Can an NRI or Foreign National Register a Company in India?

Yes. An NRI, a person of Indian origin, or a foreign national with no Indian connection at all can own and run an Indian company. So can a foreign company.

There are three things that shape how it works: the resident director requirement, the FDI route for your sector, and document attestation. Everything else follows from those.

The one rule you cannot design around

This is a physical presence test, not a citizenship test. An Indian citizen living in Dubai for the whole year does not satisfy it. A foreign national resident in India does.

You do not need an Indian shareholder. You need a resident director. A company can be 100 per cent foreign-owned with a single resident director on the board, and that is the standard structure for a foreign-owned Indian subsidiary.

For an LLP the parallel rule is Section 7 of the LLP Act: at least two designated partners, at least one resident in India. If your resident director is planning to relocate, that is a compliance problem with a date on it. Plan for it before it arrives.

What structure to use

OPCs opened to NRIs on 1 April 2021, with the residency requirement for eligibility reduced to 120 days. Before that, only a resident Indian citizen could form one. Many articles have not been updated.

FDI: automatic or approval

Foreign investment into an Indian company comes through one of two routes.

Automatic route: no prior government approval. Most sectors, up to the sectoral cap. You invest, then report.

Government approval route: prior approval required. Applies to specified sensitive sectors and to certain investments from countries sharing a land border with India, which requires approval regardless of sector.

Check your sector before you incorporate, not after money has moved. The sectoral position changes, so it needs verifying against the prevailing FDI Policy and RBI Master Direction for your specific case rather than taken from an article.

FDI into an LLP is narrower. It is permitted under the automatic route only where the LLP operates in a sector allowing 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route with no performance-linked conditions. If your sector carries conditions, an LLP is the wrong vehicle and a company is the right one.

Reporting is not optional

Receiving foreign investment triggers FEMA reporting obligations with statutory timelines, and late filing attracts late submission fees.

Two practical points cause more problems than the forms themselves. First, money must come through banking channels into the company account, with the FIRC and KYC trail intact — cash brought in personally, or funds routed through a relative account, cannot be regularised afterwards without real difficulty. Second, valuation matters: shares issued to a non-resident must be priced at or above fair value determined by a prescribed methodology, so issuing shares at par to a foreign investor when the company has value is a FEMA problem, not just a tax one.

Documents, and why they take three weeks

This is the step that actually delays foreign incorporations.

• For an NRI holding an Indian passport: passport, overseas address proof, and a recent utility bill or bank statement. Documents executed outside India need attestation.
• For a foreign national: passport, address proof, and a photograph, all apostilled or consularised in the country of residence.
• For a foreign company as shareholder: incorporation certificate, board resolution authorising the investment and nominating a representative, and constitutional documents, all apostilled or consularised.

The distinction matters. Apostille applies where the country is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention — a single certificate from the designated authority. Consularisation applies where it is not: notarisation, then authentication by the foreign ministry, then attestation by the Indian embassy or consulate. Slower.

DIN for a non-resident director

Every director needs a DIN and a digital signature. For a non-resident, the DIN application is supported by the apostilled or consularised passport and address proof. The DSC also requires video verification, which is workable from anywhere but needs scheduling across time zones.

Bank account and the resident director

The company bank account is where the practical friction sits. Indian banks apply enhanced due diligence to foreign-owned entities, and requirements differ meaningfully between banks. The resident director presence usually makes this materially easier, and some banks effectively require an in-person step. Worth choosing the bank before incorporation rather than after.

Registered office

You need a real Indian address with an NOC from the owner. It can be a rented office, a coworking space, or a virtual office, though virtual offices attract more scrutiny at GST verification. It cannot be an address you have no documentary connection to.

What it looks like end to end

Six to ten weeks end to end is realistic for a foreign-owned incorporation, against one to two weeks for a domestic one. The difference is almost entirely document attestation.

What comes after

The same first-year obligations as any Indian company, plus the FEMA layer. INC-20A within 180 days, first auditor within 30 days, annual filings, and the FDI reporting each time fresh capital comes in.