How to Bring Money from India to USA

This article was last updated and fact checked on January 28, 2023 by Mani Karthik.

According to the RBI guidelines, an individual can transfer a maximum of US$2,50,000 from India to another country within one year. The high transfer limit may give you an idea that the regulations for bringing money to the US are lenient, although in reality, they are not. In fact, the Liberalized Reporting Scheme (LRS) has been revised by the RBI to tighten the reporting norms for such outward remittances.

For most Indians, sending money to the United States can be a highly complicated task. So, if you are looking for ways to transfer money to America, here are some methods that might prove useful.

Wire Transfer

This method is also known as SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) transfer. As the name implies, SWIFT is the fastest offline mode of money transfer through Indian banks. For this:

• Visit your bank branch and fill up the SWIFT transfer form. Details that need to be provided in the form include the name of the beneficiary, account number, address of bank, and SWIFT code.
• After submission of this form, money will be debited from the source account and get credited to the beneficiary’s account within 72 hours.

Indian banks that provide SWIFT facility are Axis Bank, PNB, Yes Bank, HDFC Bank, City Union Bank, Federal Bank Limited, Indian Bank, Union Bank of India and IndusInd Bank, Bank of India and ICICI Bank.

PayPal Transfer

This is a very popular and simple method of transfer funds around the world. Just create a PayPal account and link your bank account to it. Your email address will be your PayPal account number. You can now log into your PayPal account and send money to a US-based PayPal account via the “Send Money” option. The exchange rates will depend on the day the transfer is made.

Note: There have been some recent changes in the PayPal usage regulations by the RBI. So, check with PayPal customer care before you carry out any transaction.

Demand Draft

The method to transfer money through demand draft is the slowest and should be chosen as the last resort. To use this facility, you need to visit your bank branch and get a demand draft made of the amount that is to be transferred. This demand draft will be made in US dollars and the equivalent Indian rupees will be debited from your account. Bank charges for making the draft range between ₹200 and ₹600. This draft will be sent via post and will reach the recipient in 7 to 10 working days.

Additionally, you will need to bear the complete postal charges and there is no tracking facility available for this service.

For Travelers: Carry Cash on your Flight

If you are an Indian traveling to the US and wish to bring some money along, here is something that you should know.

• The RBI allows Indian residents to carry a maximum amount of ₹25,000 per person while traveling abroad.
• For persons other than Indian residents, the entire unspent amount brought into India by them can be taken out of India.

While there are a number of ways to transfer money to the US, you should pick the one that suits your requirement. The method that you feel provides safe and quick transfer of your hard-earned money should be given priority over others.