How I got "HDFC INFINIA" as an NRI: My Experience
Hello,
I'm just sharing My Honest Experience.
Location: Chennai, HDFC Branch.
My background: Currently 28y Male NRI. I have had my HDFC account since 2015. (It's my first bank account since my 18th birthday). I have no earning experience in India & and my first job since 24 yo is abroad in an EU Country.
All my Family members use HDFC account only since 2013 & all of us are grouped since the classic banking programme since 2015, then moved to Preferred and then to Imperia (since 2021) & so on.
How imperia?
It's my now-retired parents' FD of 10L, which is their emotional support, no matter what, apart from the other investments which we have.
My very first CC Journey:
It all started in mid-2022 when I qualified for "Millenia cc" pre-approved via NetBanking with a 3.5L Limit. This time, I'm already working in the EU, but my account personally just has 2L of unused cash.
This is my first credit card & I always use it whenever I visit India for all my expenses, usually approx 1.5L each time I visit in the span of 3 weeks in 1 year.
-> After 8 months in 1Q 2023: My CL was automatically increased to 5L & got an pre-approved invite to Regalia Gold.
-> Then for the next 3 years, nothing & no CL increase. despite all my expenses for each year.
During this time, I've channelled all my family's expenses through an "add-on regalia gold" & my family spends around 30K INR per month average on CC, this just collects me reward points etc.
P.s. I hold an EU AMEX Gold charge card with annual fees of 19.5K INR for all my EU spends, & I travel a lot & I've already travelled to 18 EU countries & Hence, getting Infinia CC for my flight & hotel bookings made a lot more sense than using my EU AMEX card.
The first master stroke from HDFC:
I've finally converted my resident HDFC account to an NRO account in early 2024. (I don’t hold an NRE account.) I don’t like them as I like to keep my € outside India. When in need, I’ll use "wise" directly & it supports instant transfer up to a reasonable amount, and this is enough for me.
In mid-2025, I received an email from HDFC stating that my "resident Regalia gold" credit card will be automatically closed in December 2025. & I was instructed to contact the branch to apply for a "NON-Resident Credit card."
My Infinia Journey:
I've come across RBI rules stating that any NRI can hold a credit card on an "FD basis" only.
-> When I've encountered the HDFC non-resident credit card Application form details, I only saw Regalia Gold & Infinia CC
The form below:
Resident To NR Cc Application Form From HDFC
My strategy:
A) I've persuaded my parents' FD of 10L to be transferred to my account, & I've blocked the FD in my name around Sept 2025, & we have already had an Imperia account status for the approximate last 3-4 years.
B) I've contacted my Branch Manager, directly stating that I need a Non-Resident InfiniaCC & before he even said anything, I also said I want to subscribe to a Pure NRI Term insurance for 10CR upon my next visit to India next year.
(Don't worry. I didn't steal my parents' money, as I'm the one taking care of all their expenses & medical insurance, etc, for them for the last 4 years. I've simply transferred their emotional support fund to my account & they have access to my account always through my debit & Add-On credit cards.)
NOTE: 2 months before, I had already contacted Ditto insurance in order to learn which pure NRI term insurance is optimal for me & I genuinely wanted to take a Term insurance for my future family. (Surprisingly, it turned out to be HDFC term insurance)
Hence, instead of buying the term insurance directly via Ditto Insurance, I've just leveraged this via my hdfc branch, hence for me it's a Win-Win.
C) Finally, My Branch manager asked me to send all the required documents via classic post from my EU country to my HDFC branch, filled in all the details, Forms, etc & it took around 2 months.
Finally, the last week of November 2025, I got an sms from hdfc that my new Infinia CC has been dispatched & my Resident Regalia Gold cc has been converted to my NRI Infinia CC & all the reward points of Regalia Gold are converted to Infinia points at 50% value.
Now, upon my next visit to Chennai next year, I'll go & take the Pure term insurance, which I'm gonna take anyway.
To AVOID ABSOLUTELY:
-> Don't take any "ULIP" policy or "any other money-back" policy just for the sake of getting this card. It's not worth it. You are just throwing your money on garbage. Instead, you can do this. "Pile your money up & burn like Diwali crackers/ Boghi festival". Both actions are equal.
If genuinely required & if you don't have one already, take these kinds of policies only:
-"Pure" Medical insurance (to protect from medical financial liability)
-"Pure" Term insurance (If you are a sole breadwinner in your family)
P.S. Always declare the truth in your insurance policies & don't lie to save premiums.
My case!
-> I already hold "Pure" Medical insurance for me & my parents.
-> I genuinely wanted to take a "Pure Term insurance" for my future family, which comes from me. Hence, I took this route. (As I'm the sole breadwinner in my family)
Characteristic of NRI Infinia CC:
- No renewal fee/ Joining FEE. hence no renewal /Joining Points.---(Basically LTF I guess) — I’ll update this here after 3 to 6 months
- It's LTF as long as the 10L FD linked with this credit card is active.-- If FD is withdrawn, then this Infinia will be auto-closed.
- All the other welcome benefits, Smartbuy benefits & other benefits of this credit card stay the same as the Resident Infinia CC.
- My CL is 9L
- My resident parents also got my add-on Infinia
This is my honest personal experience of my Infinia Journey. This is the most straightforward method which I came across on the "NRI Infinia CC" journey for any NRI who wishes to obtain this credit card for themselves. Feel free to copy me.
Posted Dec 9, 2025, 8:57 AM UTC