How to receive international payments in India (2026 guide for exporters and freelancers)

What changed in 2026?

• 1 October 2026: RBI’s Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026 took effect. Every exporter of services — not just software firms — now files an Export Declaration Form (EDF) within 30 days of the end of the month they invoice. See the EDF guide.
• Realisation is 9 months again. RBI stretched it to 15 months in November 2025, cut it back in June 2026, and the 2026 regulations were amended to 9 months (12 for rupee invoices) before they took effect. A guide still quoting 15 months is out of date — the full timeline is here.
• Invoices up to ₹10 lakh can have their entry in RBI’s export tracking system (EDPMS) closed on your own declaration that the payment was realised.
• Intermediary services — agents and brokers arranging a supply for a foreign client — can now qualify as exports for GST, after section 13(8)(b) of the IGST Act was omitted from 30 March 2026. See GST on export of services.

The short answer, in four steps

1. Raise an export invoice with the correct purpose code and, if you are GST-registered, your LUT endorsement.
2. File your Export Declaration Form within 30 days of the month-end.
3. Collect through a USD receiving account (ACH or Fedwire) or a SWIFT wire, and receive INR in your bank.
4. Keep the FIRA or e-FIRC and make sure the payment is realised within 9 months of the invoice.

What are the ways to receive international payments in India?

1. A USD receiving account (ACH, Fedwire, SWIFT)

You get a US account number and routing number in your business’s name — or one per client. Your US client pays it like any domestic vendor. The provider, working through an RBI-authorised Payment Aggregator – Cross Border (PA-CB), converts the dollars and pays INR to your own Indian account. ACH is cheap or free for the sender and skips the intermediary banks that skim SWIFT wires; Fedwire is same-day. It is not a US bank account you own — the difference matters, and the EEFC vs receiving account guide explains it.

2. A SWIFT wire straight to your Indian bank

You share your bank’s SWIFT code and account number and the client’s bank sends a cross-border wire. It works from anywhere, for any amount. The cost hides in four places: the sender’s wire fee, deductions by intermediary banks, the margin in your bank’s exchange rate against mid-market, and its inward remittance charges — and GST applies to the currency conversion itself, valued under rule 32(2) of the CGST Rules.

3. PayPal and card gateways

Easy for one-off clients who want to pay by card, expensive for anything recurring. As published on PayPal India’s fee page (last updated 28 March 2024, checked October 2026), receiving an international commercial payment costs 4.40% + USD 0.30, and converting what you receive carries a 3.0% spread above PayPal’s base rate. Card gateways price the same way: a percentage plus a conversion margin.

4. Wise, Payoneer and marketplace wallets

Marketplaces such as Upwork pay into a platform wallet first, and you withdraw to India later. Each provider publishes its own receiving and withdrawal charges, which vary by currency — read the fee page and check the conversion rate against mid-market before you commit.

5. A note on EEFC accounts

An Exchange Earners’ Foreign Currency account holds export earnings in foreign currency at your Indian bank. Useful if you also pay dollar bills, but it is not a collection method: money still arrives by SWIFT, and you face the bank’s rate when you convert. RBI also expects each month’s accruals not used for approved purposes to be converted to rupees by the end of the following month. EEFC vs a receiving account compares the two.

The five methods side by side

What does it really cost to receive money from abroad?

Run this on any quote: landed INR = (invoice − intermediary deductions) × mid-market rate × (1 − FX margin) − flat charges − GST on charges. Most people assume the wire fee is the big cost. It usually isn’t: as an illustration, on a $5,000 invoice at ₹94.60 to the dollar, a bank margin of 3% costs about ₹14,200, while a $20 intermediary deduction is about ₹1,900. So ask every provider one question: what rate do I get against mid-market, right now? The calculator on our homepage shows what a bank or PayPal keeps from a payment of your size, from their published charges.

Which method fits you?

Freelancer without GST registration

Below the GST threshold (₹20 lakh aggregate turnover for services in most states, ₹10 lakh in special category states — and export turnover counts towards it) you generally do not need to register just because your clients are abroad. A USD receiving account suits steady US clients; keep PayPal for clients who insist on cards. You still need a purpose code and, from October 2026, an EDF. Receiving money from a US client walks through it.

