The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will let Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) and foreign nationals living in FATF-compliant countries complete their KYC digitally from abroad. The change, set out in a SEBI circular dated 4 November 2026, takes effect for new onboarding from 3 December 2026.
Until now, the KYC Master Circular of October 2023 required a client to be physically located in India during digital KYC. In practice, that meant an NRI investor opening a demat or trading account had to fly home, visit an overseas branch or rely on paper forms. SEBI said it reviewed the rule after representations from market participants.
What changes for NRI and OCI investors
Under the new framework, a SEBI-registered intermediary such as a stockbroker, depository participant or mutual fund distributor may accept KYC information and documents digitally from an individual “person resident outside India” (PROI) in a country the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) treats as compliant. Clients in FATF non-compliant jurisdictions stay under the existing process.
- PAN is verified against the Income Tax database, with no need to submit a copy.
- Passport copies are mandatory, along with the OCI card where it applies.
- KYC forms can be filed as a physical form, a scanned copy under electronic signature, or a fully digital form.
- Proof of address must be the client’s current overseas address. A foreign national whose ID lacks an address can use a foreign government document or a letter from a foreign embassy in India.
- Original documents can be replaced by DigiLocker e-documents, Aadhaar OTP, biometric or face authentication, or copies attested by a notary, embassy, consulate or overseas branch of an Indian bank.
- Mobile numbers can be Indian or international, and the email ID must be verified by OTP.
Video In-Person Verification gets strict tech safeguards
Where physical in-person verification is not feasible, intermediaries can run Video In-Person Verification (VIPV). SEBI has attached a detailed technology checklist to it, extending the safeguards seen in India’s video KYC journeys to cross-border onboarding:
- client consent recorded in an auditable, alteration-proof way;
- random prompts to prove the session is not pre-recorded;
- uninterrupted video with live GPS geo-tagging and tamper-proof date and time stamps;
- blocking of spoofed IP addresses, VPNs and proxy servers, with the client’s IP required to match India or the FATF-compliant country declared in the KYC form;
- face-liveness and spoof detection that does not exclude persons with special needs;
- end-to-end encryption between the client’s device and the intermediary’s platform;
- an authorised official present on every call, and concurrent audit of the process.
Clients who submit a digital specimen signature must also sign by hand in front of the official during the VIPV call. The whole KYC stack must comply with SEBI’s Cyber Security and Cyber Resilience Framework.
Portable KYC records with “validated” tags
KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs) will now tag each attribute of a KYC record, such as PAN, passport, address, mobile and email, as “validated” once it is checked against an official or source database. Every record will be portable across intermediaries, whether or not all attributes are validated.
An intermediary may also rely on KYC done by another SEBI-registered entity through the KRA, or by an entity regulated by the RBI, IRDAI, PFRDA or IFSCA through the Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCRR). It must still carry out enhanced due diligence based on the client’s risk profile, and upload completed KYC details to the KRA within three working days. Documents in other languages must be translated into English and attested.
The circular replaces SEBI’s December 2025 relaxation on geo-tagging for NRI re-KYC, and the same digital process will apply when NRIs in FATF-compliant countries redo their KYC. KYC completed before 3 December 2026 stays under the old rules.
Why it matters for brokers and wealth platforms
India’s capital markets have been courting the diaspora through online services for NRI investors, but the in-India location rule kept account opening slow. A fully remote, video-verified route should shorten onboarding for brokers, AMCs and wealth platforms, while the geo-tagging, liveness and VPN-blocking rules put the burden on their technology teams to build fraud-resistant VIPV systems within 30 days. It also follows SEBI’s recent push on digital accessibility for regulated entities.
Frequently asked questions
When do SEBI’s new NRI KYC rules take effect?
They apply to onboarding of individual NRI, OCI and foreign national clients from 3 December 2026, 30 days after the 4 November 2026 circular.
Who can complete KYC digitally from abroad?
Individual NRIs, OCIs and foreign nationals living in FATF-compliant countries. Clients in FATF non-compliant countries must follow the existing KYC process.
What is Video In-Person Verification (VIPV)?
It is a live video call in which an authorised official of the intermediary verifies the client, with geo-tagging, liveness checks, VPN blocking, encryption and concurrent audit built in.
