A foreign national is any person who is not a national of the country in which he or she is residing and NRIs are overseas Indians, officially known as Non-Resident Indians or Person of Indian origin, are people of Indian birth, descent, origin who lives outside the Republic of India.

An NRI or person of Indian origin (PIO), as defined in FEMA and as stated above, can acquire by way of purchase, any immovable property in India, other than agricultural land/plantation property/farm house. This is under a general permission that has been given by the Government of India. However, no person being a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Nepal or Bhutan, shall acquire or transfer immovable property in India, other than lease, not exceeding five years, without prior permission of the Reserve Bank.