Home Loans FAQs

You can apply for an India Home Loan even before you have selected your property. ICICI Bank will sanction a loan amount, based on your repayment capacity.

ICICI Bank offers loans for a variety of purposes and for varying tenures.

# For GCC: Tenor between 11-15 years, minimum qualification to be Post Graduate/ Professional Qualification.# For USA and Other Countries: Tenor between 11-15 years, minimum qualification to be Diploma/ Graduate with minimum 3 years of employment abroad and Professional Qualification with 1 year of employment abroad.

*Please Note:- The maximum loan that can be given is INR 1 crore.The minimum loan that can be given is INR 5 lakh.

ICICI Bank offers loans for a variety of purposes and for varying tenures.

# For GCC: Tenor between 11-15 years, minimum qualification to be Post Graduate/ Professional Qualification.# For USA and Other Countries: Tenor between 11-15 years, minimum qualification to be Diploma/ Graduate with minimum 3 years of employment abroad and Professional Qualification with 1 year of employment abroad.

*Please Note:- The maximum loan that can be given is INR 1 crore.The minimum loan that can be given is INR 5 lakh.

You can get a home loan ranging from a minimum of Rs 5 lakh to a maximum of Rs 1 crore, based on your repayment capacity and the cost of the property. You will be eligible for a maximum of 80% of the cost of the property or the cost of construction as applicable and 65% of the cost of land in case of purchase of land. To determine your repayment capacity, we take into account factors such as:

• Age
• Income
• Qualifications
• Number of dependants
• Assets
• Liabilities
• Stability / continuity of your employment / business
• Income of co-applicant/s
• Check out our section on Who's Eligible

A co-applicant is not mandatory to avail a Home Loan. Personal Guarantor is required if there is no co-applicant. The co-applicant may be a resident Indian or an NRI.

Co-applicant can be son, daughter, sister, brother, parent or spouse. We can include your spouse’s income to enhance your loan amount. Further, if there are any other co-owners, they too will need to be co-applicants.

Your loan will be disbursed after you have selected a property; submitted all the necessary legal documents; the property is technically and legally cleared; and you have paid your own contribution toward the purchase of the home. The cheque for the loan amount is drawn in favour of the builder or seller as the case may be. In the case of an under-construction property, ICICI Bank disburses loan amounts appropriate to the state of construction.

Repayment is done in equated monthly instalments (EMIs), and includes interest and principal amount calculated on monthly rests. You can pay EMIs by issuing post-dated cheques from your NRE / NRO account, or any other account approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In the case of part-disbursement of the loan, the monthly interest is payable only on the disbursed amount. This is called pre-EMI interest, and is payable monthly till the final disbursement is made, after which EMIs will commence.

You can prepay part of the loan at no cost during the tenure of the loan.

Yes, you can foreclose the loan before its original tenure expires. You will be charged 2% on the outstanding amount and whatever has been pre-paid in the last 12 months.

You will have to send a cheque in Indian rupees favouring ICICI Bank Ltd to your Power of Attorney (POA) holder, along with a covering letter clearly mentioning your application number or LAN number. Your POA holder will have to submit them to any HFC branch in India. Action will then be taken, and a re-schedulement / foreclosure letter sent to your mailing address as mentioned in our records.

Your POA holder can come and collect the original documents personally from our office. They will be handed over after he / she provides proof of identity.

You'll need to provide security of the property and/or any other additional collateral security as may be mutually agreed upon.

Personal details documents

• 1 passport size latest photograph of each applicant (applicant & co-applicant) with signature across
• Valid passport copies for all the applicants
• Valid visa copies for all the applicants
• Cheque / Draft in INR for fees (as per applicable rate) and the date must be in dd/mm/yyyy format*
• Power of Attorney document as per our format duly signed by all the applicants.
• Authority letter duly signed by all the applicants as per our specified format
• Company details as per our format
• Copy of current overseas residential verification proof of all the applicants to the loan. (Driving license or bank statement showing overseas address or latest insurance premium receipt or utility bill)
• Copy of PAN Card for the Ist applicant OR Form 60 as per our format attached here with
• Self attested address proof of all applicants

Financial details documents: for salaried individuals

• Copy of current appointment letter OR Copy of salary certificate clearly mentioning the date of joining, current salary earned and designation held in the company
• Copy of previous appointment letters
• Last 3 months salary slip for fixed salary and last 4 months for variable salary
• Last 6 months bank statements clearly mentioning salary credits in the account

Financial details documents: for self employed individuals

Copy of

• Incorporation of business
• Income Proof –
  • Middle East: Last 2 years audited/C.A certified P&L accounts.
  • US & Canada: Last 2 years CPA compiled/reviewed/audited P&L accounts.
  • Others: Last 2 years C.A or equivalent certified/audited P&L accounts.
• Partnership deed (incase of a partnership firm)
• MOA & AOA of the company (incase of a private ltd. company)
• Last 6 months bank statements in the company's name
• Last 6 months bank statements in individual's name
• Business profile and office address proof

NRI Personal Guarantor documents

If you have opted for a NRI Personal Guarantor on your loan, arrange to send the following documents

• Passport & visa copies of the NRI Guarantor
• Current overseas address verification proof of the NRI Guarantor. (Driving license or bank statement showing overseas address or latest insurance premium receipt or utility bill)
• Current income documents of guarantor

Note:

Co-applicant's income can be considered for enhancing your loan eligibility or increasing your loan amount. Please ensure that all financial documents of co-applicant(s) are attached with your India Home Loan Application. In case, you have opted to not consider your co-applicant's income for loan eligibility, you may send across the declaration form for your blood relative(s) / spouse coming in as co-applicant(s).

