How-To Guides · India Entry for NRIs & Foreign Nationals
How Can NRIs and Foreign Nationals Register a Company in India in 2026?
Quick Summary (TL;DR)
NRIs and foreign nationals can own 100% of an Indian company under the Automatic Route, entirely remotely, with no visit to India required. Setup typically runs Rs. 80,000-1,80,000 and takes 25-30 days once documents are apostilled. The one non-negotiable requirement is at least one resident director, plus an FC-GPR filing to the RBI within 30 days of bringing in foreign capital.
This guide is for NRIs, OCIs, and foreign nationals anywhere in the world who want to set up a company in India without flying in. It covers eligibility, structure choice, real 2026 costs, where in India to incorporate, the exact step order, and the compliance step that catches almost every first-time founder off guard.
One thing that surprises most people: incorporation itself is the fast part. The slowest step is almost always getting documents apostilled in the founder's home country — plan for that first, not last.
Can NRIs and foreign nationals start a business in India?
Yes, in most industries. India's Automatic Route allows NRIs, OCIs, and foreign nationals of almost any nationality to hold up to 100% equity in an Indian company without prior approval from the RBI or the government, under the FDI Policy administered by the DPIIT.
Sectors like IT services, SaaS, e-commerce marketplaces, and manufacturing all fall under this route. A smaller list of sectors — defence, media, and multi-brand retail among them — require prior government approval instead, so it's worth checking your specific NIC (National Industrial Classification) code before you file. Our FEMA & FDI compliance team can confirm this in a single call.
Eligible entities include NRIs and OCIs (treated identically for FDI purposes), foreign individuals of any nationality (subject to added security clearance for citizens of countries sharing a land border with India), and foreign incorporated bodies corporate such as a Delaware C-Corp, UK Ltd, or Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Does it matter if I'm an NRI or a foreign national?
The incorporation process is broadly the same either way, but documentation and a few compliance details differ.
| Factor | NRI / OCI | Foreign National |
|---|---|---|
| Identity proof | Indian passport (NRI) or OCI card + foreign passport | Foreign passport only |
| Address proof | Foreign driving licence, bank statement, or utility bill | Same, but must be apostilled/consularized |
| Apostille requirement | Required if resident in a Hague Convention country | Always required |
| PAN application | Can often apply using existing Indian passport details | Applies as a foreign citizen (Form 49AA) |
| FEMA / FC-GPR reporting | Identical — within 30 days of allotment | Identical — within 30 days of allotment |
Which business structure should you choose?
For the large majority of foreign founders, a Private Limited Company (subsidiary) is the right call — it's the structure investors will fund and the only one that lets you raise equity cleanly later.
| Feature | Private Limited (Subsidiary) | LLP |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign ownership | Up to 100% (Automatic Route) | Only in 100%-FDI sectors |
| Raising equity funding | Straightforward — preferred by investors | Very difficult; cannot easily issue equity |
| Foreign borrowing (ECB) | Allowed | Restricted |
| ESOPs / equity compensation | Standard and flexible | Not possible — LLP interests aren't equity |
| Exit / sale | Clean — share transfer or buyback | Governed by the LLP agreement; can get messy |
| Best for | Startups, anyone planning to raise or hire | Small services firms with no funding plans |
An LLP is worth considering only for a small professional-services firm with no plans to raise external capital, no foreign borrowing needs, and modest turnover. Even then, the long-term flexibility of a subsidiary usually outweighs the short-term compliance savings.
What do you need before you start?
Three requirements are non-negotiable, and missing any one of them stalls your filing.
A resident director
Every Indian private limited company needs at least two directors, and at least one must have been physically present in India for 182+ days in the previous financial year. If you don't have a co-founder or partner who qualifies, a professional nominee resident director fills this role, with indemnity coverage and no operational interference in your business.
A registered office address in India
This is your company's legal address on file with the Registrar of Companies (ROC — the government body that registers and regulates Indian companies). A virtual office works for this during the setup phase, and most foreign founders keep it that way through year one.
Apostilled identity and address documents
Since you're signing from abroad, your passport copy and address proof must be notarized and apostilled — or fully consularized if your country isn't a Hague Convention member. Plain notarization alone is rejected.
What are the exact registration steps, in order?
Step 1 — Digital identity setup, 7-10 days
Every director needs a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) — the legal electronic signature used to file forms with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) — plus a Director Identification Number (DIN), a lifetime ID applied for via Form DIR-3 using apostilled identity proof. Apply for both together; applying sequentially adds 5-7 days unnecessarily since DIN approval itself requires a valid DSC.
