The day you return to India intending to stay. FEMA looks at intention and purpose, not at a day count. There is no waiting period and no threshold to cross — you arrive to settle, and you are resident under FEMA from that point. This is the opposite of the income-tax test, which counts days and can leave you non-resident for months afterwards.

No. FEMA has two categories only: resident and non-resident. RNOR is purely an income-tax concept. Someone can be resident under FEMA and RNOR under the Income-tax Act at the same time, which is exactly what most returning NRIs are for their first two or three years. The two answers are not contradictory; they answer different questions.

No, and this is the costliest misunderstanding of the whole move. The exemption applies to a person resident outside India under FEMA. Your FEMA status flips on arrival, so the exemption ends then — not when your RNOR window closes two or three years later. People discover this when they file, having accrued a year of taxable interest they thought was exempt.

The obligation to notify is yours, not the bank's. Continuing to hold an NRE or NRO account after your status has changed is a FEMA contravention, and the interest position does not improve while it goes unreported — it was taxable from the date of change either way. Notify in writing and keep the acknowledgement.

That is a currency question before it is a paperwork question. Redesignating converts the balance to rupees. Moving it to an RFC account keeps it in foreign currency. If you have no immediate rupee need and no view that the rupee will strengthen, there is rarely a reason to convert on arrival simply because you have arrived.

A Resident Foreign Currency account. It lets someone who has returned to India hold foreign currency here without converting it. It can be current, savings or term, in any permitted convertible currency, and the balances stay freely repatriable. Most branches will not raise it unprompted, so ask for it by name.

It is exempt for as long as you are not ordinarily resident, and becomes taxable once you are. That aligns the account neatly with the RNOR window — which is another reason not to convert everything to rupees the week you land.

No, and they are confused constantly, including at branches. RFC is for returning residents and takes balances built up while you were non-resident. RFC (Domestic) is a narrower non-interest-bearing current account for residents holding foreign exchange from specified sources such as travel or gifts. Confirm which one you are being opened before you sign.

Yes. An existing FCNR(B) deposit runs to maturity at its contracted rate, and interest on it is exempt while you are not ordinarily resident. Breaking it early to tidy things up usually costs interest for no regulatory benefit. Plan where the maturity proceeds go instead — an RFC account is the natural destination.

No. FEMA expressly permits a person resident in India to continue holding foreign currency, foreign securities and immovable property abroad where these were acquired while they were resident outside India, or inherited from someone who was. Income on those assets can also be retained abroad. No repatriation is required and no LRS limit applies to money that was already yours.

Under FEMA, yes, on the same basis. The practical constraint is usually the provider rather than the law — several US and UK platforms restrict accounts once your registered address is Indian. Find out their policy before you land rather than after.

Different question, and a stricter one. The permission covers assets acquired while you were non-resident. Fresh overseas investment made after you return is a resident remittance and comes out of your annual LRS limit. Keep the two buckets mentally separate, because they are treated separately.

Mutual fund folios need their residential status and bank mandate updated with each AMC or registrar. The demat account needs converting to resident status, and Portfolio Investment Scheme permission ends with your non-residency. Left as they are, redemptions keep attracting TDS at NRI rates regardless of what you actually owe, and you spend the year reclaiming it.

The rules say promptly or immediately rather than giving a number of days. In practice, do the bank notifications in the first week and the demat and folio conversions within the first month. Nothing here is difficult; it is only unpleasant when done late, because the corrections then run backwards through statements and returns.

Once you are resident again the usual resident rules apply to you, subject to each scheme's own conditions and to what happened to the account while you were away. Check the specific account's status with the operating bank or post office rather than assuming it simply resumes.

Not unusual, and worth fixing rather than leaving. The exposure is a FEMA contravention plus interest that was taxable from the date your status changed. Compounding mechanisms exist for FEMA breaches and voluntary correction is treated more sympathetically than discovery. Take it to a chartered accountant with the dates rather than quietly redesignating and hoping.

The account changes do not — they follow your arrival date under FEMA. What your RNOR status changes is the tax treatment sitting on top: whether RFC and FCNR interest is exempt, and whether your foreign income is in the Indian net. Work out the window separately, then apply it to accounts you have already put in the right shape.

No. It is a general description of how the FEMA account rules work on return. Your position depends on your accounts, your dates and how each bank applies its own process, and the rules are amended from time to time. Confirm with your bank and a qualified chartered accountant before acting.