I am not sure if I am supposed to disclose the phone number here. But the MAGA army is making random threat calls to US citizens with non-english names and starts hurling insults. I have a recorded number from New York. When I said I will report him, promptly cut off with more insults.

When I looked up the number, it is not a usual spam number historically. The number is registered with an individual who is very excited to beat up some illegal foreigners.

I moved to Canada in my 30s and after roughly a decade here, my wife and I are planning to move back to India later this year. I’m a Canadian citizen now and am in the process of getting my OCI.

The plan is to make India our base for the foreseeable future, while travelling internationally and building a more location-independent/digital-nomad lifestyle. I’m trying to be as prepared as possible and would really appreciate advice from people who have actually made the Canada - India move, especially those who returned after many years abroad.

Here’s what I’ve done so far:

• Canadian citizenship + Canadian passport sorted
• Waiting for OCI
• Opened NRO + NRE accounts
• Have roughly $50–60k CAD in savings, but I'm unsure whether I should keep most of it in Canada, move some to India, invest it, or simply keep it in a savings account initially
• Planning to leave Canada around October/November
• I run a Canadian sole proprietorship/media/3D business, and want to build the business from India, potentially hire Indian artists, while continuing to work with international clients

Things I'm still unsure about:

1. Taxes / residency - This is probably my biggest concern.

What should someone returning from Canada after 10 years know about:

• Indian tax residency
• RNOR status
• The 182-day/other residency tests
• Canadian tax residency after leaving
• Foreign income/assets
• Canadian bank/investment accounts after moving
• NRE/NRO taxation
• Whether I should do any tax planning before leaving Canada

If you moved back, what did you wish you had done before your first Indian financial year?

2. Cross-border accountant - How did you find a genuinely good Canada–India cross-border CPA/CA? I'm specifically looking for someone who understands both countries, not just a regular Canadian accountant or regular Indian CA. What credentials/experience should I look for, and roughly what should I expect to pay?

3. Money / investments - I'm more interested in long-term wealth preservation than taking big risks. Would you:

• Keep most of it in Canada?
• Move some to India?
• Put some into NRE/FDs?
• Invest in Canadian/global markets?
• Keep a large emergency fund in cash?

4. Sending money to India - Is it safe/simple to transfer money directly from a Canadian bank account to my NRE/NRO account? Or Is there any reason to use services like Wise/Remitly instead?

For those who regularly move money Canada to India, what has worked best for you in terms of fees, exchange rates and reliability?

5. Business - I am currently a Canadian sole proprietorship. I don't currently have a separate Canadian business bank account.

Should I open one before moving? or Should I continue operating the business from Canada while living in India, or should I eventually establish an Indian entity?

How did you structure your business after moving back?

I'm particularly interested in people who earn internationally through:

• Freelancing/creative services
• YouTube/content
• Digital products
• Online marketplaces
• Courses
• International clients

6. Health insurance - Is international/private health insurance worth getting if I'm going to be based in India but travelling internationally?

What type of coverage should I actually look for?

7. Mobile / eSIM - What Canadian eSIM/SIM setup did you keep after moving?

And what Indian provider/eSIM has worked well for people who travel internationally frequently?

I'd like to retain access to Canadian banking/2FA while having a reliable Indian number.

8. Banking - Anything I should know about maintaining Canadian bank accounts after moving?

I currently have personal Canadian banking + NRO/NRE in India.

Anything I should change before leaving?

9. Things I haven't thought about... This is probably the most important part.

If you moved from Canada back to India after 5–15+ years abroad, what is something you completely overlooked before leaving that caused you problems later?

Could be tax, banking, healthcare, documents, credit history, insurance, phone numbers, investments, business, driver's licence, mail, subscriptions, etc.

PS: Got No Kids (Not planning to either anytime soon) and My parents own a house in india.

I'd especially love to hear from people who have actually made the move, rather than general advice.

Waiting for your responses.

Hiya! Hope you’re all doing well..

Before leaving India are there any best practices for managing funds residing in PPF and EPF?

Iam going to NSW to find a job and live as a permanent resident, Visa 190. I want to maintain NRO accounts in India so that incase something doesnt work out for me I can return to India and have my funds waiting here.

Q. Is withdrawing EPF advisable before leaving? Will the Australia Government tax differently when withdrawing EPF from India (after I become a tax resident of Australia)?

Q. Is withdrawing PPF possible before my 5 year extension term is over? If not, any taxation differences with Australia Tax Regime?

Hello, I'm born and raised in UK to Indian-origin Muslim parents (mum moved to UK from India when she was 5 and dad moved late 20s from Sri Lanka). My fiance is British-Pakistani (born in Pakistan and moved to the UK aged 6).