Step 2 — Reserve your company name, 3-5 days
Submit name options through the MCA's RUN (Reserve Unique Name) service on the MCA portal. The name must be unique, avoid trademark conflicts, and reflect your business activity. We recommend submitting more than one option in order of preference — resubmission costs a small government fee and adds several days each time.
Step 3 — File SPICe+ with the MCA, 10-15 days
This single combined form covers incorporation (Certificate of Incorporation), PAN and TAN, EPFO and ESIC (social security registrations), professional tax where applicable, and in most states, GST registration too — all through the same MCA portal.
Step 4 — Complete RBI and FEMA compliance
This is the step most guides bury at the bottom, and the one that causes the most expensive mistakes. Once foreign capital lands in your Indian bank account and shares are allotted, your bank issues a Foreign Inward Remittance Statement (FIRS), and Form FC-GPR must be filed on the RBI's FIRMS portal within 30 days of allotment.
What documents will you need?
| For foreign directors / shareholders | For the Indian company |
|---|---|
| Passport (all pages, mandatory) | Proof of registered office (rental agreement + NOC from owner) |
| Address proof — driving licence, bank statement, or utility bill (under 2 months old) | Utility bill for the Indian address |
| Passport-size photograph | Memorandum & Articles of Association (drafted as part of filing) |
| Notarized, apostilled (or consularized) copies of the above | Director consent (DIR-2) and declarations (Form INC-9) |
| Certified English translation, if documents are in another language | Signed subscriber sheet from all shareholders |
What does registration actually cost?
| Item | Cost (INR) |
|---|---|
| Government fees (DSC, DIN, name reservation, SPICe+, stamp duty) | Rs. 6,000-14,000 |
| Professional fees (incorporation + first-year compliance setup) | Rs. 45,000-95,000 |
| Virtual office / registered address (annual) | Rs. 12,000-38,000 |
| Realistic first-year setup total | Rs. 80,000-1,80,000 |
Annual maintenance
Budget separately for ongoing compliance once the company is running: statutory audit, income tax filing, GST filing where applicable, ROC annual filings (AOC-4, MGT-7), and the annual FLA return for foreign-owned companies. Realistically this runs Rs. 1.5-3 lakh a year, scaling with transaction volume and intercompany complexity.
Note: the individual line-item cost ranges above are illustrative and should be checked against your firm's current fee schedule before publishing — don't publish specific rupee figures per line item unless they reflect your actual current pricing.
Where in India should you incorporate?
Company law is federal, but state-level factors — stamp duty, cost of operations, and access to talent — meaningfully affect your day-to-day experience.
| Factor | Maharashtra (Pune/Mumbai) | Karnataka (Bengaluru) | Delhi NCR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stamp duty | Moderate | Lower | Higher |
| Tech talent pool | Strong — established IT hub | Very strong — leading startup hub | Good — Noida/Gurugram corridor |
| Cost of operations | Moderate | Higher — among India's priciest office markets | Higher — NCR premium |
For most foreign-owned companies, Maharashtra offers a strong balance of talent access, cost, and regulatory proximity. Bengaluru suits tech startups prioritising investor proximity; Delhi NCR suits companies with heavier government-liaison needs.
What compliance is due in the first year?
Can you file this yourself, or do you need a CA?
This isn't really an either/or choice. SPICe+ incorporation legally requires professional certification — specific forms and declarations in the filing must be digitally signed using the DSC of a practising Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, or Cost Accountant. Without that certification attached, the MCA will not accept the filing. A founder can gather documents and make structural decisions independently, but the filing itself cannot go through without a professional's DSC on it.
What varies is how much else is bundled around that mandatory certification:
| Factor | Certification only | Full-service CA firm |
|---|---|---|
| Apostille guidance | You research country-specific requirements yourself | Jurisdiction-specific checklists and document review |
| FEMA / FC-GPR compliance | A separate engagement, if you find one at all | Handled as part of the same engagement |
| Post-incorporation support | You manage GST, ROC, and tax filings yourself | Ongoing compliance handled under one team |
Because the professional certification step is unavoidable regardless, the real decision for foreign founders is whether that same professional also handles apostille coordination, FEMA reporting, and ongoing compliance under one engagement — or whether you assemble those separately yourself. A missed FEMA deadline or a rejected name application can cost more in delay and re-filing than a bundled engagement would have.
What official guides don't tell you
- Apostille turnaround varies enormously by country — US applicants typically wait a matter of days through the Secretary of State; some EU countries take considerably longer through a Hague Apostille authority. This step, not the MCA filing, usually determines your real timeline.
