FOMAA Capital, Western, South East and Great Lakes Regions Foreign Fund Transactions Event Was A Huge Success

FOMAA Capital (RVP, Western, South-East and Great Lakes region organized an education and empowerment online event, “Understanding Foreign Fund Transactions “including sale and purchase of overseas property and inherited properties. There were several questions during the 2023 Foreign Fund Transactions event and the community wanted to discuss this again. Also, considering the increasing need for Foreign fund transactions for all the immigrants, this event is very important to all. The online event was held on Thursday, April 25, 2024 at 8:30 PM, EST.
The program started with a prayer song by Sajitha Manu from Frederick, Maryland. Next, the FOMAA Capital Region RVP, Dr. Madhu Nambiar introduced the RVPs, National Committee members and office bearers of the all the four FOMAA regions associations, including National Committee members Mathew Varghese and Rajeev Sukumaran; Western Region RVP, Dr. Prince Nechikat and National Committee Members Johnson V Joseph, Jasmine Parol, and Sajith Thaivalappil, and Youth Forum member Roselin Wilson and Women’s Forum Secretary, Reshma Ranjan, Women’s Forum chairperson Suja Ouso and Judicial Council member Joseph Ouso; South-East RVP Dominic Chakonal and National Committee members, Biju Joseph and Deepak Alexander; and Great Lakes Region RVP Bobby Thomas and National Committee members, Saijan Kaniyodikal; Sudeep Kishan and Women’s Forum Treasurer, Sunitha Pillai.

Dr. Nambiar welcomed FOMAA President Dr. Jacob Thomas, General Secretary, Ojus John, Treasurer, Biju Thonikadavil, Vice-president Sunny Vallikalam, Joint Secretary, Dr. Jaimol Sreedhar, Joint Treasurer, James George and the former Capital Region RVP and Judicial council member Thomas Jose, Former Capital Region National Committee member Anil Nair, all the other FOMAA RVPs, National Committee members, office bearers, member association presidents, and executive Committee.

From the FOMAA National Executive side, General Secretary Ojus John, Treasurer, Biju Thonikadavil and Vice-president Sunny Vallikulam spoke and felicitated. FOMAA western Region RVP Dr. Prince Nechikatt also provided his remarks and introduced the Western region officials. From the Great Lakes, RVP Bobby Thomas provided the felicitation and introduced the Office bearers. National Committee member Ajesh Balanandan and many national leaders including AC George also provided felicitation.

A video of FOMAA’s legacy and another video of FOMAA convention was played.
After that Dr. Madhu Nambiar described the need of transferring funds from foreign countries, like for education purpose or investment or to meet family expenses when there are no other resources. Sometimes fund transfer is required to meet emergency medical expenses. People also sell properties and house if they find it difficult to maintain back at home and try to transfer the funds to US. Being able to transfer funds properly is important to avoid unnecessary issues and troubles on both sides. The goal of today’s meeting is to understand all the details of foreign fund transactions to be safe.

Dr. Nambiar introduced the speaker for the evening Shri. P. T. Thomas. Dr. Nambiar said, when it comes to finance, accounting and tax, the name of Shri P. T. Thomas comes first. He is the household and most trusted name in the community regarding Finance, Tax preparation and Accounting services. He served in various roles in the Federation of Indian Associations in New York, the Civil Services Employees Association, and other Indian Heritage Associations.
Shri. P.T. Thomas spoke on three most important items related to Foreign Fund transactions. Non-Resident External (NRE) account - A Non-Resident External (NRE) Account is opened and maintained by NRIs using foreign funds, and is held in rupees. Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) account - A Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) account can be in the form of a savings account, current, recurring or fixed deposits. Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) Account - Foreign currency denomination. He also spoke about inherited and purchased real estate properties. He discussed the procedure and various forms that we need to file in the US after bringing the money.

There were numerous questions regarding the foreign fund transfer and Shri. PT. Thomas addressed all the questions related to foreign fund Transfer and other related questions.

The FOMAA Capital Region former RVP and Judicial Council member Thomas Jose provided the vote of thanks. The program concluded with the Indian national anthem.