What documents are required to open a Zerodha account as an NRI?

NRIs and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) must ensure their residential status is marked as Non-resident on the ITD website before opening an account. To learn how to update the status, see How to update the resident status of PAN for an NRI & PIO account?
If the KYC status is Non-resident, there is no need to notarize the documents. If not, the documents must be notarised by the Indian embassy, authorised officials of overseas branches of scheduled commercial banks registered in India, public notaries, court magistrates, judges, or the Indian embassy or consulate general in the country where the NRI resides. The attesting authority should affix a verified with original stamp, name, designation, authority or employee code, signature and date on the said documents. To check the KYC status, create a ticket and mention the PAN and date of birth.
Equity F&O trading is not available by default with NRI accounts. F&O trading requires a Custodial Participant (CP) code with Zerodha partner, Orbis Financial Services for custodial services. See What are the trading restrictions for NRIs?

Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Zerodha accounts can only be opened offline, unlike resident individual accounts that can be opened online. However, clients who want to open an NRO-Non-PIS account, NRE-PIS account, or both can fill out the account opening application online and submit it for review before couriering it to Zerodha. To learn how, see Can an NRI account be opened online?

The documents required to open a Zerodha account as an NRI varies based on the type of NRI account.

Table of contents

Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) account.
Non-PIS account.
Joint account.
In-Person Verification (IPV).

Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) account

A Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) account requires a permission letter from the RBI to buy and sell shares in the Indian markets. The permission letter has to be through one of Zerodha's partner banks:

HDFC Bank
IndusInd Bank
IDFC First Bank
Axis Bank
Yes Bank

Funds from the Non-Resident Ordinary Account (NRO) and Non-Resident External Account (NRE) bank accounts can be invested in this account. To learn what NRO and NRE bank accounts are, see What is the difference between an NRE and NRO bank account?

The table below shows the documents required for a Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) account:

Type of document	Requirements
Application form	Equity application form (PDF). Sample equity form (PDF). Refer to the signature guidelines (PDF) to learn how to sign all the forms. Demat Debit and Pledge Instruction (DDPI), (PDF) allows brokers to debit securities from the demat account and deliver them to the exchange. However, DDPI is optional. Clients who do not want to submit DDPI can authorise the sale of securities using CDSL T-PIN. To learn more about T-PIN, see How to generate the CDSL TPIN required to authorise the CNC sell transactions?
PIS letter	Self-attested copy of the PIS letter from the bank. To get the PIS letter, see What is a PIS letter, and how to get it?
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) declaration	FATCA declaration (PDF). Sample FATCA form (PDF). TINs for countries can be found by visiting oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-identification-numbers/. The common TINs are as follows: USA: SSN, EIN or ITIN Canada: SIN UK: UTR or NINO Singapore: NRIC or FIN Australia: TFN
Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) declaration	FEMA declaration (PDF). Sample FEMA form (PDF).
P.O. Box declaration	Declaration of P.O. box of country of residence (PDF). Sample form (PDF).
NRI client details form	NRI client details form (PDF). Sample copy (PDF).
Passport	Indian passport Self-attested and notarised valid passport copy with the place of birth as India and a valid visa. Foreign passport Self-attested and notarised valid passport, visa and the PIO, OCI or resident card.
PAN	Self-attested and notarised PAN copy.
Address proof	Self-attested and notarised copy of the Indian address proof if available. Self-attested and notarised copy of the overseas address proof in English. The address proof can be any of the following: Driving licence Foreign passport Utility bills Bank statement Banker letter attested by the bank (on the bank's letterhead) (PDF). Rental agreement or lease or sale deed. Mariner’s declaration or certified copy of Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) in case of Merchant Navy NRIs.
Immigration copy	If the client is in India and submitting the documents to the Zerodha branch or if the notary is being done in India, the latest immigration copy should be provided.
Self-declaration	A self-declaration (PDF) if there is a minor mismatch in the name between the supporting documents.
Bank proof	Self-attested personalised cancelled cheque or bank statement from the NRE account.
Income proof	Due to their classification as Clients of Special Category (CSC), NRIs must submit self-attested income proof while opening an account. To learn more, see Who are Clients of Special Category (CSC), and when must they provide income proof? Income proof can be any of the following: Bank statement or passbook for the last six months. The latest salary slip. Form 16 or Income Tax Return (ITR) acknowledgement. Net worth certificate. Statement of demat holdings.

