Owning a home in Gurgaon, from anywhere in the world.

Under FEMA, what matters is where you live — not which passport you carry.

The Foreign Exchange Management Act treats you as a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) if you're an Indian citizen living abroad for work, business or an open-ended stay. Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) — and Persons of Indian Origin, now folded into the OCI category — enjoy substantially the same property rights.

Property acquisition by non-residents is governed by the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) Rules, 2019. The reassuring part: for ordinary homes and commercial spaces, the rules grant you general permission. There's no separate RBI application to file before you buy, and no limit on the number of properties you can hold.

The restricted categories can still come to you through inheritance or as a gift from a resident relative — you simply can't acquire them by buying. For the luxury residences and commercial assets along Gurgaon's prime corridors, you're firmly in permitted territory.

Get the payment route right and most FEMA worries disappear.

All payments must be made in Indian Rupees through proper banking channels. In practice that means one of your non-resident accounts, or money wired in from abroad. Cash, travellers' cheques and foreign currency notes are not acceptable for a property purchase.

Keep every remittance advice and bank statement. They're the evidence that funds came through legitimate channels — and they matter a great deal on the day you want to send money home.

Indian banks and housing finance companies offer home loans built specifically for non-residents, typically funding up to around 80% of the property value. The loan can fund a ready home, an under-construction unit or a plot — but never agricultural land or a farmhouse.

• Eligibility generally rests on age (commonly 21 to 60–70 at loan maturity), a year or more of stable overseas employment or business, and your income relative to the EMI.
• Repayment is in rupees, via your NRE, NRO or FCNR account, or by remitting from abroad — usually as an auto-debited EMI. Rental income from the property can also service the loan.
• Documents typically include passport and visa, OCI/PIO card where relevant, PAN, overseas address proof, salary slips and bank statements. Applicants from several countries (the US, UK, UAE, Canada, Singapore and others) are usually asked for an overseas credit report.
• Tax benefit — deductions on home-loan interest and principal are available to you much as they are to resident borrowers, provided you file an Indian return.

A resident family member can often come on as co-applicant, which can both ease eligibility and make EMIs simpler to manage from India. Our advisors coordinate loan assistance as part of the buying journey.

Distance makes verification harder — which is exactly why it matters more.

In Haryana, every qualifying project must be registered with HARERA (the Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority). That registration number is your first checkpoint; it ties the developer to delivery timelines and to the layout and approvals they've declared. Before any money changes hands, confirm:

• HARERA registration for the project, and that the unit you're buying falls within the registered phase.
• Clear, marketable title with no litigation, mortgage or other encumbrance on the property.
• Sanctioned building plan, and an occupation certificate for a ready home.
• A No Objection Certificate from the society or relevant authority where applicable.

Buying from a developer, the paper trail runs allotment letter, then a Builder–Buyer Agreement with payment tied to construction stages, through to possession and registration. On a resale, you move from an Agreement to Sell into the final Sale Deed registered at the Sub-Registrar's office. A local advocate reviewing the title is money well spent — particularly when you're approving it from another time zone.

You can complete a purchase end-to-end without being in India by appointing a Power of Attorney (PoA). Use a Special PoA — drafted narrowly for this specific property and these specific tasks — rather than a sweeping general one. The execution sequence matters:

Choose this person with real care and keep the powers tightly defined. A PoA is a powerful instrument — its strength is precisely why it should be limited to the job at hand.

Two moments deserve foresight: the day you buy, and the day you sell.

When you buy. If you're purchasing from a resident developer or seller and the price is ₹50 lakh or more, you (the buyer) deduct 1% TDS under Section 194-IA, deposit it, and issue the seller a TDS certificate — straightforward, and no TAN required. The picture changes only on a resale where your seller is also an NRI: there, much higher TDS applies under Section 195, and you'd need a TAN. Worth knowing before you fall for a resale unit. Rates and thresholds can change, so consult your tax advisor for your transaction-specific obligations.

When you eventually sell. Property held for more than 24 months produces a long-term capital gain. For transfers on or after 23 July 2024, and as per the tax provisions applicable at the time of writing, LTCG is taxed at a flat 12.5% (without indexation), plus surcharge and cess. Note that the "20% with indexation" alternative available to resident sellers for older holdings does not extend to NRIs. Sell within 24 months and the gain is short-term, taxed at your applicable slab rate.

• TDS on your exit can feel heavy — it's withheld on the whole sale value, not just your profit. A Lower / Nil Deduction Certificate (Form 13, Section 197) brings the withholding down to your real liability and protects your cash flow.
• Exemptions exist — reinvesting in a residential property in India (Sections 54 / 54F) or in specified bonds (Section 54EC) can shelter the gain, subject to conditions.
• Double taxation is avoidable — the relevant DTAA between India and your country of residence lets you offset tax so the same gain isn't taxed twice.

This is the part of the journey where an hour with a qualified chartered accountant pays for itself many times over.

Repatriation — moving sale proceeds back abroad — is allowed under FEMA, and how smoothly it goes depends on how you funded the purchase in the first place.

The mechanics involve a chartered accountant certifying that taxes are paid via Forms 15CA and 15CB before the bank releases the remittance. This is the single best reason to keep your remittance receipts and tax records tidy from day one — clean paperwork at purchase is what makes the exit effortless.