Money and structure

Form A2 and Forms 15CA and 15CB

Also called Form A2, A2 form, Form 15CA, Form 15CB, 15CA, 15CB.

Form A2 is the application and declaration an Indian resident must furnish to the authorised dealer bank to buy foreign exchange for an outward remittance, while Forms 15CA and 15CB are separate income tax filings for a payment to a non-resident, from which a remittance made by an individual that needs no prior Reserve Bank approval is exempt.

What it decides

Paragraph 15 of the Reserve Bank's Liberalised Remittance Scheme Master Direction makes the remitter designate one authorised dealer branch and furnish Form A2 there, and paragraph 16 makes a PAN mandatory. The older application cum declaration for LRS was discontinued by A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 50 of 11 February 2016, leaving Form A2 as the single form. Section B of the same Master Direction grounds it in section 10(5) of FEMA 1999, under which the bank must take a declaration reasonably satisfying it that the transaction is not designed to contravene or evade the Act. Forms 15CA and 15CB are separate, and come from Rule 37BB with section 195: Part A where the remittance or the year's aggregate does not exceed five lakh rupees, Part B where it exceeds that and the assessing officer has issued an order or certificate under section 195(2), 195(3) or 197, Part C where it exceeds that on an accountant's certificate in Form 15CB, and Part D where the remittance is not chargeable to tax. The Income Tax Department's own FAQ then drops the filing where the remittance is by an individual and needs no prior Reserve Bank approval, or is of a nature specified under the relevant RBI purpose code, which is why many investors meet Form A2 and never meet Form 15CB.

Governed by Reserve Bank of India, FED Master Direction No. 7/2015-16, updated as on 6 September 2024, paragraphs 15 and 16, its Form A2 annex, and Section B paragraph 2, which quotes section 10(5) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999; A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 50 of 11 February 2016, cited in the Master Direction's footnotes; Rule 37BB, Income-tax Rules 1962, with sections 195 and 288, Income-tax Act 1961. The linked page is the Income Tax Department's Form 15CA FAQ, which carries the Part A to Part D thresholds, the Form 15CB requirement and the exemptions, but says nothing about Form A2, which comes from the Reserve Bank Master Direction instead. incometaxindia.gov.in, which hosts the Rule 37BB text itself, returns 403 to an automated fetch.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into form a2 and forms 15ca and 15cb rather than mentioning it.

EB-5 Demand in India: Current Status and Future Outlook

Related terms

Liberalised Remittance SchemeThe Liberalised Remittance Scheme is the Reserve Bank of India facility under which a resident individual, minors included, may remit up to USD 250,000 abroad in a financial year running April to March for any permitted current or capital account transaction, with any overseas investment made under it governed by the Overseas Investment Rules 2022.
SAFE and China currency controlsSAFE is China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and under its rules each individual has an annual facilitation quota of USD 50,000 equivalent, counted separately for settling foreign exchange into renminbi and for buying it, which may not be used for capital account items such as an overseas investment.
Source of fundsSource of funds is the documentary showing that an EB-5 investor's required capital, and the money used to pay administrative costs and fees, was obtained from a lawful source and through lawful means, proved by records rather than by assertion.
Path of fundsPath of funds is the account by account trail documenting how the capital moved from its proven source into the new commercial enterprise, and it is a separate showing from proving that the source was lawful.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary