Hi, I’m Matthew (Korean name: Donghyun Kim).
I’ll be upfront: I’m not Indian. I moved from Korea to the US in 2021, on a version of the same journey a lot of you are on — H-1B paperwork, opening a first US bank account, figuring out taxes with no one to ask. What surprised me is how much of the US financial system works the same way regardless of where you’re from: the visa rules, the credit-building mechanics, the tax forms. What’s different is the specific gaps each community falls into — for Indian immigrants that means NRE/NRO accounts, PPF and Indian mutual funds under US tax rules, FBAR on Indian bank accounts, the India-US tax treaty, and sending money home the right way.
Why This Blog Exists
Generic “immigrant finance” content skips the details that actually matter for Indian applicants — what counts as a reportable foreign asset, how PPF interest gets taxed in the US, what happens to an NRO account once you’re a resident alien, how the treaty actually applies to H-1B and green card timelines. Most of that information exists somewhere, scattered across IRS PDFs, old forum threads, and CPA blog posts written for a general audience. I dig through it, verify it against the actual rules, and write it down the way I wish someone had explained it to me.
A Note on Advice
Everything here is researched carefully, but it’s not professional advice. I’m not a CPA, an immigration attorney, or a financial advisor. For anything that affects your actual tax return, visa status, or financial decisions, please talk to a qualified professional.
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