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Month: February 2017

Best Investment Tips to Choose Bank for NRIs in India

Best Investment Tips to Choose Bank for NRIs in India

The rules and regulations of various investment plans in India are revised time to time. NRIs (None- Resident of India) stay cut off from India for the long duration. Meanwhile, finance sector continues to revamp. Failed and unprofitable policies are shredded. New investment policies are introduced to breathe fresh life in to it.

But many NRIs overseas remain blind-folded to such changes. And they continue to invest money as per old books whenever they fly down to India. India diaspora in foreign must bear in mind the frequent revamping procedure of policies and their execution. It’s the first as well as extremely vital viable tip for investment in India.

Let’s move on to find answers of the following investment-centric questions that often hit off the mind of NRI investors.

Tips for NRIs to invest in India:

  1. Should NRIs focus on interest rate?

India is a heaven when it comes to investment. Can you guess how much interest do the American banks provide on deposits? It’s around 1 % only.  And if compare to SBI in India, this rate lies in between 4% and 5% on saving account deposit. Moreover, this interest rate spikes if the investor chooses fixed deposit plan.

However, higher interest boosts the possibility to choose the giver bank. But they can’t underestimate the overall services and facilities.

It’s noteworthy that India has many public and private banks. And each bank has a right to fix the interest rate on saving bank deposits according to their desire after October 25, 2011. But the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has executed two rules. According to it:

  • All banks must unanimously offer the same interest rate if the depositor’s amount caps under INR 1 lakh.
  • If the deposited amount exceeds INR 1 lakh, the bank can choose variable interest rate on saving bank account. But that interest rate in its different branches must be identical.
  1. Should customer support be a concern?

Will you ever want to deposit in the bank that promises to pay higher interest rate? Of course, it can’t be neglected but you can’t ignore customer service as well.

Just think of the bank that assures more than 8 % interest on recurring deposit (RD) for one year. The bank customer support hid that mid-year liquefying would provide half of the interest offered. And when you asked for liquidity, the customer care executives did not satisfy your queries.

Therefore, it is one of the best investment tips for NRI in India to look into the customer support facility intensely. He must check if the bank provides customer support overseas where he lives and also, in India. Such attention would cut off prospective losses that may occur due to ignorance.

  1. Should the bank have branch overseas?

Would you ever like to invest in Swiss bank although you live in India? For sure, it’s like fool’s paradise if you take such decision. The depositor must check if the bank offers facilities to NRIs in India as well as abroad, where he lives. Thereby, you can easily check the upgraded bank offers and services through accessible customer support.

  1. Should free gifts matter when they choose bank?

However, almost all Indian banks offer same interest rate to NRIs. So, they introduce various lucrative schemes like tax reduction, special discounts on online shopping, free gifts and credit cards etc.. These schemes tend to attract them but the depositor must bear in mind the overall facilities. Gifts and offers are momentary. The scheme remains valid but only for specific duration. Therefore, be attentive while choosing your bank.

  1. Does the bank provide deposit insurance?

Every account in India is insured through deposit insurance that promises stability. But all banks don’t protect NRI’s account. So, browse all these details also.  

What is H1B Visa? What Restrictions Are Announced by Trump?

What is H1B Visa? What Restrictions Are Announced by Trump?

With the change in American ruling, new visa rules have been tabled by the current president Donald Trump. According to it,

  • The employers in America have to provide more than double the minimum wages of the H1B visa holders.
  • The country will issue this visa to the company that assures delivering minimum wages worth $130,000.
  • The American company set up in the foreign country, if sells its products in the US will have to pay 35% or more tax.

All these announcements are made to give a push to the regime ‘American first’. But these statements have created mayhem in the country. Around 85,000 NRIs are going to be affected there. Also, nearly 20,000 or 21,000 Indian students who are attaining higher education there are likely to face off adversities there.

These new policies when implemented would cause all hell broke loose. Now, all eyes are set on the newly elected legislative assembly that may show green signal to this bill. It is buzzing that Silicon Valley will surely undergo severe blow after its implementation.

However, it’s too early to think over its aftermaths. The bill is only tabled that includes visa programs like H1B, L-1, E-2 and B1.

Now, let walk through A-Z about H1B visa.

What is H1B visa?

H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that enables Indians to work in the US. Generally, the American employers extensively use it to outsource dirt cheap manpower from India. The native companies predominantly issue it to hire the highly qualified & skilled professionals, like engineers, doctors, scientists and IT geeks. It is initially issued for 3 months which can be extended for more 3 months later. Meanwhile, the emigrants can go the extra mile and get green card following certain mandatory terms and conditions.

