Stay of 182 Days in India Must for NRIs to Get Aadhaar

By Little India Desk | December 14, 2017

Non-Resident Indians have to stay in India for at least 182 days or more in the last 12 months to be eligible for Aadhaar card, the Consulate General of India in Dubai said in a statement on Dec. 12.

“NRIs, although they are citizens of India, are not eligible for Aadhaar Card if they have not stayed for more than 182 days or more in the last 12 months,” said the statement. It added that the OCI cardholders who stay in India for a long time (over 182 days in 12 months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment) and have an Indian address can enroll for the Aadhaar card in India.

For NRIs, however, it is mandatory to complete the 182-days period and only then can they apply for the Aadhaar card. “Upon completion of 182 days of their stay in India in the last 12 months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment, NRIs can apply for Aadhaar Card,” the statement said.

The statement clarified that as per Section 139AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, every person who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number shall, on or after the 1st day of July, 2017, quote Aadhaar number — in the application form for allotment of permanent account number and also in the return of income.

“The above provisions apply to persons who are eligible to get Aadhaar. Under section 3 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, only a resident is entitled to get Aadhaar. Therefore, the provisions of Section 139AA quoted above regarding linking of Aadhaar to PAN or the requirement of quoting the Aadhaar number in the return shall not apply to a non-resident, who is not eligible to get Aadhaar,” said the statement.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Dec. 7 this year said in a statement that in India, Aadhaar card is required for various welfare programs, verification of bank account, PAN card and SIM card.

There is no stay from the Supreme Court on Aadhaar and its linking to various services.

“On June 1, 2017 prevention of money laundering Rules has been amended to make Aadhaar mandatory for linking all bank accounts, insurance, pension, mutual funds, DMAT account,” said the statement by the UIDAI.

In November this year, the UIDAI said in a statement that the Aadhaar data is fully safe and secure and there has been no data leak or breach at UIDAI. “The data on the government websites was placed in public domain as a measure of proactive disclosure under RTI Act by government and institutional websites which included beneficiaries’ name, address, bank account, and other details including Aadhaar number and was collected from the third party/users for various welfare schemes,” the statement said.