Agency with GST and an LUT

You export under a Letter of Undertaking, so invoices carry no IGST, and each remittance advice backs your zero-rated turnover in GST returns. A receiving account per client keeps reconciliation clean when five clients pay in the same week.

SaaS or IT services exporter

Subscriptions mean many similar-sized payments. ACH beats SWIFT here: a $20 intermediary cut on a $300 subscription is almost 7%. Software now sits in the same EDF framework as other services; you file with your AD bank or STPI, or the SEZ Development Commissioner if you are an SEZ unit. Most remote software work goes under purpose code P0807. If clients pay by ACH, this ACH guide explains how it reaches India.

Goods MSME

Goods exporters carry the most paperwork: the EDF at the time of export (deemed filed with the shipping bill at EDI ports) and the e-BRC on the DGFT platform, generated from the remittance data banks report. Pick whichever route matches remittances cleanly to each shipping bill.

The compliance clock, from invoice to realisation

1. Day 0: invoice raised, with the purpose code and your LUT endorsement.
2. Month-end + 30 days: EDF due (services other than software may file by the payment date instead).
3. When the client pays: over ACH, Fedwire or SWIFT.
4. Settlement: INR in your bank, with the bank’s remittance advice.
5. 9 months from the invoice (12 for rupee invoices): the full value must be realised, unless your AD bank extends it.
6. One year from the invoice: under an LUT, rule 96A of the CGST Rules expects the payment by then (or by the end of the FEMA period, if later) — otherwise IGST is due with interest.

Which documents do you need?

• PAN and business KYC (GST certificate if registered).
• IEC if you export goods — and if you want e-BRCs on the DGFT platform, which need one.
• A signed contract or engagement letter with the overseas client.
• An export invoice with the purpose code, LUT endorsement and payment instructions.
• The LUT acknowledgement for the current financial year.
• EDF filing confirmation for each month you invoiced.
• The bank’s remittance advice (FIRA, or an e-FIRC on request) for each payment received.
• Shipping bill and e-BRC (goods).

5 myths that cost exporters money

• "I need Form 15CA and 15CB to receive money." No — those are for remittances made to non-residents, filed by the person paying. Money coming in does not need them.
• "Zero fee means free." A provider can charge no transfer fee and still take a few percent through the exchange rate. Compare the rate against mid-market, not the fee line.
• "I need a physical FIRC." Banks stopped issuing physical FIRCs for export receipts in June 2016. You get a remittance advice, or an e-FIRC on request. See FIRA vs FIRC.
• "I have 15 months to collect." You had, briefly. It is 9 months now for foreign-currency invoices.
• "EDF is only for software companies." That was the SOFTEX era. From 1 October 2026 it covers all service exporters, software included.

Go deeper: a guide for each step

• What is FIRA, and how it differs from a FIRC and an e-BRC
• Which RBI purpose code freelancers and service exporters should use
• How to file the EDF for export of services under the 1 October 2026 rule
• The export realisation period in 2026, and why it is 9 months again
• Is GST charged on export of services? LUT, zero-rating and intermediaries
• Can you receive ACH payments in India?
• How to receive money from a USA client in India, step by step
• USD account in India: an EEFC account vs a receiving account

How Payzoplus handles this

Payzoplus gives your business a USD receiving account in its own name for each overseas customer, held through our RBI-authorised payment partner: US customers pay by ACH or Fedwire, others by SWIFT. Your rate is shown beside the mid-market rate before you convert, and rupees settle T+1 into your own bank account. FEMA purpose codes are checked before you can raise an invoice. For each settlement you get the bank’s payment advice (the FIRA) exactly as it was issued, and our own remittance advice, which ties the payment to its invoice, remitter, purpose code and exchange rate. We do not issue e-BRCs: those are generated on the DGFT platform from the data banks report. We are not a bank — collections run on a regulated partner’s rails. See how export collections work or open a free account.