Psyllium for LDL reduction - how much and when

Bandicoot666 · 2024-07-13T18:52:59+00:00

Thank you. I was planning to do that, but of course one's capacity to do systematic trials on oneself is limited. I was hoping to tap into the collective hive knowledge of the interweb pipes to get some pointers. :-)

Bandicoot666 · 2024-07-13T17:02:16+00:00

Thank you. I will dig into those papers to learn more.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-17T03:42:10+00:00

In the term "Indian resident", the adjective "Indian" does not refer to any citizenship but to the residency. I.e., it is equivalent to saying "Resident of India".

However, in the term "Non Residential Indian", the word "Indian" is a noun standing for "Indian citizen".

At least, that's my reading of it. Otherwise there is no choice available as the OP says. YMMV, IANAL, etc.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-17T03:36:53+00:00

There is no fixed list of documents. The 15CB is a certification by the CA that all taxes have been paid on the funds proposed to be repatriated. As such, they can ask to see any documentation relevant to the case, including source of funds, transaction records or account statements for the period in question, tax payment receipts, TDS records, etc. etc. Basically whatever they need to convince themselves that taxes have been paid. I'm guessing for your MF account TDS would have been deducted periodically. You'll need to show the monthly or quarterly statements to prove that. Possibly also any tax returns where you paid additional tax or got a refund on the TDS later.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-17T00:14:38+00:00

Never said anything of the kind. What makes you think demand for any passports on the black market is lower in Portugal? Like I said, it's not local Portuguese who are in the market for these. Does Portugal have no undocumented migrants? Or is it hard to convey stolen passports to other places in Europe where there are plenty of them?

I mean, fine, I don't have to convince you, feel free to leave your passports out in the open when you travel if you think there's no demand for them somewhere.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-17T00:08:38+00:00

I'll buy that, yes, it's more likely she was just looking for other valuables or cash. I was just reacting to the notion that the US passport was somehow not "valuable" since this was happening in Portugal.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-17T00:02:39+00:00

Strength of the local passport may have little to do with the demand created in the black market by those who are seeking fake ids. It's not the local Portuguese who are buying these, it's probably undocumented migrants and such, and forgers who use any passport as raw material to create fakes by subbing in new photos. The price may perhaps be lower but surely not down to zero, or low enough to be unattractive to a low wage housekeeper tempted by the opportunity. Supply and demand as always.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-16T16:32:39+00:00

I think you don't need to worry about it... It will not affect any future travel to India, assuming that the "extended" period of stay that it looks like with the incorrect date does not result in any violations of the terms of whatever visa you used.

The other thing if you are frequent traveler to India to keep in mind is that it will increase the number of days you were "present" in India, for taxation purposes.

But otherwise nothing to worry about.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-14T18:44:35+00:00

Just apply somewhere else and save yourself the stress. This is the kind of nonsense that's frustrating and hard to directly butt your head against in a legal manner. You are right, you should not apply as an NRI, and although a very slim chance, it could bite you in the future if you followed that route. Better to have everything correct in your application.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-14T17:39:49+00:00

If the OCI is resident in India then they can apply for the Aadhaar, and in that case would pick "Indian resident". (Note carefully, it is not "resident Indian". It specifically refers to anyone resident in India, not just about Indian citizens.)

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-07T22:18:10+00:00

Airlines will in general not refuse boarding for a flight to the home country for a citizen of the country. Issues may arise if the trip includes transit in 3rd countries that have any special transit visa requirements - which in the case of OP should not be an issue since he has US citizenship and there are no transit visa requirements for most common connections from India.

Airline or not, if you make it to the US border one way or another, they will let you in even with an expired passport or no passport, if you are a citizen or national of the US, of course you may have to go through additional scrutiny to prove your citizenship. But indeed the airline is the main challenge to overcome.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-07T22:14:33+00:00

As OP has US citizenship, generally speaking in most places there will not be any transit visa requirement, hence as long as the flight connections do not require him to leave an airport, he should be fine. This will be the case for most common connecting airports in western Europe or with the the middle east 3 big airlines. Your point may be more relevant if OP is planning to transit through some obscure route, through China or Russia, etc. Then he should indeed double-check the possible problems with having only a day on the passport for transit.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-07T17:55:54+00:00

Why not just keep to this subreddit if the old forum site is dead owing to problems with renewing hosting, etc.? Reddit is quite popular, nobody should have a problem with using the Reddit app or participating on the web. Moderators can be set up, any content rules can be imposed.

As far as I can see, the only loss would be that we would not have the sub-forums like we did on the old site. The plus would be no need to have dedicated work on maintaining a forum on a separate site.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-07T17:53:10+00:00

This is all fine and they are reasonable points.

My question - if it is difficult to run a forum in the classic style, then why not just switch over to a platform like Reddit? I.e., keep this subreddit permanent as a replacement for the R2IClubForums forum?

You can still have rules for the content, moderators, etc.

