Budget 2019 proposes quick Aadhaar card for NRIs with Indian passports

Budget 2019 proposes to consider issuing Aadhaar card to NRIs holding Indian passports without waiting for 180 days. This will facilitate NRIs in getting KYC done quickly and use the card for expediting financial transactions within the country. Issue of quick Aadhaar to NRIs may allow them to use the card number for filing ITRs also.

As per the current Aadhaar laws, every resident shall be entitled to obtain an aadhaar number by submitting his demographic information and biometric information by undergoing the process of enrolment.

The Act further defines residency as, "An individual who has resided in India for a period or periods amounting in all to 182 days or more in the 12 months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment."



Experts suggest that in layman terms, it can be said that if you are applying for Aadhaar today, you have to go back one year from the date of application and assess if you have spent more than 182 days in India.

This means that it does not matter whether you are an NRI or foreign national, if you have stayed in India for more than 182 days, you will be eligible to apply for Aadhaar.

However, the Act does not mention whether the date of arrival or departure is taken into consideration and/or a half day is taken into consideration while calculating minimum number of days required to stay in India.


However, the Aadhaar Act has clarified that even if you're holding an Aadhaar or applied for one it does not mean that you have received Indian citizenship.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit identification number issued to an individual after the receipt of demographic information such as address, date of birth and biometric information such as iris scan, finger prints etc.

It is a random number which has no relation to any personal details of the person.