Muscat: Indians living in Oman on Friday welcomed the government’s decision to issue Aadhaar card to Non-Resident Indians (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.

Speaking to The Arabian Stories, Varghese Antony, a senior engineer working in a petroleum firm said he is finally relived as most of the financial transactions are done through Aadhaar. “I faced a tough battle last year when I wanted to sell my property. The government authorities asked for the Aadhaar and when I told them I am an NRI, they said I still have to go through the procedure in order to do the transaction.

“When I went to apply for the Aadhaar they told me I have to wait for 180 days and that’s not going to happen. I am glad that finally I can get an Aadhaar Card,” he said. 

Announcing this while presenting the 2019-20 Union Budget in the Parliament, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “I propose to consider issuing Aadhaar card for non resident Indians (NRIs) with Indian passports after their arrival in India without waiting for the mandatory 180 days.”

Vinod Rajan who runs his a medical supplies company in Muscat thanked Minister Sitharaman for finally taking timely decision. “Thank you Nirmala Sitharaman madam for taking this step. There was so much confusion earlier with regards to this. Government officials had repeatedly told us that NRIs do not require an Aadhaar but every time when we for any transaction, we required an Aadhaar,” Rajan added.