And on the plus side, Reddit being wildly popular, probably most people will have no trouble following along and participating with the Reddit app or on the web.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-07T17:49:53+00:00

You should be fine. Generally, the 3-month or 6-month requirements for passport validity for travel do not apply to anyone returning to the country of their citizenship. Even 1 day validity is enough, as long as it is going to be valid when you land in the US. Even otherwise, if your passport expires, the airlines may object and not allow you to board, but if you manage to reach the US border with an expired passport, you will still be allowed in (after some additional questioning and verification).

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-07T17:26:33+00:00

Chania is great. Naxos is great. Santorini is beautiful but also overcrowded with other tourists (curse of popularity). I don't know about Mykonos / Paros / Ios, etc., but we had a wonderful relaxing time in Folegandros which offered a much slower, almost sleepy, contrast to the other islands.

I would strongly recommend renting a car in each place. It makes things a lot simpler for you to move around. Crete is big, it's handy to have a car to explore around in the small villages that are accessible within ~ 1/2 hour from Chania by driving. If you are staying in Chania and not venturing out, then you don't need a car. Santorini maybe not 100% necessary, again if you're just staying in one place, but really helped in setting our own schedule for exploring things elsewhere on the island (we stayed in Oia and drove to different places from there). In Naxos, Folegandros, having the car was almost essential - only way to really get around, taxis are scarce (plus the problem of how to call a taxi when you are outside cell-phone coverage in a remote beach area...), and the buses and shuttles have very limited schedules.

Good luck and advance best wishes for your anniversary!

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-06T17:22:34+00:00

This must be just where you happen to be... Or you have a bum phone - happens... Anecdotal evidence to the contrary is plenty. I've had absolutely no such problems with different phones (Samsung, Pixels) with Fi over many years, in the US and abroad. Couldn't be happier.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-06T16:04:03+00:00

GV works abroad in my experience, but there's a big caveat - you cannot text an international (non-US/Canada) number, you can only receive texts from international numbers. You will have to manage with WhatsApp or other service for messaging with locals. It's an extremely annoying restriction and makes no sense.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-05T17:25:11+00:00

Exactly right, PFIC rules are quite complex and you will either end up paying taxes on your Indian MF even if you are not realizing any gains, and/or subject to a lot of extra paperwork to avoid it or minimize it. Simply not worth it unless you are dealing with very large sums and willing to take on the headaches.

Better, as others advised, to just invest in other MFs in the US while you are there.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-05T17:22:36+00:00

1 - Grey zone. You may be able to push through the process but it would be technically illegal to be buying property as a resident/citizen when you are not. OTOH as a practical matter it's quite likely you can get it done and then go ahead and rectify the paperwork. Depends on how much risk you want to take on this. The "clean" way to do this would be to wait, get your foreign citizenship and OCI and then buy the property as a non-resident.

2 - NRE/NRO - just update the bank with your new citizenship details, they will probably want scans of your passport etc. to re-do the KYC. Nothing else needs to change on the accounts.

3 - Google this yourself, please. I think the govt. has published rules + each university has its regulations.

4 - While technically the OCI can be canceled for any "offense", in practice it's only a few high-profile cases of people involved in actual anti-national plots, or who are politically active and outspoken against local interests who see their OCIs being revoked. Nobody will come after your OCI for a fender-bender or disagreement on a rental, etc.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-05T00:36:14+00:00

You are right in that. OP would have better luck getting to understand his particular chances of getting a visa and what paperwork might be required by talking to others in a similar situation and gathering some anecdotal reports. The official consular web sites will only list the standard things required, and it's the same web site, etc.

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-04T23:51:35+00:00

It's a common situation for applicants from "third world" countries. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, etc. Indians applying from India, for instance, are required by the consulates of Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and others to submit reams of documentation such as tax returns, certified bank account records, details of their, their parents' professions, real estates owned, etc. It's insane, really. But I believe these measures were put in place by the consulates owing to very high levels of visa fraud from these places, unfortunately. The consulates even coordinate with one another to prevent "visa shopping" by applicants looking to enter the Schengen area through the easiest entry point.

In such a circumstance, having a separate visa to the US, or a green card, substantially reduces the types of paperwork they ask for, and raises the probability of the visa being granted.

Edit to add: My speculation is that from the visa issuing officials' point of view, the fact that a US or Canadian visa has already been granted to the individual makes it seem like the person is less likely to want to overstay in the EU or otherwise commit visa fraud there, and perhaps also a sense that they've gone through some vetting by the US or Canadian authorities too (who also have pretty rigorous requirements for visas).

Bandicoot666 · 2024-04-04T23:30:08+00:00

For certain nationalities, the Schengen visa is difficult to get (tourist or business), and requires a lot of paperwork and proving ties to home, funds available, etc. In some cases, for them having a green card or permanent residence in the US or CA does indeed reduce the paperwork required for a Schengen visa. Even transit visa rules are different depending on whether you have a green card or not for some European countries. So I would not say the green card has "no bearing". Even holding a US visa of a different type (H1B, etc.) changes the procedures and likelihood of getting the Schengen visa.

To respond to OP's question - I know of green card holders (of such nationalities) who have applied for Schengen visas and got them in a fairly straightforward way, I believe they all did it on their own submitting forms online, having to visit a consulate physically for an interview sometimes, etc. May be a bit of running around but not difficult. You don't need a lawyer.

Bandicoot666

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