Eligibility : Resident Individuals including minors.

Limit Up to USD 250,000 per Financial Year (April to March). The remittance facility under LRS is in addition to those already available for private travel, business travel, studies, medical treatment etc.

Permitted Purpose:

• Remittances in respect of permissible current or capital account transactions or a combination of both.
• Acquiring or holding immovable property or shares or debt instruments or any other assets outside India.
• Opening, maintaining and holding foreign currency accounts with banks outside India for carrying out transactions permitted under LRS.
• Remittances towards gift to a person residing outside India.
• Remittances towards donation to a charitable /educational/religious/cultural organization outside India.
• Giving rupee gift to NRI/PIO close relatives* by way of crossed cheque/electronic transfer to the credit of beneficiary’s NRO account.
• Lending money by way of crossed cheque/electronic transfer to NRI/PIO close relative* to meet the borrower’s personal or business requirements in India. The loan should be interest free, should have a maturity of minimum one year and cannot be remitted outside India. Loan amount cannot be utilized for prohibited purposes.
• Purchasing objects of art subject to the provisions of other applicable laws like Foreign Trade Policy.
• Acquisition of ESOPs in addition to acquisition of ESOPs linked to ADR/GDR.
• Investment in units of Mutual Funds, Venture Funds, unrated debt securities, promissory notes etc. abroad.
• Repayment of a loan availed abroad by an individual while as a non – resident, on return to India as a resident.

Prohibited Purposes :
Outward remittance facility under LRS is not available for the following:

• Remittances for any purpose specifically prohibited under Schedule I of FEMA, like purchase of lottery tickets, sweep stakes, proscribed magazines etc.
• Remittances for any purpose restricted under Schedule II of FEMA.
• Remittances for margin or margin calls to overseas exchanges /overseas counter party.
• Remittances for purchase of FCCBs issued by Indian Companies in the overseas secondary market.
• Remittances for trading in foreign exchange abroad.
• Remittances for setting up a company abroad.
• Remittances directly or indirectly to Bhutan, Nepal, Mauritius and Pakistan.
• Remittances directly or indirectly to countries identified as “non-co-operative countries ”by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) from time to time.
• Remittances directly or indirectly to those individuals and entities identified as posing significant risk of committing acts of terrorism as advised separately by Reserve Bank of India.

General Provisions:

• Resident individual investor is permitted to retain and reinvest the income earned on investments made under the scheme i.e. the funds or income generated out of investments made under the scheme need not be repatriated to India.
• Remittances under the scheme can be consolidated in respect of family members subject to the individual family members complying with the terms and conditions of the scheme.
• It is mandatory to have PAN number to make remittances under the scheme.
• Once a remittance is made for an amount up to USD 250,000 during the financial year, the resident individual will not be eligible to make any further remittances under the scheme, even if the proceeds of the investments have been brought back in India.
• Banks are not permitted to extend any kind of credit facilities to resident individuals for facilitating outward remittances under the scheme.
• Resident individual is not permitted to open foreign currency account in India under the scheme. Offshore Banking Unit in India is not treated as an overseas branch of a bank in India for the purpose of the scheme.

Documents required:

• Request letter
• Form A2
• Invoice copy / Agreement copy
• FEMA declaration
• 15 CA and CB