In case there is no co-applicant, an NRI Guarantor is required compulsorily along with his / her identity and address proof.

Floating Rates:
Depending on the movement of interest rates in the market, the interest rate for the loan is reset at the beginning of every quarter, i.e. January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1. The rate is reset with reference to the ICICI Home Loan Prime Lending Rate prevailing on the dates of the respective resets. When the rates are reset, customers have the option of either adjusting their loan installment or the loan tenure, subject to the overall restrictions on the loan tenure.
Fixed Rates:
The interest rate is fixed on the home loan for the term of the loan.

Yes you can. You can switch from a floating rate to a fixed rate any time by paying a nominal switching fee of 1.75% of the outstanding loan. You can also switch from a fixed rate to a floating rate by paying a nominal switching fee of 1.75% of the outstanding loan.

An 'Overseas Citizen of India (OCI)' is a person resident outside India who is registered as an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder under Section 7(A) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Answer: No, you need not visit India to avail a Home Loan. You can either visit our overseas branches or call at our toll free numbers https://www.icicibank.com/nri-banking/RHStemp/contact-us.page?. Loan disbursement can be executed through Power of Attorney (POA).  

You need to give the address in India where you / your immediate family live, and where you may want to receive correspondence on your India Home Loans. This is a mandatory requirement. If your co-applicant (spouse, siblings, parent) has the same residential address in India, you can select the option ‘Same as Applicant' and the relevant fields will be filled automatically, saving you the trouble of doing it all over again!

You need to give the permanent address in India where you / your immediate family live and where you may want to receive correspondence related to your India Home Loans. This may be the same as the residential address in India. Since we need it to do a credit verification, it is a mandatory requirement. If your co-applicant (spouse, siblings, parent) has the same residential address in India, you can select the option `Same as Applicant' and the relevant fields will be filled automatically, saving you the trouble of doing it all over again!!

A Power of Attorney (POA) is a resident Indian appointed to act on behalf of all the applicants through an execution of the General Power of Attorney (GPA) deed. It is mandatory for both the applicant and co-applicants to execute the GPA in favor of the person concerned. If the co-applicant is a resident Indian, he/she can also be the POA through the execution of the GPA by the applicant.

A guarantor guarantees the loan you take. Only an NRI can guarantee an India Home Loan taken by another NRI. It's mandatory to have either a co-applicant or an NRI guarantor.

Any resident Indian appointed to act on behalf of all the applicants through an execution of the General Power of Attorney (GPA) deed. It is mandatory for both the applicant and co-applicant to execute the GPA in favor of the person concerned. If the co-applicant is a resident Indian, he/she can also be the POA through the execution of the GPA by the applicant.

Own contribution is the difference between the total cost of property and the loan amount through ICICI Bank which is paid by the customer from his/her savings.

Home Loan will be disbursed as soon as you select property, submit the required property, income and KYC documents, the property is legally and technically sound and you provide own contribution receipt. Disbursement will be made in Indian currency in favour of seller/builder as the case may be in ICICI Bank branch where you applied for Home Loan.

Payments should be made out of funds received in India through normal banking channel by way of inward remittance from any place outside India or by debit to NRE/FCNR/NRO Account. Such payments cannot be made either by traveller’s cheque or by foreign currency notes or by other modes, except those specifically mentioned above.

Repayment is done in Equated Monthly Instalments (EMIs), and includes interest and principal amount calculated on monthly basis. The repayment of loan should be either by inward remittance from outside India or by debit to NRE / NRO / FCNR(B) account of the borrower and/or out of sale proceeds realised through securities offered for the loans. In case of part-disbursement of the loan, the monthly interest is payable only on the disbursed amount. This is called pre-EMI interest, and is payable monthly till the final disbursement is made, after which EMIs will commence.

You can prepay part of the loan at no cost during the tenure of the loan under floating rate of interest

To transfer your outstanding mortgage loan from HFC/Bank/ Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) /State Government/Central Government to ICICI Bank.

Your eligibility will be checked by our credit team after you apply for balance transfer of loan.

Rate of interest for balance transfer of loan will be the same as applicable in Home Loan

Home Improvement Loan is taken to renovate/improve the existing property.

References help us get in touch with you when we are unable establish contact with you overseas. It is mandatory to provide resident Indian references while applying for India Home Loans. One of the references has to be a resident Indian relative. One of your references can also be your POA or resident co-applicant.