Non-PIS account

A Non-PIS account does not require a permission letter from the RBI. In this account, funds can be invested only from an NRO bank (any NRO Bank) account. The Non-PIS account is recommended as it has fewer restrictions, lower costs, and a more effortless investing experience.

The table below shows the documents required for a Non-PIS account:

Type of document	Requirements
Application form	Equity application form (PDF). Sample equity form (PDF). Refer to the signature guidelines (PDF) to learn how to sign all the forms. Demat Debit and Pledge Instruction (DDPI), (PDF) allows brokers to debit securities from the demat account and deliver them to the exchange. However, DDPI is optional. Clients who do not want to submit DDPI can authorise the sale of securities using CDSL T-PIN. To learn more about T-PIN, see How to generate the CDSL TPIN required to authorise the CNC sell transactions?
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) declaration	FATCA declaration (PDF). Sample FATCA form (PDF). TINs for countries can be found by visiting oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-identification-numbers/. The common TINs are as follows: USA: SSN, EIN or ITIN Canada: SIN UK: UTR or NINO Singapore: NRIC or FIN Australia: TFN
Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) declaration	FEMA declaration (PDF). Sample FEMA form (PDF).
P.O. Box declaration	Declaration of P.O. box of country of residence (PDF). Sample form (PDF).
NRI client details form	NRI client details form (PDF). Sample copy (PDF).
Passport	Indian passport Self-attested and notarised valid passport copy with the place of birth as India and a valid visa. Foreign passport Self-attested and notarised valid passport, visa and the PIO, OCI or resident card.
PAN	Self-attested and notarised PAN copy.
Address proof	Self-attested and notarised copy of the Indian address proof if available. Self-attested and notarised copy of the overseas address proof in English. The address proof can be any of the following: Driving licence Foreign passport Utility bills Bank statement Banker letter attested by the bank (on the bank's letterhead) (PDF). Rental agreement or lease or sale deed. Mariner’s declaration or certified copy of Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) in case of Merchant Navy NRIs.
Immigration copy	If the client is in India and submitting the documents to the Zerodha branch or if the notary is being done in India, the latest immigration copy should be provided.
Self-declaration	A self-declaration (PDF) if there is a minor mismatch in the name between the supporting documents.
Bank proof	Self-attested personalised cancelled cheque or bank statement from the NRO account.
Income proof	Due to their classification as Clients of Special Category (CSC), NRIs must submit self-attested income proof while opening an account. To learn more, see Who are Clients of Special Category (CSC), and when must they provide income proof? Income proof can be any of the following: Bank statement or passbook for the last six months. The latest salary slip. Form 16 or Income Tax Return (ITR) acknowledgement. Net worth certificate. Statement of demat holdings.

Did you know? NRE savings bank account can be added as a secondary bank account to an NRO-NOn-PIS account.

Joint account

NRIs can open a joint demat account if the NRI is the primary holder of the PIS or Non-PIS account and the Zerodha account. A resident individual can only be a joint account holder in an NRI joint account.

The table below shows the documents required if the second holder is a resident:

Type of document	Requirements
KYC application form	Individual KYC application form (PDF).
PAN	Self-attested PAN copy.
Address proof	Self-attested address proof. Any of the following: Diver’s licence Passport Voter’s ID Aadhaar. If an Aadhaar is being submitted as proof, ensure that a masked Aadhaar is submitted. To learn how to get the masked Aadhaar, see How to download masked Aadhaar?

