SIM Card for NRI in India: Money, Cards and UPI for Visitors

For the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), an NRI is a person resident outside India who is a citizen of India, and a person of Indian origin with a foreign passport, an OCI cardholder included, is also resident outside India. The Ministry of Home Affairs draws the line in another place: an OCI cardholder is a foreign national, and an NRI on an Indian passport is not. Money rules follow the RBI's grouping, and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) treats foreign nationals and Indian citizens differently when it issues a SIM. Our NRI hub sets out the three groups.

This is practical guidance, not financial or telecoms advice. Your bank and your operator decide what applies to your case.

The RBI says NRIs and persons of Indian origin can open a Non-Resident (External) Rupee account, an NRE account, and that any person resident outside India can open a Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee account, an NRO account, for bona fide rupee transactions. It lists local disbursements among the permitted debits on an NRE account and local payments on an NRO account, so a trip in India can be paid for from either.

What the bank gives you to do it with, whether a debit card, a UPI handle or a chequebook, and the daily limits and fees that go with it, are the bank's own rules. Ask before you fly:

• which card is linked to the account and whether it works at ATMs and shops in India;
• the daily withdrawal and spending limits, and whether you can raise them for the trip;
• whether it can send one-time passwords to your overseas number or email, so that you do not depend on an Indian SIM you may not have yet.

Rupees you do not spend can stay in the account, rather than being converted back at the airport. Our guide to ATMs and cards in India covers foreign cards, ATM slips and changing money, and money in India brings cash, cards and UPI together.

In July 2023 the Ministry of Finance told Parliament that the RBI had made a provision to give UPI access to NRIs who have international mobile numbers linked to their NRE or NRO accounts, and that NPCI had said it was allowed for ten countries: Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The list can change, so ask your bank whether your number's country is enabled and whether it has linked the number to your account before you rely on it.

An NRI who has no such link can use a different route. The RBI lets banks and licensed wallet issuers give foreign nationals and NRIs visiting India a prepaid wallet linked to UPI for merchant payments. Our page on UPI for foreigners explains how it works and its limits.

How much foreign currency and how many rupees you may carry in, and when cash has to be declared, is set out with the official sources on our page on gold, jewellery and cash at customs.

The DoT's digital KYC process for a new Indian connection takes place at an operator's authorised outlet, with your original documents and a live photograph. Three points depend on the passport.

• An OCI cardholder is a foreign national. The DoT's form for subscribers of foreign nationality takes the passport together with the visa or OCI card, and since 31 July 2024 the one-time password that serves as the signature can go to the visitor's email instead of a second mobile number.
• An NRI on an Indian passport is an Indian citizen. The DoT made that relaxation only for foreign nationals visiting India, so expect the password to go to a mobile number: the DoT's instructions allow the customer's own alternate number or, if there is none, a family member's, relative's or known person's. Ask the outlet which documents it needs for an Indian citizen who lives abroad.
• Everyone can roam on a home plan or use a travel eSIM bought before the flight, if the phone supports eSIM and is not locked to its operator. Our guide to SIM cards and eSIMs in India covers the process, the limit per document and what to do if a phone is lost. For connectivity as a service, see eSIM and connectivity.