- The most commonly missed cost is the virtual office renewal — many providers quote year-one pricing only and don't flag that GST registration requires the same address to be re-verified annually, adding an unbudgeted renewal fee most founders don't see coming.
- Banks vary sharply on remote KYC speed — some private banks complete video KYC for foreign directors in a few days, while others still require a branch visit for the primary signatory even after "remote" account opening is advertised. Confirm this specifically before choosing a bank.
- Wrong NIC code selection is a quiet but serious risk — if your declared business activity falls under the government-approval route rather than the Automatic Route, your filing can stall for months. Confirm your NIC code classification before you file, not after.
Note: replace any specific percentage claims (e.g. rejection rates, delay rates) in this section with your firm's actual figures from 250+ engagements before publishing — don't publish invented statistics under the firm's name.
What does a real setup look like, start to finish?
Who: A UK-based B2B SaaS founder, solo, no India-based co-founder, planning to hire a 5-person engineering team in Bengaluru.
What they needed: A subsidiary structure that investors would recognise, set up before a funding round closed.
What happened: Their first name application was rejected for using a generic descriptor already in use by an unrelated registered company; the second attempt, using a distinctive coined term, cleared quickly. Apostille processing in the UK added more time to the front end of the timeline than the incorporation itself.
Outcome: Fully incorporated within the standard 25-30 day window, resident director service used in place of a local co-founder, and FC-GPR filed comfortably inside the 30-day deadline once the funding round closed.
Note: replace this with a real anonymised client example and real numbers before publishing — this is a placeholder structure only.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an NRI be the sole director of an Indian company?
No. A Private Limited Company needs at least two directors, and at least one must be a resident of India, meaning present in India for 182+ days in the previous financial year. An NRI can be one of the two directors but not the only one, unless a professional nominee resident director is appointed alongside them.
Can an NRI or foreign national own 100% of a company in India?
Yes. Under the Automatic Route, NRIs, OCIs, and foreign nationals can hold 100% ownership in most sectors, including IT, e-commerce, and manufacturing, with no prior RBI or government approval needed.
Do I need to visit India to register a company?
No. Digital signature, name reservation, SPICe+ filing, and remote bank account opening with several major banks can all be completed without visiting India. A first visit within the first year is still worthwhile to meet your team and bank relationship manager in person.
How long does it take to register a company in India as an NRI?
Incorporation itself takes roughly 25-30 days once documents are ready. Apostille processing in the founder's home country is usually the longest single step, adding 1-3 weeks depending on the country.
What does it cost to register a company in India as a foreigner?
Setup typically runs Rs. 80,000 to Rs. 1,80,000, covering government fees, DSC, PAN/TAN, and professional fees. Ongoing annual compliance runs roughly Rs. 1.5 to 3 lakhs, covering audit, tax filing, ROC filings, and FEMA reporting.
What is FC-GPR and why does it matter?
FC-GPR, or Foreign Currency-Gross Provisional Return, is the form that reports foreign share capital to the RBI via the FIRMS portal. It must be filed within 30 days of share allotment, and late filing attracts compounding fees under FEMA that typically exceed the incorporation cost itself.
Can I use a virtual office as my registered office address?
Yes, for the incorporation phase, provided you have a valid rental agreement and a No Objection Certificate from the owner. Most foreign founders move to a physical address once they begin hiring locally in India.
Can a foreign company be the sole shareholder of an Indian subsidiary?
Yes, provided the foreign parent is an incorporated entity such as a C-Corp, Ltd, or Pte. Ltd. Unincorporated structures like a US LLC or UK LLP cannot directly hold shares and must either incorporate first or use the individual founder route.
What is the difference between a subsidiary and an LLP for foreign founders?
A private limited subsidiary allows up to 100% foreign ownership and is the structure investors prefer, since it can issue equity cleanly. An LLP is permitted only in sectors with 100% automatic-route FDI, cannot easily raise equity, and is generally suited only to small services firms with no funding plans.
Which documents need to be apostilled for company registration in India?
Passport copies and address proof for every foreign director and shareholder must be notarized and apostilled, or fully consularized if the home country isn't a Hague Convention member. Plain notarization without apostille is rejected by the Registrar.
Ready to register your company in India?
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Rohit Lohade is a Chartered Accountant and India entry specialist at KRPR & Associates. With 15+ years of experience, he has assisted 250+ international companies — including global brands — incorporate and operate in India. He currently serves as Resident Director for multiple foreign-owned Indian subsidiaries.