus up to ₹5,000 a day. ### Is NRE account interest taxable in India? No. Interest on an NRE account is tax-free in India, while NRO interest is taxable with TDS of 30% plus surcharge and cess. ### What happens if an NRI's PAN is inoperative? TDS is deducted at the higher of the applicable rate or 20%, and refunds are held back. Record your non-resident status through a grievance, or link Aadhaar if you hold one. ### Can an NRI hold a resident demat account? No. It must be converted, or closed and replaced with an NRI demat linked to an NRE or NRO account. ### Can an NRI be a joint holder on a parent's bank account? Yes. A resident can add an NRI close relative on an "either or survivor" basis, but the NRI may operate it only for the parent and cannot deposit their own money; on survivorship it becomes an NRO account. ### Does an NRI need an Indian will? If you own assets in India, yes. Without one, your family may face years of succession proceedings to access them. ### How long before an unused Indian prepaid number is deactivated? Under TRAI's rules, after 90 days without use, unless it holds a balance of ₹20 or more. Switching to postpaid avoids the risk. ### What forms are needed to send money abroad from an NRO account? Form 145 and, above ₹5 lakh a year where tax applies, a CA's certificate on Form 146 (formerly 15CA and 15CB). ## Come home without the to-do list India trips are short and precious; every hour chasing a FEMA issue is an hour not spent with the people you came for. [Book a session](https://finniki.com/book) before you fly and we will go through your accounts, tax and property with you, check your status with the [NRI status calculator](https://finniki.com/nri-status), or find more episodes on [FinNiki videos](https://finniki.com/videos).