Moving Abroad? Your PPF & NPS Face 3 Key Rules

If you move abroad and become an NRI, your PPF account cannot accept new deposits but keeps earning interest until maturity. Your NPS Tier II account must be closed entirely. Here is what the rules say and what you must do before you board that flight.

Here's what happened: Existing PPF accounts can run until original maturity after an account holder turns NRI, but no fresh deposits are permitted from the date of status change.. NPS Tier II accounts are completely off-limits for NRIs under current eligibility rules — the account must be closed and the balance withdrawn once you become a non-resident.. NPS Tier I accounts can continue for NRIs with contributions routed through NRE or NRO accounts, giving some retirement-savings continuity even while living abroad..

What you should do: Stop all PPF standing instructions or auto-debits before your NRI status kicks in — any deposit made after the change is technically irregular and may complicate your account closure.. Close your NPS Tier II account and withdraw the full corpus before or immediately after relocating — visit your Point of Presence (PoP) branch or use the eNPS portal to initiate the closure.. Update your PPF and NPS Tier I account with your NRE or NRO bank account details so interest credits and future contributions flow through a compliant channel..

Your PPF maturity proceeds are fully repatriable — you can transfer the entire amount abroad after maturity without any RBI permission, provided the funds go to your NRE account.

For readers weighing their credit and loan options, our personal loan guide and CIBIL score resources put this update in context.