NRI's returning to india...

hi everybody,

We are planning to return to india sometime next year..just wanted to check out with any NRI who has recently shifted back to india re the customs..i did google it out but will be nice to know the practical aspects...re customs for electrical goods..do they open up everything and does it have to be used and more than 6 months old etc......pls share your experiences......hope this is the appropriate place for this query...
regards
Mindi

Mindi,

here is something that I found on the net - I know you mentioned that you googled. I still felt this might help you a little.

Customs Duty on LCD TV's in India - NRI? - Yahoo! Answers

And at the end of the page, there is a link to the customs site in India, just in case you miss it, here is the link

Indian Customs Baggage Rules, India import duties, NRI rates, Tourists, complaints

Hope you find all the relevant info here. Good luck with your move and the planning...you are going back to B'lore is it?

hi rama,
thanks for the immediate response....will look at the link...yes we are planning it sometime next year..at present considering different options but looks like we may decide on bangalore eventually...
love
Mindi

Mindi, do check out the return2india forums. They have some good information for people who are planning to return.

Hi Mindi,
I'm new here and just saw this post. I returned to India from the US in May 2008.
We did extensive research and decided not to ship electronics out(electronics are dutiable and we won't get companies to service in India for goods bought in the US anyway). We did ship out all our furniture though.
We cleared customs in Bangalore. One of us have to go in person to clear customs. They do open up boxes randomly.
We had packers/movers so everything was catalouged. They looked at the catalogue and randomly opened boxes of interest(in front of us).
We did keep receipts of our furniture purchases(which we had purchased in Dec '07) to prove that they were used(6 months old atleast). Yes, they may charge customs duty for new furniture and we didn't want to risk it. We were asked if the items were all houseold furniture and when we confirmed, they didn't open up the furniture packing to check if they were old or new.

Btw, the R2I forums (mentioned by the earlier poster) helped us plan our move. IT is a very useful link.
HTH,
Laks

thank u pavarun,

i am so sorry to acknowledge your reply so late..thanks a lot for the link..i shall definitely look into it..
regards
Mindi

thank u so much laks...
nice to get first hand information..and read your experience..
really thanks for all the small details...will go thru the link and plan our move too...
love
Mindi

hey where are u in Bangalore....since u are a new member i cannot pm u....

Mindi,

Have some recent practical experience clearing a container in India. Will write in detail once my internet stabilises. If you take Transfer of Residence and ship personal effects(which includes everything)- the rule is that every single carton has to be opened. They may just cursorily touch the open carton, but you have to open every carton(packages you open as and when they tell you). We also did not bring any electronic stuff. Sad to say, custome officials ask for bribe openly and we have to give it. Will write in detail later.

Mindi,
I'm in JP Nagar.

Vidya,
I did take transfer of residence too. We expected each carton to be opened as well but they opened a random few. They must have realized that it was not worth looking at, the first pack they opened randomly had my "shoes" and the other one our child's toys, some show pieces etc - that's when they decided to look at the packers catalogue and open based on the catalogue. We were not asked for Bribe by Bangalore customs. We had to pay duty for some items which amounted to less than Rs. 4000 but as I said, we didn't bring much of electronics that attract duty. Overall, we had a satisfactory experience with the shipment.

Hi Laks,

How did you go about finding a job there? I've been searching on MonsterIndia and such but haven't had any luck.