Domicile is the country a person treats as their permanent home and intends to return to and remain in indefinitely -- a legal concept distinct from both tax residency and citizenship, and one an NRI can retain in India even while non-resident for tax purposes and holding citizenship or a visa elsewhere.
Indian law recognizes a domicile of origin, acquired at birth (typically the father's domicile at the
time), and a domicile of choice, which a person can acquire by actually residing in a new country with a
clear, settled intention to remain there permanently -- moving abroad for work, or even holding NRI tax
status for years, does not by itself change domicile unless that settled intention to permanently reside
elsewhere is also present. Domicile matters most in succession and family law contexts: it can affect which
country's court has jurisdiction over probate or matrimonial proceedings and, in some conflict-of-laws
situations, which law governs succession to movable property. This makes it a distinct question from tax
residency (governed by the day-count tests under the Income Tax Act) and from citizenship or OCI status,
and the three should not be assumed to move together.
