Indian citizens residing in foreign countries can now buy cars in India for their family, friends or for their personal use on visits to the country with the help of car loan schemes offered by banks especially for Non-resident Indians (NRI). Like home loan schemes for NRIs, the car loans products have also been specially designed keeping in mind the needs and requirements of the non residents. For those non residents who want to stay connected to their roots, NRI banking facilities are indeed proving to be a boon.

Car loan schemes for NRIs are a variation of the conventional car loan products provided by banks, with certain modifications which make it easier for the NRIs to avail loans from banks in India.

Any Indian citizen residing abroad, who is either salaried or self employed, in the country of his current residence, is eligible to apply for these loans. Some banks provide these loans to those individuals only who have resided in a foreign country for a certain minimum period of time and this requirement differs from bank to bank. Also, NRIs have to open and maintain an NRE account for availing an NRI car loan.

Non residents can take loans to buy new or used cars. Apart from this, there are various other car loan products also which NRIs can avail, such as loans against their current cars in India, or top up loans over and above the car loan, which can be used to increase the loan amount on the current car.            

Banks have an approved list of countries and they provide car loans to non residents of those countries only. Every bank has its own list, but, Indians residing in countries like United States of America, United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia and certain countries of the Middle East can easily and quickly avail these loans as these countries are on the approved list of most banks.

There are some banks which advance car loans to NRIs only when they have an Indian co-applicant, mostly relatives of the NRI applicant such as parents or siblings. Others provide loans without the need for any co-applicant.

To avail these loans, an NRI's physical presence is not mandatory. Either, the non-residents applying for the loan can give a power of attorney (POA) to their co-applicant in the country, who can then take the loan process forward with the help of the POA. Alternatively, NRIs can request banks to send the loan forms to them. After filling the forms completely and attaching the necessary documents, they can courier it back to the bank.