The amount of money going abroad from India or outward remittance is increasing in double digits annually as the data released by RBI. The largest portion of the money sent abroad is for educational purpose. Following that, maintenance of relatives and medical treatment are the reasons for a large chunk of outward remittance. All these purposes are inter-related such as person goes abroad for study and hence, his parents need to send money for educational fees and maintenance. He is most likely to stay abroad and get employed and the maintenance money needs to be sent regularly. Due to temporary or permanent staying aboard, one’s guardians may also need to pay healthcare treatment fees overseas due to unforeseen circumstances. It is also applicable for those who might go abroad for business or personal trip. For all these reasons, you need to choose a correct medium to transfer the money so that you get the best value for your money and pay the least fee for international money transfer.
Rules To Follow To Send Money Abroad –
Since money is going outside the country, RBI has laid down certain rules under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme(LRS) that every citizen has to follow for outward remittance. According to the scheme, the limit for outward remittance is $250,000 per year. There are certain purposes for which you can send such money from any legal channel like banks, money exchangers, and forex companies. The purposes are leisure visit, business visit, employment, maintenance, medical treatment, education, and gifts and donations.
You have to visit a legal international money transfer agency like banks, money exchangers or forex companies and complete KYC process by submitting required documents. After completion and verification, you have to fill up Form A2 where you have to state the purpose of transfer. Furthermore, you have to fill up either Form 15CA or 15CB for tax clearance.
Special Case For Healthcare Treatment For Beyond The Limit Transfer –
In case you want to transfer more money than the limit, you have to show valid proofs and get it approved by the RBI. But there is an exception for healthcare treatment. If you have to send more money than $250,000 per year, you have to show the medical expense receipts to the bank or other legal channel and there is no requirement of visiting RBI’s branch and getting approval. There are so many cases every year where a person’s treatment abroad requires more than $250,000 per year and hence, RBI has to amend the rule for pay for healthcare treatment overseas only.
Whom To Choose For International Money Transfer At The Best Rate?
Irrespective of the purposes of outward remittance, you have to pay for exchange rate which is changing your money to foreign currencies, and transfer fee charged by the transfer agent of your choice. There are three options you have in choosing the agency and they are banks, money exchangers, and Forex companies. Even though banks are what most people opt for, they have high exchange rate and high transfer fee. In other words, you got to pay more than the current market rate to convert your currency to international currency and then the transfer fee is applied based on the amount.
If you want a better rate or the live rate as per the trading market value, you can go for money exchangers. But they have higher transfer fee than banks and the advantage you got by choosing it over banks almost gets canceled.
The best way out is through Forex companies like Remitout who offer the live exchange rate just like the money exchangers but their transfer fee is lower than banks and money exchangers. You can easily transfer money abroad online sitting in the comfort of your home and save as many as 2-3% of the total amount which is huge.
Therefore, whenever you need to send money abroad, go for Forex companies like Remitout to save your money on every transfer and send it conveniently.