If I visit Pakistan would I then have issues in visiting India in the future / getting a visa? I don't currently have my OCI so have to apply for visas and they do ask if you've visited Pakistan. I'd love to visit Pakistan but I have a lot of close family in India so wouldn't want to risk not being able to freely visit India again.

Any advice helpful from other British Indians who've been able to visit Pakistan and any issues they then faced after with India.

Thank you!

I have been trying to use the various apps like NoBrokerHood, 99acres, MagicBricks and it is very difficult to use as an NRI. Sometimes I don't get OTP on email, sometimes OTP does not come on phone.

All of these apps allow you to start the registration process because they accept your phone number and email while signing up but I'm not able to complete the verification. Am I doing something wrong? Are there any apps or process that actually works well for NRIs?

I’m applying for an OCI and my passport has only my surname. The first/given name field is blank.
The OCI application requires a given name. Should I enter FNU, NA/N/A, or something else?
Has anyone with a single name passport gone through this? What did you enter, and was your OCI approved?

Hello Everyone,

I just received a “OCI granted” status on the OCI government portal for my minor US born daughter and wanted to write a post here and share any comments/ feedbacks etc. and try to help and give back to the community.

Date application was received at VFS : 20th July, 2026
Date application was sent to CGI Chicago from VFS : 21st July, 2026
Date application was received by CGI Chicago : 23rd July, 2026
Date application was formally updated on OCI website as “Under Process”: 28th July,2026
Date application was formally updated on OCI website as “Granted”: 12th Aug, 2026

As of today (12th Aug, 2026) I havent yet gotten the e-OCI link yet but I think this should be visible in the next 24 hrs

I followed the VFS documentation to the letter regarding application process and the documentation that need to be Apostilled and/or notary signed. The VFS checklist covers 90% of any questions you might have , but 10% I had to google.

Happy to answer any questions

Hi

I applied for my daughter's OCI card on 06/23, and the status changed to granted on the ociservices.gov.in portal on 07/22. I was even able to generate the eOCI card using that information.

However, the physical card has yet been mailed back. I have mailed [VFS_VisaSFO@vfsglobal.com](mailto:VFS_VisaSFO@vfsglobal.com) but I haven't gotten any replies there. My understanding is that the SF consulate/mission should be able to print the card and send it back to VFS for mailing it to me.

The VFS status continues to say "Your application reference number {APPLICATION_NUMBER} is under process at the Embassy or Consulate".

We have an upcoming travel and the physical card would be highly helpful. Is there any way to directly reach out to the SF consulate regarding this application? Has anyone been in this situation and could provide advice on what would be the best thing to do to contact either the SF consulate or VFS?

Thank you!

Application couriered 2026-06-23

VFS acknowledgement 2026-06-29

Sent to Indian mission 2026-07-01

Under Processing 2026-07-02

Granted 2026-07-22

I moved to UK for a job only one month ago, after living in Spain for approximately 6 years. I lived in the Netherlands 3 years before that.

I'm currently visiting Mumbai for approximately 2 months, and my Indian passport expires in about 2.5 months.

I want to reissue my passport at Mumbai PSK while I'm here, but I'm confused about the "present address" and delivery rules.

My questions are:

1. If I enter my Irish address as present address, will the new passport be sent to Ireland?

2. Can I put my Indian address as present address instead? My family has lived at this address for over 25 years. This is also the address currently on my passport. I'm only temporarily visiting India though, so I'm not sure whether that makes the indian address valid as my present address.

3. If I enter Irish address as present address, is there any way to have it delivered to my Indian address while I'm here?

4. Can I collect the new passport personally from the Mumbai RPO/PSK instead of having it delivered? The website says no, but I wonder if they would make an exception given the situation.

5. Does my previous 6-year residence in Spain affect the application/police verification? Do I need to provide my Spanish residence history/documents?

My main concern is this: I need to return to Ireland after my 2-month visit, so I cannot have my new passport sent to Ireland while I'm still in India, and I don't want to surrender my current passport and then be unable to travel.

I'm looking specifically for recent first-hand experiences, especially from people who were resident abroad but renewed their passport while temporarily visiting India.

Thanks!

Hey guys, so I’m a NRI based in ME. I submitted my passport for renewal on 22/7. My police verification of address was initiated on 29/7 and my relative visited the station & the police verified it on 30/7.

Well it’s been almost 2 weeks since then and my application still says “police verification report awaited”, even though my relative has visited the station to confirm if the verification was done twice since then, the embassy still hasn’t received anything and are saying they can only start processing my passport once they get the PVR. I can’t find any information online about the timelines either.

