If you are an NRI living in the USA, you can immensely benefit from opening a Non-Resident External (NRE) account. Read this post to know how to open an NRE account while living in the USA.
Whether to seek employment or to enrol for courses in prestigious universities like MIT, Yell or Harvard, the USA remains the most favoured destination among Indians for various reasons. Therefore, it is natural for NRIs to look for a convenient way to manage their financial transactions between the USA and India.
Look no further than opening an NRI account and manage your finances and remittance transactions in a hassle-free way. Let’s read further to have an idea of NRE accounts and how to have one.
NRE Account
As per the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), an NRI is prohibited from having regular savings account in India. However, an NRI can easily open an NRI account. The NRE account is one of the most popular types of NRI accounts.
An NRE account can be in the form of savings, current, fixed, or recurring accounts. NRIs can use an NRE account to hold an individual’s earnings outside India. If you live in the USA, you can deposit the amount in USD in an NRI account. The amount will be deposited in your account after being converted into INR.
Advantage of NRE Account
Following are the advantages of having an NRE account
- It is ideal for sending money to India from abroad.
- It can be held jointly with another NRI.
- Liquidity can be easily maintained in an NRE account.
- Since the NRE account can hold money earned outside India, the interest earned is completely tax-free.
- Students can also open NRE accounts.
How to Open an NRE Account in the USA
Some reputed banks provide the facility to open NRE account online with the following easy steps.
- Fill the application form online.
- Select “United States” as the “country of residence”.
- Read the terms and conditions carefully before accepting.
- Courier all the copies of the relevant documents to the designated address.
- However, US residents can also enjoy the convenience of paperless account opening with some banks such as ICICI NRI account, where they can directly upload the scanned images of all documents.
- The account can be opened within two working days from the time of online form submission.
- After opening, the account will be active for transactions on receiving the funds.
Documents Required
Generally, all reputed banks require photocopies or scanned images of the following documents for opening an NRE account.
- The first and the last four pages of the passport
- Valid work permit or visa as applicable
- PAN card
- Form 60 if not applied for PAN card
- CKYC
- FATCA/CRS Declaration
- Address proofs (Visit the bank website to view the complete list of valid address proofs)
In addition to the above common documents, a customer may require to furnish additional documents as per the bank policies.
NRE accounts can prove to be a boon for NRIs for their ease of operation, safety, and convenience. Once your NRE account is ready for operation, you are ready to enjoy your stay in the USA without compromising your responsibilities back home in India.