With the new notification in place, Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) can now open non-resident ordinary bank account (NRO) for foreign students unable to furnish local-address proof on an immediate basis by examining and verifying their passport with proper visa & immigration endorsement. In addition, the foreign student needs to provide a photograph along with the letter of admission from the educational institution for completing the formalities for bank account opening.

This flexibility has been provided to reduce the troubles of foreign students, however in a month's time the foreign student is required to provide a valid address proof bearing the local address either in the form of rent agreement or by way of a letter from the authorities of the educational institution providing a proof of your stay in the institutes premise. For the verification, the bank should opt for an alternative means to validate the genuineness of the local-address proof and should not insist on landlord's visit to the bank branch.

Further, until the verification of local address the bank account can be operated with certain limitations that include maximum foreign remittance allowed is capped at US$ 1000 and withdrawal limit has been set at Rs.50,000/month. Post-submission of local address proof to the bank branch, the account will operate as a normal NRO account.

It should be noted that this KYC procedure for bank account opening is applicable to all foreign students except those of Pakistani origin. Pakistani students need to first receive approval from RBI for opening bank account in India.

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