Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Old Man

I am a british born indian my parents were born in Africa but my grandparents were born in India.

From the info i have recieved from else where I could get a PIO card as my roots are indian and my girlfriend could also get a PIO card if we get married.

Foe now though as long as one of us have a PIO card we can buy.

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi Rula,
Yes it is the agreement of sale that we have registered, we have not done the 183 days, with hindsight we should have done it but never mind. I have heard that you can only get a 6 month visa now but we were issued with a 1 year visa yesterday. Will just have to take consolation that it isn't just us and that we are all in it together so to speak.
Kind regards
Terrysue

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi Terrysue
Welcome. Never mind whether you have had your sale deeds registered, we are in deep ......... and did everything by the book. I don't expect they will have the courtesy of telling us if we do get off the hook, it is just a game of wait and see, and have another drink. Enjoy your Indian home whilst you can, I certainly am.

Regards
Noni :thumbup:

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi Noni,
Thanks for the reply, that is exactly what I intend to do afterall we can still go to Goa in the meantime and enjoy !!!!!!
Will worry when I have to as I can't do anything until they contact me.
Kind regards,

Terrysue

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi Rula,

Just to say we're on the same side here & that the recent emphasis on 'purpose & intention to stay' unfortunately looks set to be the down fall of many FNs (along with the point that Douglas recently revealed about FNs not being eligible for residential status/property ownership in India whilst simultaneously owning property in other countries). What ever way you look at it, it now seems like a Catch 22 for FNs!

Regards
TDK

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi Shilen,

Yes you are eligible for a PIO card as it covers up to four generations back.
You can buy immovable property on a PIO Card but it will have to be in your name until such times as you marry. Your partner can also apply for PIO status once you marry but until then it will have to be registered in the name of the PIO Card holder.
Surely this shouldnt be a problem for your partner unless she doesnt fully trust you with her half of the investment....:ohmy:;):rofl:

Regards,
Remy

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Remy - you know how long the D of E takes. If you divorce Janis (sorry Jan) and marry me, I will be able to keep the apartment. :eek::rofl::sneaky:
You could be my noffi toyboy. :rofl::rofl:

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi Shilen
All I can say to you is that an Indian friend of mine ( PIO ) bought a villa off plan near Colva and he doesn't have PIO card as yet, I don't think that you actually need it to purchase property as you are of Indian origin, whether you would face a problem with your girlfriend being non Indian I cannot comment on. I hesitate to say that you should speak to an advocate as most of them seem to be as confused as the rest of us
Regards
Tony P

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

HMMMM, In about 600 AD King Ethelburga passed a law making it legal for any man to carry away another man's wife, so long as he provided a replacement.
Not sure if this has ever been repealed, and with the advent of equal rights you had better watch out Janis. You could end up with Aky.
TP

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Lucky Janis - can't indians have more than one wife after all Remy is a Raj. :wub:

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi Tony/All,

Sorry for my delayed response but have been catching up on some urgent emailing. I'm glad you found the link useful and thanks for your suggestion to check out the rest of the site which i have now done. I agree there is some useful info on there, but i did find a few contradictions/ambiguities under the section, 'Buyers Guide Foreign Nationals FAQ', where it initially (correctly) stated that resident FNs dont need RBI permision prior to purchasing property in India, but then in the next Q it says FNs can aquire residential proeprty in India 'on application through the RBI' (unless they mean non-resident FNs, but as far as i understood they can't buy residential property at all)!:confused: Also the 3rd (of 3) conditions that they state FNs (of non-Indian origin) must meet inorder to purchase property in India, is that they must 'undertake not to repatriate the sale proceeds'!

It also says (further down) that FNs of non I.O. (whether resident in India or not) need to seek prior RBI approval for transfers of residential property by way of sale to residents or non-residents in India!:unsure: I wasn't aware that this was the case, and i wonder if anyone knows if this is correct or not? Although i assume that leasees/lesees will be exempt from this anyway if their developer sells the property for them(?)

Anyway i hope i haven't bored you all half to death with this:unsure::blink:

regards
TDK:)

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi, my understanding was that in the early days you had to apply to the RBI to purchase property in Goa, and those who did were to seek permission to sell, although I do know people who didn't ask permission to sell and sold without a problem, however, whether it was legal or not is another matter. When we were registering our deeds we were advised by the advocate that it was not necessary to apply for permission from the RBI so of course we didn't, however, a very dear old gentleman friend of ours was persuaded by his daughter in law to go to the RBI and whilst there he was told that it was no longer necessary to obtain their permission, as a result he went ahead and registered his deeds having completed over 182 days.

In 2005 I spoke to a Manager at a branch of the State Bank of India, he advised that it is possible to repatriate funds but you have to apply to the RBI.

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi Michellea,

Thanks for your response and its interesting to hear your experiences and of your friend re: RBI permission not being necessary prior to property purchase, but that the SBI recommend seeking RBI permission before repatriating funds.

Kind Regards
TDK

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi TDK

We were shown off one of the sites that RBI permission was not need to purchase when we purchased.

:frown:
kind regards
noni

Re: Buying property in Goa
 

Hi Noni,

I agree that the general consensus is that (under FEMA) resident FNs don't need RBI permission before purchasing, although thats interesting that the State Bank of India said you need RBI permission before repatriating sales proceeds.

Kind regards
TDK:)