India’s Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has exempt Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from being eligible for an Aadhaar card. The Indian Biometric ID card – Aadhaar is applicable only to the resident individual who has resided in India for a period amounting to 182 days or more in the 12 months preceding the date of application for the same. As such, a NRI will be exempt from the mandatory quoting of Aadhaar or Enrollment ID when filing for income tax returns and for making an application for allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN). This however, does go into effect from 1st July, 2017 to all legal residents of India.

A PAN is mandatory to be able to make cash deposits over Rs. 50,000 with banks in India and is required for all NRIs if they operate a Non-Resident External (NRE) bank account or conduct financial operations like investing in the Indian stock market over the said amount limit.  For vital information and ways to apply for a PAN card read Importance of PAN card for NRIs. As per the June 30, 2017 deadline, local residents are expected to link Aadhaar with PAN which however, is not applicable to NRIs.

Moreover, Aadhaar which is a form of proof of address, is not mandatory for obtaining a driver’s license or a SIM card should a NRI need it while in India for a short duration.

Although no final decision has been made so far, the Central Government is considering extending the Aadhaar card program to NRI and OCI communities as well, with an intention to include them in different national initiatives like Digital India, Clean Ganga and Skill India.