<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nQ1. Can a foreign national be an independent director in an Indian company?<\/strong>
Yes. The Companies Act, 2013 does not bar foreign nationals from independent directorships. They must hold a DIN, meet the independence criteria under Section 149(6), avoid disqualification under Section 164, and the company must still have a resident director on its board.<\/p>\n\n\n\nQ2. Does a foreign independent director count as a resident director?<\/strong>
Generally no. A resident director must have stayed in India for at least 182 days in the previous calendar year. A foreign national who visits only for board meetings will usually not meet this test, so the company must appoint a separate resident director.<\/p>\n\n\n\nQ3. Is an independent director mandatory in a wholly owned subsidiary?<\/strong>
No. Private companies are not required to appoint independent directors, and unlisted public wholly owned subsidiaries are exempt under the Appointment and Qualification of Directors Rules, 2014. Appointment is a governance choice, not a legal obligation, in most foreign-owned subsidiaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\nQ4. What documents does a foreign national need for a DIN?<\/strong>
Typically a passport, proof of residential address, a recent photograph and identity proof. Documents are usually notarised and apostilled or consularised, depending on the country. Applicants file Form DIR-3 on the MCA portal, and a Digital Signature Certificate is also required.<\/p>\n\n\n\nQ5. Are sitting fees paid to a foreign independent director taxable in India?<\/strong>
Generally yes. Sitting fees for services connected with an Indian company are treated as India-sourced income of a non-resident, and tax is withheld at source. A tax treaty between India and the director\u2019s country may reduce or alter the liability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Can a foreign national independent director in India sit on the board of an Indian subsidiary? Yes. The Companies Act, 2013 does not restrict independent directorships by nationality. What it requires is eligibility, independence, a valid Director Identification Number (DIN) and compliance with residency and tax rules. This question matters to foreign parent companies, NRIs, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[812],"tags":[4701,745,801,4264,4706,4709,4702,4710,4705,4704,4703,4218,4707,4711,4708],"class_list":["post-9738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-can-foreigner-be-independent-director-in-india","tag-company-formation-in-india","tag-company-setup-in-india","tag-din-for-foreign-nationals","tag-dir-3-application-foreign-director","tag-fema-compliance-foreign-director","tag-foreign-national-independent-director-in-india","tag-foreign-subsidiary-india-compliance","tag-independent-director-data-bank-iica","tag-independent-director-foreign-national","tag-independent-director-indian-subsidiary","tag-resident-director-requirement-india","tag-section-149-companies-act-2013","tag-sitting-fees-non-resident-india-tax","tag-wholly-owned-subsidiary-board-composition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/startupsolicitors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/startupsolicitors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/startupsolicitors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/startupsolicitors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/startupsolicitors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/startupsolicitors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9740,"href":"https:\/\/startupsolicitors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9738\/revisions\/9740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/startupsolicitors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/startupsolicitors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/startupsolicitors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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