FCRA registration and prior permission: how to apply

To accept money from abroad, an Indian NGO needs either FCRA registration or prior permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Registration, applied for on Form FC-3A, is for organisations at least three years old that have spent at least ₹15 lakh on their work; prior permission, on Form FC-3B, lets a newer organisation accept one specific grant from one specific donor.

Both are applied for online on the FCRA portal, fcraonline.nic.in, under Sections 11 and 12 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA) and Rule 9 of the FCRA Rules. The Rules changed on 22 June 2026: registration is now tied to purposes chosen from a published schedule and to named states, and the people who run an organisation face new tests.

This guide is for NGO founders, trustees and finance staff getting ready to apply. If you aren’t sure whether your donor counts as foreign, read who counts as a foreign source first.

Registration or prior permission: which do you need?

Associations registered under a law, as trusts, societies or Section 8 companies, are the usual applicants, but individuals, Hindu undivided families and private companies doing socially useful work can apply too. You can’t apply if Section 3 bars you (see what FCRA is), while your registration is suspended, or for three years after a cancellation.

Who is eligible for registration

Rule 9 sets the conditions:

• A legal form. The organisation must be registered under a law, as a trust, a society or a Section 8 company.
• Three years of existence, with reasonable activity in its chosen field.
• At least ₹15 lakh spent on its aims in the last three financial years, not counting administrative expenses as Rule 5 defines them. Capital spending on land, buildings, vehicles or equipment can count if you give an affidavit (an undertaking until 2025) that the assets will be used only for activities covered by the FCRA.

The MHA then checks the conditions in Section 12(4). In short, the applicant must not be fictitious or benami; must not have been prosecuted or convicted for forced or induced religious conversion or for creating communal disharmony; must not have diverted or misused funds; must not be engaged in sedition or in advocating violence; and must not be likely to use the money for personal gain. No prosecution may be pending against its office-bearers, and accepting the money mustn’t be likely to harm India’s sovereignty, security, public interest, elections, foreign relations or communal harmony.

Key functionaries, foreign nationals and Aadhaar

Since 22 June 2026 the Rules define key functionaries (Rule 2(1)(ca)): directors, partners, trustees, office-bearers and members of the governing body or managing committee, and anyone else who controls or is responsible for running the organisation. Three rules attach to them:

• Identity documents. Under Section 12A, added in 2020, the government may require the Aadhaar number of every office-bearer, director and key functionary, or a passport or OCI card for a foreigner. The Supreme Court has allowed Indian office-bearers to give a passport instead of an Aadhaar number (Noel Harper v. Union of India, 8 April 2022).
• Foreign nationals. An organisation with foreign nationals, other than those of Indian origin, as key functionaries “shall ordinarily not be considered eligible” for registration or prior permission, unless the government allows it by order. IDR, a sector publication, reads “of Indian origin” as covering PIO and OCI cardholders.
• Clean records. No prosecution may be pending against office-bearers (Section 12(4)).

If your board includes a foreign national, take advice before you apply.

Choosing your purposes and states

Since 22 June 2026, each certificate names the purposes it covers and the states or union territories where the organisation works. You choose purposes only from a new schedule of 105, in five groups:

Several religious items say “(excluding proselytisation)”. Foreign contribution can then be used only for the purposes and in the states on the certificate, and only for activities in India.

The fee follows the choice. The ₹10,000 registration fee covers one purpose and one state or union territory, and each extra purpose and each extra state costs ₹300.

Prior permission: what’s different

Prior permission is for one grant. The application on Form FC-3B must include:

• a commitment letter from the donor for the amount and purpose; since 26 May 2025, its amount must match the form;
• a project report, with a declaration that administrative costs won’t exceed 20%;
• an undertaking to follow the Financial Action Task Force’s good practice guidelines (since 26 May 2025).

Where donor and recipient share people, there are further tests: the recipient’s chief functionary mustn’t be part of the donor organisation, and at least 75% of its key functionaries mustn’t be the donor’s members or employees. A single individual donor mustn’t be a key functionary of the recipient, and with a single donor, at least 75% of key functionaries mustn’t be the donor’s family or close relatives.

Where permission is released in instalments, since 22 June 2026 the second and later instalments need Form FC-3BB, and are released only after 75% of the previous instalment has been used and a field inquiry has been made. A prior-permission holder files the annual return, Form FC-4, every year until the money is fully used.

How to apply, step by step

1. Check you’re eligible, and that the purposes you want match your registered objects.
2. Register on NGO Darpan if you haven’t: NITI Aayog says a Darpan ID is required for FCRA registration and renewal. See NGO Darpan.
3. Open the FCRA Account at SBI’s New Delhi Main Branch. Section 12(1A) requires it before you apply, and you can do it through an SBI branch near you. See the FCRA bank accounts.
4. Collect the key functionaries’ details, with Aadhaar numbers, or passports or OCI cards.
5. Prepare the documents in the table below.
6. File Form FC-3A or FC-3B online, choose your purposes and states, and pay the fee.
7. Answer the MHA’s questions. It can make any inquiry it thinks fit before deciding (Section 12(3)).
8. Receive the decision. The MHA should ordinarily decide within 90 days and, if it doesn’t, must tell you why (Section 12(3)). If it refuses, it must record its reasons and give you a copy, except where the Right to Information Act, 2005 wouldn’t oblige it to disclose them (Section 12(5)). An application not in the prescribed form, or missing required details, can be rejected outright (Section 12(2)).

Documents to prepare

The document list was expanded in May 2025 and the purposes and states were added in June 2026, so check the current list on the portal before you file.

Why an application can be refused

The grounds follow from the Act and the Rules:

• the form is incomplete, or required details are missing (Section 12(2));
• the organisation is under three years old, or has spent less than ₹15 lakh on its aims, excluding administration;
• a Section 12(4) condition isn’t met, or an inquiry raises concerns about one;
• a key functionary is a foreign national, or faces a pending prosecution;
• the organisation is of a political nature, or produces or broadcasts news or current affairs, which Section 3 bars;
• for prior permission, the commitment letter doesn’t match the application, or donor and recipient share too many people.

If you’re refused, read the reasons in the order, fix what you can and apply again. If you think the decision is wrong in law, take legal advice first.

What to do while you wait

• Don’t accept foreign money yet, not even into the new SBI account. Tell donors when you expect a decision.
• If money arrives anyway, don’t spend it, and take advice at once: accepting foreign contribution without registration or permission is an offence, compoundable at ₹1 lakh or 30% of the amount, whichever is higher.
• Keep funding the work from Indian sources: individual donors, Indian citizens abroad giving from personal savings, and CSR from companies that aren’t foreign sources.
• Set up your systems: separate books for foreign contribution, utilisation accounts at bank branches linked to the government’s Public Financial Management System (PFMS), and a calendar for the annual return. See using foreign contribution.

The Academy’s Starting an NGO course has a lesson on FCRA, with exercises on choosing the right route.