Yes. You are eligible for tax benefits on the principal and interest components of your balance transfer loan under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

1) Detailed estimate from the contractor on letter-head or on plain paper with rubber stamp giving the cost of material and labor cost.
2) Bill of material purchased and estimate of labor cost from the contractor on letter head or on plain paper with rubber stamp.

Rate of interest for home improvement loan will be same as Home Loan

Yes. You are eligible for tax benefits on the principal components of your home improvement loan under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

You can avail of home improvement loan for maximum <15> years

Top-up Loan can be availed for the following purposes: Purchase/fund, furnishing of home, consumer durable, child’s education, child’s marriage, family holiday and vehicle.

You should not have EMI/Pre-EMI outstanding as on previous month end, from the point of doing a top-up and all Post Disbursement Documents (PDDs) should have been collected.

Interest rate would be same as Home Loan.

Yes. You are eligible for tax benefits on the principal components of your home improvement loan under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Tenure will be restricted to balance tenure of existing loan or <10> years whichever is higher, subject to maximum of <20> years for salaried/ Self Employed Professional (SEP) and <15> years for Self Employed Non Professional (SENP).

Yes you can avail Top-up Loan in addition to balance transfer.

Yes you can close your home loan. The prepayment charges are as under:

1. Nil for Home Loans and Home Improvement Loans with floating rate of interest.
2. <2>% plus applicable taxes on principal outstanding* on full repayment for Home Loans with fixed rate of interest.
3. <2>% plus applicable taxes on principal outstanding* on full repayment for Home Loan Top-up Loan if the applicant or co-applicant is non individual.
4. <4>% plus applicable taxes on principal outstanding* where loan** is given to non-individual borrowers or with fixed rate of interest to individual borrowers. If the loan is sanctioned prior to <March 1, 2011> then prepayment charges would be <2>% plus applicable taxes.

*Current principal outstanding and all amounts tendered by the borrower towards prepayment of the Facility during the last one year from the date of final prepayment.
**Home Equity Loan/Home Equity Enhancement Loan.

MCLR stands for Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate. MCLR is the benchmark rate below which the banks cannot provide loans to the customers who are availing of loans linked to MCLR. This new benchmark rate is applicable for new loans sanctioned from <April 1, 2016> onwards.

The MCLR will be a tenure linked rate which has to be reviewed and published every month on a pre-announced date.

The reset period and date will be decided on the date of first disbursement.
In case of increase in MCLR on the reset date, the ROI will increase which in turn will impact the EMI/tenure of the loan depending on the option exercised by the borrower.
In case of decrease in MCLR on the reset date, the ROI will decrease which in turn will impact the EMI/tenure of the loan depending on the option exercised by the borrower.

Illustration: Consider a scenario where first disbursement of the loan is done on <April 15, 2016> under I-MCLR-1Y benchmark rate, with the I-MCLR-1Y being <9.20>% p.a. with a spread/margin of <20> basis points (bps). In such a case, the effective rate would be <9.40>% p.a.
In the above scenario, the effective rate of <9.40>% p.a. would remain constant till the next reset date i.e. <April 1, 2017>. On <April 1, 2017>, the loans would be reset with the applicable I-MCLR-1Y rate as on that date.
The spread/margin of the loan would continue to remain the same. e.g. If the I-MCLR-1Y is <9.10>% p.a. as on <April 1, 2017>, then revised rate applicable for the loan would be <9.10>% + <0.20>% = <9.30>% p.a. w.e.f. <April 1, 2017>.

In case of floating rate loans, the Banks can specify dates of interest reset which will be linked to either the date of first disbursement or date of review of MCLR.
The periodicity of reset will be one year or lower. The exact periodicity of reset will form part of the terms of the loan contract.
For loans disbursed in a particular month, the reset date will be the 1st day of the month of the subsequent year(s). e.g. if the loan is disbursed during any day of <April 2016>, the reset date for the said loan will be <April 1, 2017>
If, however, the customer opts for any rate conversion in a particular month, then the annual reset date will be 1st day of the month (in which the conversion is effected) of the subsequent year(s). e.g. If the loan is disbursed on <April 20, 2016> and subsequently in the month of September 2016, the customer opts rate conversion which is effected on <September 12, 2016>, the reset date for the said loan will be <September 1, 2017>.

The benchmark MCLR for Mortgage Loans is I-MCLR-1Y. The reset period would be an annual reset.

Yes, MCLR can be different between different banks as it will depend on marginal cost of funds, negative carry on account of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), operating costs, tenor premium of respective banks.

Yes you can sell the property even if your Home Loan is outstanding.

1) A person who is an NRI.
2) The guarantor should be known to the applicant.
3) The guarantor should not belong to a caution profile.
4) Should not be a co-applicant of the loan.

Answer: Personal Guarantor will be required in the following cases:

• When no co-applicant is available for loan application
• Applicant is an undergraduate in salaried cases or
• Required from other main NRI partners/directors in self-employed cases.

Sanction letter issued by ICICI Bank is valid for six months.

Providing details of proposed property purchase enhances your credibility and expedites the loan sanction process. If you are planning to buy a plot of land, we highly recommended that you tell us the location of the plot of land. Providing the ownership pattern of the proposed property also helps us expedite your loan sanction.