NRI property lawyer for Indians who own, buy or inherit property in India

What an NRI property lawyer handles for you

Almost every NRI property file is one of six jobs. Each one below links to a page with the procedure set out in full.

Checking title before you pay

We search the registration and revenue records, usually over 30 years, and report on the chain of owners, mortgages, pending suits and any reservation on the land. For a flat under construction we also check the MahaRERA registration and the approvals. See our property title search service.

A Power of Attorney the Sub-Registrar will accept

One document for one job: the sale of a named flat, the purchase of a plot, or a particular court case. We send it with a note on how to sign it in your country. The Power of Attorney drafting service starts from Rs 7,500.

Selling a property you no longer need

The agreement and sale deed, the tax the buyer must deduct, a lower deduction certificate where it saves you money, and the papers your bank asks for before it sends the proceeds abroad.

Bringing an inherited property into your name

Probate or heirship papers, a release deed among brothers and sisters, and mutation in the society, municipal and land records. Where a parent left no will, start with inheritance without a will.

Getting a property back from an occupant

A tenant who stopped paying, a caretaker who stayed on, a relative who treats the flat as their own. Notices, eviction and possession suits are explained in illegal possession of NRI property.

Disputes with builders and co-owners

MahaRERA complaints for delayed possession, refund and interest, and division of family property when heirs cannot agree. Our page on partition suits explains how a court divides it.

NRI real estate lawyer pages for each country

Indian property law does not change with where you live. Four things do: how you sign the Power of Attorney, which Indian mission serves you, the hours you can call us, and the questions people in that country tend to ask. Each country page covers those four.

• North America: USA and Canada. Both use the apostille; Canada only since January 2024, with five provinces issuing their own.
• United Kingdom: UK, where a notary's signature is apostilled by the FCDO.
• Asia-Pacific: Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, all three in the Apostille Convention, each with its own issuing authority.
• UAE: the UAE page, with separate pages for Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Al Ain and Umm Al Quwain. The UAE is not in the Apostille Convention, so residents there usually sign at the Indian Embassy or Consulate.
• Other Gulf countries: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The signing route differs from one to the next, and each page sets out its own.

How we approach an NRI property matter

Three questions settle most NRI matters before anything is drafted. Which state is the property in? Who in India will act for you? Which steps need you personally? We answer all three in writing at the start, because a wrong guess on any one of them costs months later.

1. First consultation. By video, phone or WhatsApp, with scans of the documents emailed to us beforehand.
2. Written note. What we will do, which office or court is involved, what you must sign or attend, and our fee.
3. Power of Attorney. Drafted for the task and signed in your country by the route that applies there.
4. Stamping in India. The original is stamped within three months of arriving, before anyone relies on it.
5. The work itself. Searches, drafting, registration through your attorney, notices, filings and hearings.
6. Closing papers. The registered deed, the Index II extract, mutation entries and a copy of everything by email.

Two habits save NRI owners the most trouble. Keep the attorney's powers narrow and time-limited. And have every rupee paid into your own bank account, never into the attorney's.

Can an NRI property matter be handled without travelling to India?

Usually, yes. A sale, purchase, gift or lease can be completed by the person holding your Power of Attorney, who signs for you and appears before the Sub-Registrar. The deed is still in your name; the attorney acts for you and gets no title of their own.

But a Power of Attorney has limits worth knowing before you rely on one:

• It is not a sale. In Suraj Lamp & Industries v. State of Haryana (2011) the Supreme Court ruled that a GPA "sale" transfers nothing. A buyer holding only a PoA owns nothing.
• It cannot give your evidence. Under Janki Vashdeo Bhojwani v. IndusInd Bank (2005), an attorney cannot depose to facts only you know. A contested suit may need your affidavit, and cross-examination by video link where the court allows it.
• Banks deal with you. KYC updates and changes to NRE or NRO accounts are usually done by the account holder, not the attorney.

You sign the PoA where you live: in front of a consular officer at the Indian Embassy, High Commission or Consulate, or before a notary followed by an apostille if your country belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention. Section 33 of the Registration Act, 1908 is what lets a Sub-Registrar accept a PoA authenticated abroad. Mission rules change, so check the current process before you book.

Where we work: Sanpada office, online for clients abroad

VIVS Legal has one office, in Haware Intelligentia Park, Sanpada, Navi Mumbai, open Monday to Saturday from 9 AM to 6 PM India time. We have practised since 2010. NRI property matters are led by Adv. Swanand Pandit (Advocate, High Court of Bombay), with Adv. Ashok Ingle on registrations and filings.

For property in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and the rest of Maharashtra, we see the matter through ourselves: the Sub-Registrar, MahaRERA, the Competent Authority under the rent law and the civil courts. For a flat in Bengaluru or land in Punjab, we advise on the title, the documents and the law. If a filing or hearing is needed in that state, we explain at the first consultation how it will be handled and what it costs, before you engage us.

Questions about the law where you live, such as how your country taxes the gain on an Indian sale, need an adviser licensed there. We say so when a question crosses that line. To start, call +91 8291849797 or +91 9167710454, WhatsApp the same numbers, or email info@vivs.in.

Key law for NRI property in India

Six sets of rules decide nearly every NRI property question.

• Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and the Non-Debt Instruments Rules, 2019. These let an NRI or OCI cardholder buy any number of homes or commercial units without RBI approval, and receive them as a gift from a relative. Agricultural land, plantation property and farmhouses cannot be bought or taken as a gift, only inherited. Payment must come by inward remittance or from an NRE, FCNR(B) or NRO account. More on what an NRI can buy.
• Section 6(5) of FEMA. Property you bought while living in India, or inherited from someone who lived here, can be kept after you move abroad and later sold. Taking another citizenship does not force a sale.
• Registration Act, 1908 and the state stamp law. A sale, gift or release of immovable property must be registered to pass title. Maharashtra charges stamp duty under the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958, on the agreed price or the ready reckoner value, whichever is higher.
• Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. A project above the registration threshold must be registered with the state authority, MahaRERA in Maharashtra, and a buyer can complain there about delay, refund and interest.
• Specific Relief Act, 1963 and Limitation Act, 1963. A suit under Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act restores possession if filed within six months of dispossession, without a full trial on title. A claim of adverse possession needs 12 years of open, hostile possession under Article 65, and a tenant or relative you let in does not qualify.
• Succession law. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 covers Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists; the Indian Succession Act, 1925 covers Christians and Parsis and governs probate; Muslim personal law covers Muslims.

Selling as an NRI: how much tax is held back, and how much can go abroad?

When the seller is an NRI, the Income-tax Act, 2025 makes the buyer withhold tax from the price before paying it over (the old Section 195 of the 1961 Act). Without a certificate, buyers deduct at the capital gains rate on the whole price, not on your gain. A lower or nil deduction certificate from the Assessing Officer corrects that, but it takes weeks. Apply before you sign the agreement.

Sending the money out follows two separate FEMA rules:

• From your NRO account: up to USD 1 million in a financial year, April to March, covering sale proceeds and inherited money. The bank will ask for its remittance forms and usually a chartered accountant's certificate.
• Property bought with foreign exchange: the proceeds can be repatriated up to the amount you originally paid by inward remittance or from your NRE or FCNR(B) account, for not more than two residential properties. Any gain above that goes through the NRO route.

Keep the bank certificates for your original purchase payments; without them the second rule is hard to use. Your chartered accountant works out the capital gain and files your Indian return, and the tax treaty with your country decides how the Indian tax is credited there. More on payment and repatriation rules.