If the second holder is an NRI, the documents required will vary based on the NRI's KYC status. If the NRI's KYC status is unknown, create a ticket mentioning the PAN and date of birth of the NRI to find out.

If the KYC status of the NRI second holder is Not Registered or registered as a Resident, a new KYC is to be done, and the below-mentioned documents need to be notarised. The attesting authority should affix a verified with original stamp, name, designation, authority or employee code, signature and date on the said documents.

The table below shows the documents required if the second holder is an NRI:

Type of document	Requirements
KYC application form	Individual KYC application form (PDF).
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) declaration	FATCA declaration (PDF). Sample FATCA form (PDF). TINs for countries can be found by visiting oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-identification-numbers/. The common TINs are as follows: USA: SSN, EIN or ITIN Canada: SIN UK: UTR or NINO Singapore: NRIC or FIN Australia: TFN
Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) declaration	FEMA declaration (PDF). Sample FEMA form (PDF).
P.O. Box declaration	Declaration of P.O. box of country of residence (PDF). Sample form (PDF).
Passport	Indian passport Self-attested and notarised valid passport copy with the place of birth as India and a valid visa. Foreign passport Self-attested and notarised valid passport, visa and the PIO, OCI or resident card.
PAN	Self-attested and notarised PAN copy.
Address proof	Self-attested and notarised copy of the Indian address proof if available. Self-attested and notarised copy of the overseas address proof in English. The address proof can be any of the following: Driving licence Foreign passport Utility bills Bank statement Banker letter attested by the bank (on the bank's letterhead) (PDF). Rental agreement or lease or sale deed. Mariner’s declaration or certified copy of Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC) in case of Merchant Navy NRIs.

In-Person Verification (IPV)

In-Person verification (IPV) is the process of verifying that the person opening the account and the documents submitted are of the same person. As part of the mandatory IPV requirement for all brokers, the authorised person must complete the verification.

To complete the IPV online, visit signup.zerodha.com/ipv. A 4-digit OTP is generated and shown on the screen. Clients are required to enable the camera and show the OTP while being clearly visible. To learn how to enable the camera. See, How can the camera be enabled for an in person verification (IPV)?

To complete the IPV offline, the applicant must visit a Zerodha branch office or a representative of Zerodha would be required to visit the offices or residences of the client to complete the IPV procedure.

Clients opening joint accounts must ensure that each account holder uses the mobile number mentioned in the KYC forms to complete the IPV.

The account opening charge is ₹500 for equity trading and demat accounts. Once all documents are prepared, email soft copies of the forms to [email protected]. The forms will undergo review for any necessary corrections. Upon completing the review process, courier the documents and a cheque of ₹500 in favour of Zerodha Broking Limited to:

Zerodha,
153/154, 4th Cross, J.P Nagar 4th Phase,
Opp. Clarence Public School,
Bengaluru - 560078

It can take upto 72 working hours to open the account. To learn about the applicable charges, see What are the charges for NRI accounts at Zerodha? For further assistance, call 080 4680 5727 or create a ticket.

Did you know?

As per the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), NRI clients living in blacklisted countries cannot open a Zerodha account, and those living in greylisted countries can open an account only after Zerodha's compliance team approval. To learn more about the FATF list, visit fatf-gafi.org/en/countries/black-and-grey-lists.html
To convert a resident Indian Zerodha account to an NRI Zerodha account, see, What documents are required to convert a resident Zerodha account to an NRI account and an NRI account to a resident Indian Zerodha account?
Resident Indians and NRIs can be added as nominees. To add an NRI as a nominee, the NRI's address and mobile number must be Indian.
To open an NRI minor account, see What documents are required to open a NRI-minor account at Zerodha?

Still need help?

Create a ticket

What documents are required to open a Zerodha account as an NRI?

Related articles