To halt this practice and encouraging employment opportunities for the US natives, newly elected President Donald Trump has taken this step.

What are the basic requirements for H1B visa?

  • Professional degree(s), like engineering
  • 4 years bachelor degree in the US or equivalent degree
  • Decent work experience
  • Early birds win priority since only 65,000 H1B visa applications are entertained during a fiscal year, i.e. 1st October to 30th
  • The application must be submitted prior to the beginning of the fiscal month, i.e. 1st
  • CENOMAR can be sought by the sponsoring H1B visa employer.

Steps to apply for H1B visa: Getting this visa is no big deal provided that all guidelines and conditions are followed carefully. To let it occur seamlessly, the applicant must do his/her homework. How? Let’s check below:

  1. Find the sponsor company (since there are many big ones, like Wipro, Infosys etc. )
  2. Thoroughly research if the sponsor company has:
  • LCA approval
  • What its denial rate
  • When does it provide green card?
  • Does it pay for insurance?
  • Will it support when the applicant is on bench?
  • Which kinds of jobs does it offer?
  1. The applicant must be ready with the following documents:
  • Experience letter from the current/previous employer
  • Copies of degrees and professional certificates
  • Request for transcript if the applicant has degree from American University
  1. Ring in its customer support for negotiating salary.
  2. Email or courier the copies of aforementioned documents to the sponsored company
  3. Follow up employer (or sponsoring company) since he may require CENOMAR for proving the employee is single or any other specific document.
  4. The sponsor company will file petitions to the USCIS for delivering visa on April 1.
  5. Passport

Afterwards, the applicant can get all the attestation work done through the sponsoring company. Alternatively, the attestation of certificates can also be outsourced through some authentic outsourcers.

Do Emigrants Need PAN Card for Paying Tax in India?

Do Emigrants Need PAN Card for Paying Tax in India?

Do you think PAN (Permanent Account Number) is the only access card to income tax payment system? However, it is but not the only access ticket to the tax payment gateway.

The Indian diaspora abroad has anywhere in the memory that permanent account number is mandatory. Although it is significant but is not mandatory to have PAN card to pay tax for NRIs.

Despite shifting living place to abroad, many emigrants are still connected to their roots. They frequently aboard the flight to India, however, the reasons can be multiple. One of the prominent causes of their visit is income from India.

NRIs must remind that the money received from the sources from India is slated as taxable. It includes:

  • Rental income from the property in India
  • Income by selling inherited property in India
  • Income received through securities & stock exchange
  • Income through mutual fund investment

How much useful is the PAN card to NRIs?

No doubt, this card makes the tax payment procedure a piece of pie. Perhaps, this is the prime reason of the widespread rumour that this card is mandatory to clear tax and claim return. Taking its advantage, some outsourcers have begun digging cash out of NRIs, PIOs and OCIs’ accounts.

This card enables the NRI bearer to:

  • Online transactions
  • Deposit cash
  • Transfer funds
  • Claim for tax return
  • Authenticating identity for exchanging junk-currency till 30th June 2017

How one can get this card?

Applying for this card in-person is a lengthy process that requires many fold authentications. This is why outsourcers cash in as their service charge. But there are some reliable and trustworthy outsourcers like S2NRI, who can fill the Form 49A on the behalf of applicant.

Documents to be enclosed with the PAN card application:

  • Form 49A
  • Scanned image of recent coloured photograph
  • Birth proofs or birth certificate
  • Non-Availability of Birth Certificate (NABC), if the birth certificate is absent.
  • Address proof
  • Designation & code of concerned assessing officer of I-T Department

What if the applicant has no address proof?

In such case, the applicant can submit any of these documents:

  • Telephone bill
  • Electricity bill
  • Credit card
  • Bank account statement
  • Passport
  • Voter ID
  • Driving licence

Is there any alternative to this card?

This card is a 10-digit unique alphanumeric number that Income Tax department allots. The government of India has introduced Form 60 as an alternate to this card. It simplifies the complications to file for income tax returns or other banking transactions to the NRIs.

Form 60 is a self-declaration form that is available at the associated bank and post office in India. Even, the applicant can download it from the bank’s website. It states that the applicant does not possess PAN card rather he/she is providing his/her all authentic details in the form.

The applicant must provide:

  • Address details
  • Status of Income tax assessment
  • Reason of not having PAN card

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