NRI and Cross-Border Matters: Law, Forums and Procedure

Property, land and powers of attorney

Buying, holding, selling and recovering property in India from abroad, and the documents (powers of attorney, stamping, registration) that make it possible.

Articles

• Using a Power of Attorney From Abroad for Indian Property and Court Matters: The Complete Process
• When a Relative, Tenant or Encroacher Occupies an NRI's Property in India: The Remedies and Their Limits

Guides

• Signing a Power of Attorney Abroad for Use in India: Apostille, Consularisation and Stamping
• Power of Attorney for NRIs: Drafting It Right to Avoid Property Fraud
• Power of Attorney in India: General vs Special POA, and When Registration Is Mandatory
• Signed a Property Document or Promissory Note Abroad? The Clock Starts the Day It Reaches India
• NRI Property Purchase in India: The FEMA Rules You Need to Know
• OCI Cardholder Property Rights in India: What an OCI Can and Cannot Do
• Can an NRI or OCI Buy Agricultural Land or a Farmhouse in India? What FEMA Actually Allows
• You Inherited Agricultural Land in India as an NRI: Who Can You Actually Sell It To?
• Someone Is Occupying Your Property in India While You Live Abroad: What an NRI Owner Can Actually Do
• RERA for NRI Homebuyers: Filing a Complaint and Attending a Hearing From Abroad
• Selling Property in India as an NRI: Why Section 195 TDS Runs So High, and How Form 13 Brings It Down
• An NRI Named in a Cheque Bounce Case: Attendance, Power of Attorney and Quashing Explained

Reported rulings

• An OCI Cardholder Can Invoke the Senior Citizens Act as a Parent: Bombay High Court

Succession, wills and repatriation of inherited assets

Wills, probate, succession certificates and the repatriation of sale proceeds of inherited property.

Articles

• Succession and NRIs: Wills, Probate, Inheritance and Repatriation After the 2025 Reform

Guides

• An NRI's Guide to Succession and Asset Transfer in India: Indian Succession Act vs. Hindu Succession Act
• Succession Certificate, Probate, or Letters of Administration: An NRI's Guide to Which You Need and How the Process Actually Works
• NRI Inheriting Property in India: Succession Certificate, Legal Heir Certificate and What Each Actually Does
• Should an NRI Have One Will or Multiple Wills for Assets in Different Countries?
• Repatriating Sale Proceeds of Inherited Property From India: The USD 1 Million Scheme Explained
• A Practical Guide to Liquidating Assets in India as an NRI: Property, Shares, Deposits and Repatriation

Family and matrimonial matters with a foreign element

Foreign divorce decrees, custody and maintenance across borders, look-out circulars and inter-country adoption.

Articles

• When a Foreign Divorce Decree Does and Does Not Bind an Indian Court: The Law After the 2026 Rulings

Guides

• Is a Foreign Divorce Decree Automatically Valid in India? What Section 13 CPC Actually Requires
• Enforcing Alimony and Maintenance Orders Across Borders: An NRI Guide
• Child Custody in Inter-Country Parental Disputes: How Indian Courts Approach Cross-Border Cases
• Look Out Circulars Against NRIs: When Can a Matrimonial Dispute Stop You at the Airport
• Inter-Country Adoption and Relocation: The CARA NOC and Hague Convention Process for NRI Families

Reported rulings

• Supreme Court: An Anti-Suit Injunction Against a Spouse's Foreign Divorce Needs a Vexatious Forum
• Habeas Corpus Cannot Decide a Transnational Child Custody Dispute: Delhi High Court

Accounts, remittances and tax

NRE, NRO and FCNR(B) accounts, remittance forms, treaty relief, residential status and foreign-asset disclosure.