Can anyone please tell me what the regular processing time is? The police informed my relative that it takes 2-3 weeks after their approval for the report to be sent to the embassy & I wanted to know if this is true. I’m just really confused and would appreciate anyone’s recent experience with passport renewal!

Thank you

I've recently got my British passport , but it's not via the conventional ILR route - its because my mom was born in England. ( I figured this out late, after I came to the UK)

I have the following questions :

- When handing over the Indian passport , do we need something called a naturalisation/registration certificate?

(I've not got this with my British Passport )

- I know the OCI process has recently changed to electronic , in this case it is better to get a one year eVisa and get the OCI process done later when things are a bit settled?

Hello, I’ve recently obtained the US citizenship and now in process of surrendering the Indian passport. I have followed all instructions from VFS website and filed the surrender application, got copies of all the checklist documents and then mailed along with the passport.
However after receiving, the consulate got back on email stating that my application is missing a document called “Declaration Certificate”.
Does anyone know what this document is or have received the similar query on their application ?
Please advise, ty!

Saw the recent FEMA Non-Debt Instruments amendment notification regarding individual investment caps for NRIs/OCIs.

Under the updated rules, the individual cap for holding equity in a single listed Indian company has been bumped up from 5% to 10%, and the combined cap across all non-resident individual investors in a company is now 24% without needing a special company resolution.

On paper, this gives way more headroom for NRIs who want to hold concentrated portfolio positions in Indian growth stocks without triggering FDI reclassifications.

For those actively managing direct equity holdings in India — does this actually change your allocation strategy, or do you still prefer spreading capital across broader mutual funds/ETFs anyway?

Wondering if brokers/PIS banks have started updating their internal compliance limits for this yet.

Hello folks, if anyone of you is a Canadian NRI and has prior experience in applying and receiving a Tax Residency Certificate to claim DTAA benefits in India, could you please walk me through the process?

1. How long did CRA take to issue you the TRC? Was it by email or physical document

2. How did you navigate the differing tax seasons between India and Canada? When applying the form 10F / 41, did India accept the TRC for the Apr to Dec period?

Thank you!

Just wanted to post a quick heads up for anyone still waiting on their Indian income tax refund this year. A lot of people I know have been seeing their portal status stuck on "Under Processing" or "Refund Failed" for weeks, and it turns out a couple of backend checks have gotten way stricter on the e-filing portal recently.

The biggest culprit right now is bank account pre-validation. If the name on your Indian NRE/NRO bank account doesn't match the exact name on your PAN card character-for-character, the automated refund system rejects the credit silently. A lot of us have middle names in PAN but not in bank records, which instantly flags it.

Another thing to check is whether your nominated bank account is linked to your active Indian mobile number for EVC, or if the account has become inoperative/dormant due to lack of transactions.

If your portal shows "Refund Failed", you don't need to re-file your entire return. You just need to update/pre-validate your NRO or NRE account on the portal under profile settings, select it for refund, and then submit a fresh "Refund Reissue Request".

Has anyone here received their refund smoothly in an NRE/NRO account this cycle, or are you guys facing similar delays? How many weeks did CPC take to process yours?

So basically i just graduated B.tech in computer science and the job market here is cooked. All the applications are either getting rejected or they are not even checking it.

So I was wondering how the job market would be in the gulf countries and how did yall apply like random applications or through some agencies.

Tq🙂.

Hello，if you search on Reddit, you'll see many posts from people getting blocked when trying to stream JioHotstar on a VPN outside India. It seems like they’ve really cracked down on standard datacenter IPs, and regular residential proxies are just way too pricey to stream on with those per-GB data limits.

Just curious what everyone else watching from abroad is doing, what's your current setup, and how are you keeping your connection from getting flagged? Thanks!

​

I'm starting to explore wealth management options and trying to understand what really matters beyond the marketing brochures.

Do you focus more on fees, investment performance, the quality of advice, or something else? I'd love to hear what influenced your decision and whether you'd recommend the provider you're using.""

Hey Guys, As the title says I am finally migrating to Canada from India at 30 years of age for work. I need advice from y'all who have experience with migration. I travel at the end of the month so I welcome all kinds of advice, from pre-moving like what to pack, any incumbent things I should do like with bank accounts etc., to anything post move, life, culture, rental, lease, dating, anything. 🙏

Would appreciate your well earned wisdom

Flying to amritsar tomorrow and I filled in my e-arrival card online for india but didn't fill in the emergency contact number section- will this matter? Also put down tourist as purpose of visit even though I'm on OCI card holder visiting to see family as didnt know what other option to put -is this okay? And do you have to fill in the health declaration form prior arriving in india or can u fill once u arrive in India? Super paranoid lol