A S BANKA ADVISORS

If a co-founder, an early angel or a family shareholder of yours lives abroad and wants to open an account with a SEBI registered intermediary, digital KYC so far has needed them to be physically in India. SEBI’s circular of 4 November 2026 removes that requirement for individuals located in a FATF compliant country, from 3 December 2026. The relief comes with a defined process, and the details decide whether an on-boarding goes through on the first attempt.

SEBI Circular HO/38/30/12(3)2026-MIRSD-POD2/I/25175/2026, “Review of Know Your Client process for individual Person Resident Outside India clients”, applies to every SEBI registered intermediary, stock exchange, clearing corporation and depository.

What was blocking investors abroad

The KYC Master Circular of 12 October 2023 requires an intermediary to ensure that, during digital KYC, the client is physically in India. SEBI says in para 2 that this “in effect restricts a client outside India, at the time of on-boarding, to submit the KYC documents and complete the KYC process digitally.” Para 4.1 relaxes that requirement for an individual Person Resident Outside India (PROI) client located in a FATF compliant country, read as per details published by FATF.

An individual PROI client is a Non-Resident Indian, an Overseas Citizen of India or a foreign national (para 3). PROI carries its meaning from section 2(w) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999: “a person who is not resident in India”.

The country test runs through the whole process

The location condition is not a one-time declaration. Where physical In-Person Verification is not feasible, the video verification (VIPV) under para 5.5.8 must record the client’s live GPS co-ordinates, block connections from spoofed IP addresses, VPNs and proxy servers, and confirm that the client’s IP address emanates from India or a FATF compliant country and matches the country stated in the KYC form and the identity document. The intermediary’s authorised official must be present, and the process is subject to concurrent audit (para 4.4).

So the practical point for an investor abroad: the country on the KYC form, the country on the document, and the place from which the video call is taken should line up. A client residing in a FATF non-compliant country stays on the extant KYC process (para 8.4).

Paperwork: what moves and what stays

Where the original document is not shown, para 5.5.6 lets the intermediary take a DigiLocker e-document, an e-document from the issuing authority, Aadhaar e-KYC authentication, or a copy attested by a certifying authority. That list includes a Notary Public, an authorised official of an overseas branch of a Scheduled Commercial Bank registered in India, and the Indian Embassy or Consulate General of the country where the client resides. The attested copy must show the date, location, name and licence number or employee code, if any, of the certifying authority. An attestation missing those details is the kind of gap that sends a file back.

Existing KYC can carry over

The intermediary first asks for the client’s PAN and CKYC ID, if available, and retrieves the existing records from the KYC Registration Agency (KRA) and the Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCRR) (para 5.2). It asks for more only where something has changed, the records are incomplete, a document’s validity has lapsed, it needs to verify identity or address, or for enhanced due diligence (para 5.3). It may rely on KYC done by another SEBI registered intermediary, or by an entity regulated by RBI, IRDAI, PFRDA or IFSCA (para 5.6), but it keeps “the ultimate responsibility for the KYC of its clients” (para 5.6.3).

Dates and limits

• The circular takes effect on 3 December 2026 (para 7). KYC done before that date stays under the extant provisions (para 8.5).
• The same process applies to re-KYC of a client in a FATF compliant country (para 5.10). SEBI’s circular of 10 December 2025 on geo tagging for NRI re-KYC stands superseded (para 8.3).
• A foreign national seeking registration as a Foreign Portfolio Investor follows the FPI Master Circular of 30 May 2024 instead (para 6).
• The intermediary uploads completed KYC to the KRA within 3 working days (para 5.7).

Checklist for an investor abroad

1. Check that the country you will be in during on-boarding is FATF compliant, as published by FATF.
2. Find your PAN and, if you have one, your CKYC ID before you start.
3. Get English translations attested for any document in another language.
4. If you cannot show originals, arrange an attestation that carries the certifying authority’s date, location, name and licence number or employee code.
5. Take the video verification from the country named in your KYC form and document, without a VPN or proxy.

The carousel walks through each document, safeguard and date card by card: Download the full carousel PDF.

Source: Securities and Exchange Board of India, Circular HO/38/30/12(3)2026-MIRSD-POD2/I/25175/2026, “Review of Know Your Client process for individual Person Resident Outside India clients”, 4 November 2026, sebi.gov.in.

Need help navigating this? Book a quick call: talk to A S Banka Advisors Private Limited about on-boarding investors and shareholders who live outside India.