Articles

• NRE, NRO and FCNR(B) Accounts Under FEMA: The Regulatory Mechanics Behind the Three Labels

Guides

• NRE vs NRO vs FCNR Accounts: Which One Actually Fits Your Situation?
• Form 15CA and 15CB Before an NRI Remits Money Out of India: When They Apply and When They Don't
• DTAA Relief for NRIs: Getting Form 10F and Your Tax Residency Certificate Right
• The Income-tax Act, 2025 and NRIs: What Changes in Residential Status and What Stays the Same
• RNOR Status for Returning NRIs: The Tax Window Most People Miss
• The Black Money Act and NRIs: What Counts as an Undisclosed Foreign Asset
• The Liberalised Remittance Scheme: How Much Money Can Resident Indians Actually Send Abroad?
• Transfer of Residence for Returning NRIs: What the Baggage Rules, 2026 Actually Allow
• Can an NRI Donate to an Indian Trust or NGO Without Triggering FCRA? What Actually Counts as 'Foreign Source'

Reported rulings

• ITAT Pune Allows an NRI to Raise an India-Singapore DTAA Claim on Mutual Fund Gains for the First Time on Appeal
• ITAT Bangalore Holds Flipkart Co-Founder a Tax Resident of India Despite Singapore Move

Foreign investment and foreign businesses in India

Entry routes, sectoral caps, reporting on the FIRMS portal, branch, liaison and project offices, and investment abroad by residents.

Articles

• Foreign Investment Into India: Entry Routes, Sectoral Caps and the Compliance Architecture Under FEMA
• Joint Ventures and Acquisitions in India: Contractual Protections, Regulatory Approvals and the Traps That Break Deals

Guides

• Structuring a Company for Foreign Investment: FDI Compliance Basics Under FEMA
• FEMA Compliance for Foreign Investment: Filing FC-GPR and FC-TRS on the RBI's FIRMS Portal
• NRI Investment in Indian Startups: FDI Classification, the Automatic Route and What Filing Is Actually Required
• Press Note 3 and FDI From Countries Sharing a Land Border With India: Who Needs Government Approval Now
• A Foreign Company Entering India Without Incorporating: Branch, Liaison and Project Offices Compared
• Investing Abroad as a Resident Indian or Indian Company: How FEMA's Overseas Investment Rules Work
• Getting an Import Export Code (IEC): DGFT Registration for Cross-Border Trade

Reported rulings

• CESTAT Chennai: On-Site Inspection in India Does Not Defeat Export Status for Services Billed to a Foreign Group Company

Cross-border disputes and enforcement

Enforcement of foreign decrees and foreign-seated awards, interim relief, anti-suit injunctions and security for costs.

Articles

• Enforcing Foreign Arbitral Awards in India: Part II, Section 48 and Interim Relief in Foreign-Seated Arbitrations

Guides

• You Have a Foreign Money Decree Against an NRI. Can You Actually Enforce It Against Their Indian Assets?
• A Foreign Court Awarded Damages Against Your Company: Can FEMA or RBI Rules Cap What You Actually Pay?
• Enforcing a Foreign Arbitral Award in India: A Step-by-Step Guide
• Resisting Enforcement of a Foreign Award in India: The Narrow Public Policy Ground Under Section 48
• Already Filed to Enforce Your Foreign Arbitral Award? You May Still Get Section 9 Interim Relief
• Can an Indian Court Stop a Foreign-Seated Arbitration From Proceeding? Anti-Arbitration Injunctions Explained
• Anti-Suit Injunctions in Cross-Border Commercial Disputes: A Guide for Indian Businesses
• Suing in an Indian Court as a Foreign Plaintiff: When Can You Be Made to Deposit Security for Costs?
• Cross-Border Insolvency Under Indian Law: The UNCITRAL Model Law's Adoption Status and What It Means Today

Reported rulings

• Filing a Foreign Award Enforcement Petition Does Not Bar Section 9 Interim Relief: Bombay High Court
• Bombay High Court: Framing Issues in a Section 44A Foreign Decree Execution Is the Exception, Not the Default
• Indian Courts Cannot Re-Examine a Foreign Arbitral Award on Its Merits at the Enforcement Stage: Supreme Court
• 'Transnational Issue Estoppel' Narrows the Section 48 Defence to Enforcing a Foreign Arbitral Award: Supreme Court
• Picking Singapore as Your Arbitration Seat Doesn't Shut Indian Courts Out of Interim Relief, Rules Karnataka High Court
• Delhi High Court Denies Irish Whisky Maker Relief, Finds No Reputation Spillover Before Piccadily's 2018 Launch

Authorities and forums commonly involved

Matters with a foreign element usually involve a mix of civil courts, tribunals and administrative bodies. The list below names those that appear most often in the articles above; which of them is relevant depends on the facts of a particular matter.

Glossary and process maps

Two reference pages accompany these articles: a glossary of terms used in cross-border matters, and process maps and document checklists that restate the step-by-step sequences set out in the articles.