Loans to NRIs are offered in India by major Banks and Financial institutions.

NRI Home loan can be availed for purchasing a flat, row house or residential plots in India. To avail NRI home loan applicant must hold NRI/PIO status and must be working abroad for no less than a year.

Most banks define the age criteria for home loans available for NRIs. The age of the applicant should be between 21 and 60 years or retirement age (whichever is earlier) at the time of loan maturity.

The loan tenure usually is less than the tenure offered to Indian citizens. So, if the typical tenure for Indian citizens is 20 years, it may be just 10 years or 15 years for NRIs. Graduates and above meeting all other eligibility criteria may be offered a tenure of 20+ years.

Just as in the case of home loan by resident Indians, banks also put minimum criteria on income of individuals applying for loan. An income above USD 40,000 should usually suffice but this varies as per the individual bank's policy.

As far as documentation is concerned, the borrower has to submit (apart from all the documents required for resident Indians) visa copies, passport copies, foreign residential proof as well as Overseas Credit Bureau Report.

In all cases, since the loan is given to NRIs, it is expected that the repayment will be done through normal banking channels using remittances from outside India. This can also be done by using NRE/NRO (Non-resident external, Non-resident ordinary) accounts. In a few cases, banks may allow close Indian relatives to pay the EMI but these cases are dealt at individual level.

Lastly, you may be asked to provide a Power of Attorney in India; the applicant can appoint any of its relatives as the Power of Attorney (POA) holder in India to complete the formalities and documentation procedures in India. The Power of Attorney holder is preferred to be from the same city where property has been finalized.