NRI Deep Dive

NRI (Non-Resident Indian) onboarding is a fundamentally different workflow from resident Indian onboarding. The customer lives abroad, may not have an active Aadhaar, needs a PIS (Portfolio Investment Scheme) permission letter from an AD (Authorized Dealer) bank, and must use NRE (Non-Resident External) or NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) bank accounts for settlement. This page consolidates every NRI-specific requirement identified across the vendor integration specifications, so you have a single place to understand what changes when the customer’s residential status (field A22) is set to NRI, FN (Foreign National), or PIO (Person of Indian Origin).

Note

NRI onboarding is planned for a future phase after the individual resident KYC system is stable. This page consolidates NRI-specific requirements identified across vendor specs.

NRI-Specific Fields (Section V — 22 Fields)

These are the additional fields captured only for NRI customers. They are documented in full in the Master Dataset, Section V.

Field	Description	Source
Passport Number	Mandatory for NRI	User input
Passport Expiry	Must be valid	User input
Visa Type/Number	Employment/Business/Student	User input
Country of Residence	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2	User input
PIS Permission	Portfolio Investment Scheme from AD bank	Bank letter
NRE/NRO Account	Bank account for settlement	Penny Drop verify
Tax Residency Certificate	If claiming DTAA (Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement) benefit	User upload
Overseas Address	Full address in country of residence	User input

Vendor-Specific NRI Requirements

Each external system handles NRI customers differently. The sections below highlight what changes in each integration.

KRA

• NRI client category in KRA (KYC Registration Agency) upload
• CP (Custodial Participant) code — removed since Jul 2025
• FATCA/CRS (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act / Common Reporting Standard) declaration mandatory (non-India tax resident)
• Full spec: KRA Integration Section 7

Exchanges

• NSE: NRI client type in UCC (Unique Client Code) registration
• BSE: Same 3-param PAN (Permanent Account Number) verification applies
• MCX: NRI commodity trading has additional restrictions
• Full specs: NSE, BSE

Depositories

• NRE/NRO linked BO (Beneficiary Owner) account
• Different settlement bank requirements
• PIS permission verification before activation

Bank Verification

• Penny Drop to NRE/NRO account (same flow as resident)
• Additional name matching for overseas spelling variations

eSign

• Aadhaar eSign may not be available (if Aadhaar deactivated)
• DSC (Digital Signature Certificate) as alternative
• Physical signature with wet signature attestation as fallback

Caution

Many NRIs do not have an active Aadhaar number, which means the DigiLocker and Aadhaar OTP e-Sign paths are unavailable. The system must support DSC-based signing and manual document upload as fallback paths for NRI onboarding.

Key Regulatory Differences

This table summarizes the key differences between resident and NRI onboarding. It is a useful quick-reference when scoping the NRI feature or explaining to stakeholders why NRI onboarding takes longer.

Aspect	Resident	NRI
PAN	Mandatory	Mandatory (4th char = P for individual)
Aadhaar	Mandatory for eKYC	Optional (may not have active Aadhaar)
Bank Account	Savings/Current	NRE/NRO only
PIS Permission	Not applicable	Mandatory for equity trading
FATCA	India-only declaration	Full FATCA/CRS (country of residence)
eSign	Aadhaar OTP	DSC / Physical / Aadhaar (if active)
KRA	Standard flow	NRI category + CP code (removed Jul 2025)

The PIS constraint that catches people off guard

Under the PIS route, NRIs cannot do intraday trading — they are restricted to delivery-based trades only, and they cannot access F&O (Futures and Options), currency, or commodity segments. The Non-PIS route allows intraday and F&O but still blocks currency and commodity. Make sure the onboarding UI clearly communicates these restrictions before the customer selects their trading route.