Leaving Job in India for US Studies: How to Withdraw Your Provident Fund?

I have been working in Bangalore with a company for 10 months now. I intend to leave the organization in 2 months to pursue higher education. Hence, I wish to withdraw the amount in my PF account. I will need it to fund my education. Kindly suggest to me the procedure for the same.

Also, can I withdraw the amount now, and the remaining two months later?

EPF Withdrawal Process After Leaving a Job

Firstly, you can withdraw the amount only after you leave the job, not while you are still in service.

After you leave the service, you can apply for the settlement of your EPF account through your employer. They have to fill in the relevant portions, the authorized signatory has to sign it, and they have to send it to the EPFO with all enclosures. The application will be sent to the EPF Office that maintains your EPF account. They will settle the account and directly credit the amount into your bank account. You cannot reasonably expect to have the cash in hand before, let's say, 4 to 6 months from the date of your leaving the job.

You can discuss with your employer now so that they will expedite matters. In case your company is an exempted establishment under the EPFO, they will themselves be maintaining the EPF account. In that case, the time taken for settlement may get reduced by about a month or so.