Domicile and Farmer Status Rules by State (2026)

Two different tests: where you live and what you do

When people ask whether they can buy farmland in another state, they usually mean one of two legal tests. The first is residence or domicile (अधिवास): do you belong to the state? The second is farmer or agriculturist status (किसान): do you cultivate land yourself, or hold land already? States use one, the other, both, or neither. Some restrict by neither and rely on land ceilings and permissions instead.

This page compares what we could read on official sources across the states Farmland India covers and Goa, which has an unusual rule. It is deliberately cautious. For several states we could not open the operative section of the law, and we say so instead of repeating a broker summary. Our broader overview is in who can own farmland in India, can a non-farmer buy agricultural land and state-wise agricultural land purchase rules.

State by state, as far as we could confirm

Our earlier guide, which draws on prior research, says Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab do not have a general farmer-only condition on buyers and rely on ceilings and seller transfer rights instead. We list this as a lead to verify, not a confirmed statement, because we did not open the sections for this page.

What proves farmer status

Where a state does test for an agriculturist, the next question is how you prove it. We could not confirm, on an official source, a certificate or procedure used to prove farmer status in any state covered here. What we can say from the opened texts is the definition that applies.

• Himachal Pradesh. The Supreme Court report quotes the definition of agriculturist in section 2(2) as a landowner who personally cultivates his land in the state. That points to being a landowner and a cultivator, which in practice leans on land records. The report does not describe the evidence a Registrar will accept.
• Goa. The Act defines an agriculturist as a person who cultivates the land personally, which includes cultivation by family labour or by hired labour under personal supervision. The definition is tied to paddy cultivation.

In practice the proof that officials look at is the land record: a jamabandi, khatauni or fard showing cultivation, and in some places a revenue certificate. See jamabandi and fard explained. We have not confirmed that any of these is accepted as proof in a given state, so ask the sub-registrar before relying on one.

What domicile-based rules look like

Residence based rules are less common in agricultural land law but are the model Uttarakhand is reported to have adopted, and the model that other hill states discuss. The common features reported in the Uttarakhand coverage are a district-wise scope, a small residential allowance with an affidavit, and a state-level approval route in some districts. We have not confirmed a domicile test in the text of any state law. Read our dedicated page, can outsiders buy land in Uttarakhand, for the details and the unconfirmed items.

Two other points are often confused with domicile. First, NRI and foreign buyers have separate rules on agricultural land that are a matter of central foreign exchange law, which this page does not cover. Second, SC and ST land often has an additional transfer restriction in state revenue law. The UP Revenue Code excerpt lists separate sections for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe bhumidhars, but we did not read their text.

Ceilings apply even where status does not

Even where a state does not ask whether you are a farmer or a resident, land ceiling laws can still limit how much you can hold. Details by state are in land ceiling limits by state. If a state has no buyer-status test, the questions that decide your purchase are different: does the seller hold transferable rights, does the total holding stay within the ceiling, is the land free of restricted tenure (see gram sabha, nazul and bhoodan land), and is the intended use allowed (see change of land use in India).

Buyer checklist

1. Write down your own status: resident or not, farmer or not, landowner in the state or not, NRI or Indian citizen resident in India.
2. Find the state's rule from the Act itself, not a summary. If you cannot, treat the rule as unconfirmed.
3. Ask whether permission is needed, who grants it, how long it takes and what happens if it is refused. We could not confirm timelines for any state.
4. Do not sign an affidavit about your status or existing land holdings without reading the exact wording. Reports say false affidavits can lead to forfeiture in Uttarakhand.
5. Make the agreement to sell conditional on permission or confirmation.
6. Check the land title and records with how to verify land title.

What is unconfirmed

We could not confirm, on an official text we opened, the buyer eligibility rules for Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh; the Uttarakhand Act as published; the procedure for proving farmer status in any state; or the position of states we did not cover. The Himachal Pradesh entry rests on a report of a Supreme Court judgment rather than the Act text. This page is DRAFT.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• LiveLaw: Land in Himachal Pradesh cannot be transferred to a non-agriculturist without State permission (Supreme Court, 2023)
• Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Act, 2023, India Code
• Scroll.in: Uttarakhand Assembly clears bill to restrict outsiders (22 February 2025)
• Business Standard: Land reform law, Uttarakhand CM (22 February 2025)
• Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006 (updated copy), vaad.up.nic.in