You can transfer money from an NRE account to the USA by initiating an international wire through your Indian bank, and there is no cap on how much you can send. The funds in a Non-Resident External account are fully repatriable under Indian foreign exchange rules, so both the principal and the interest can move to your U.S. account once you complete Form A2 on the India side. The complications sit on the U.S. side, where holding the Indian account and receiving the money can trigger up to three separate federal filings.1FEMA governs how money moves in and out of India and treats NRE accounts as a vehicle for foreign-earned income.
Why NRE Funds Move Freely
The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) treats NRE deposits as foreign-earned money that happens to be sitting in India. Because the funds originated outside the country, both the principal and any interest can leave without a ceiling. Interest earned in an NRE account is also exempt from Indian income tax, which is the main reason NRIs park foreign earnings there in the first place.
Tax Collected at Source does not apply either. TCS on outward remittances is a rule for Indian residents sending money under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, not for NRIs repatriating NRE balances.
One boundary to keep in mind: if you also hold a Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) account, none of this applies to that money. NRO repatriations are capped at USD 1 million per Indian financial year, require a Chartered Accountant’s certificate that Indian taxes have been paid, and involve Form 15CA and often Form 15CB filings. Mixing up the two accounts is a common and expensive mistake.
What to Have Ready Before You Start
Your Indian bank will need full wire instructions for the receiving U.S. account. Gather these before you log in:
- SWIFT or BIC code (8 or 11 characters) identifying the U.S. bank in the global messaging network
- ABA routing number (nine digits) for the receiving branch
- Your full U.S. checking or savings account number
- Physical street address of the U.S. branch
On the India side, you will complete Form A2, the standard application for outward remittance. Form A2 asks you to select a Purpose of Remittance code from a list maintained by the Reserve Bank of India. For an ordinary repatriation of NRE savings, code S1301 (family maintenance and savings) is the one most people use. Picking the wrong code will not cost you the money, but it can pull the wire into a compliance review and delay it by days.
Most banks offer Form A2 through the net banking portal. Some still require a signed paper copy at a branch, along with a separate outward remittance request form that links your NRE account to the wire instructions.
Sending the Wire
If your bank supports online international remittances, log in and go to the foreign transfer section. Add your U.S. bank as a new beneficiary using the SWIFT code, routing number, account number, and address. Banks impose a cooling period after a new beneficiary is added, ranging from a few hours to 24 hours before the beneficiary is active.
Once the beneficiary is live, select your NRE account as the funding source, enter the amount, and submit. The portal returns a reference number for tracking. If you prefer to walk into a branch, bring the signed Form A2 and the remittance request form, and the officer will process it and hand you a confirmation receipt.
Funds usually leave the Indian account within one to two business days. From there the wire passes through one or more intermediary (correspondent) banks before landing in your U.S. account, which adds another two to four business days. End to end, plan on three to five business days, longer if a holiday or compliance hold falls in the middle.
What the Transfer Costs
The total cost has three visible pieces and one hidden one, and the hidden piece is usually the largest.
- Indian bank processing fee. This varies widely. SBI waives it entirely on NRE and FCNR outward remittances. Other banks charge a flat fee that can run from ₹500 to ₹1,500 plus GST.
- SWIFT messaging fee. A separate charge, often ₹500 to ₹1,000, for the interbank communication.
- Intermediary bank fee. Correspondent banks routing the wire between India and the U.S. typically deduct $15 to $30 from the transfer amount.
- Exchange rate markup. Banks rarely convert rupees at the mid-market rate. They apply a spread of roughly 1% to 3%. On a ₹50 lakh transfer, a 2% markup costs about $1,200 more than the interbank rate would.
If the exchange rate matters to you, compare your bank’s offered rate against the RBI reference rate for that day, and consider whether a dedicated forex transfer service offers a tighter spread.
What You Have to Report in the U.S.
A wire landing in your U.S. account does not, on its own, generate a report from your bank. Wires are not “cash” for currency transaction reporting. But holding the NRE account and bringing the money in can create up to three separate federal filings, each with its own threshold and its own agency.
FBAR (FinCEN Form 114)
If the combined value of all your foreign financial accounts (NRE, NRO, FCNR, overseas brokerage, and so on) exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year, you must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. FBAR is filed electronically through the BSA E-Filing System, not with your tax return. It is due April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15 that you do not have to request.
The $10,000 threshold looks at the highest aggregate balance across all foreign accounts at any moment during the year, not the December 31 balance and not the amount you transferred.
Form 8938
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act requires a separate report of specified foreign financial assets on Form 8938, filed with your income tax return. For taxpayers living in the U.S.:
- Single or married filing separately: total foreign assets over $50,000 on the last day of the tax year, or over $75,000 at any time during the year.
- Married filing jointly: over $100,000 on the last day of the tax year, or over $150,000 at any time during the year.
Thresholds are significantly higher if you live outside the U.S. The FBAR and Form 8938 can both apply to the same accounts in the same year. They go to different agencies (FinCEN and the IRS) and have different thresholds, and filing one does not excuse the other.
Form 3520
If someone else, such as a parent or relative in India, gifts you more than $100,000 during the tax year and the money lands in your U.S. account, you must file Form 3520. It is due with your tax return, extensions included. Form 3520 is informational only; the gift itself is not taxed to you.
Penalties for Missing the Filings
The penalties are much steeper than most people expect, and not knowing about the form is not a reliable defense.
The statutory base FBAR penalty for a non-willful violation is $10,000 per account per year, adjusted annually for inflation; for 2026 the inflation-adjusted maximum is over $16,000 per unreported account. Willful violations carry a penalty of the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the account balance at the time of the violation.
Form 8938 carries a $10,000 failure-to-file penalty, with up to $50,000 more if you do not comply after IRS notice. Form 3520 penalties can reach 25% of the unreported gift. These stack: a single unreported account can generate FBAR penalties, Form 8938 penalties, and accuracy-related penalties on the underlying return at the same time.
If you have fallen behind but owe no additional tax, the IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures let you catch up without penalties, provided you certify that the failure was non-willful. The program has been open for several years, but the IRS can close or change it at any time.