Balances in an NRE or FCNR(B) account go out freely — principal and interest, no limit, no form beyond your bank's own.
The NRO account is where the limit lives. Up to USD 1 million per financial year may be remitted out of NRO balances: sale proceeds of property, the proceeds of assets inherited or acquired by legacy, and other rupee balances, after Indian taxes have been paid. Current income — rent, dividend, pension, interest — is freely repatriable net of tax and does not eat into the million.
Two forms gate the transfer. Form 15CB is a chartered accountant's certificate on the taxability of the remittance; Form 15CA is your own declaration, filed online. Banks will not release the funds without them.
A maturing PPF is one of the balances people forget about here. The proceeds are non-repatriable, so they land in an NRO account and go out through this same route.
PPF accounts after becoming a non-resident
- The USD 1 million limit is per financial year, per person — see what you have left.
- What the money is worth on the other side is a separate question — what the rate costs you.
- Repatriating proceeds of property bought in foreign exchange is restricted to two residential properties.
- Start the 15CA/15CB paperwork before the sale closes, not after.
Source: Reserve Bank of India, FAQs Remittance of Assets (as on 2 September 2016), which sets the USD 1 million a financial year against NRO balances, sale proceeds of assets and assets acquired by legacy or inheritance, and Accounts in India by Non-residents (as on 16 January 2025) — both read with the Foreign Exchange Management (Remittance of Assets) Regulations, 2016. The two-property restriction is in the RBI's FAQ Purchase of Immovable Property. Forms 15CA and 15CB are required under the income-tax rules on remittances. Checked 20 September 2026.