How should you move money between the US and India?
Moving money between the US and India: transfer services, the $1M yearly repatriation limit, and the long-term fall of the rupee.
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Overview
The rupee has fallen about 3.5% a year for ten years
Many NRIs give this topic too little attention because the change is slow and rarely in the news. Over the past ten years the rupee has gone from ₹60 to ₹95 per dollar, a fall of about 3.4% to 3.9% a year. There was no single crisis. It has been a steady decline, and it affects almost every financial decision that involves both countries.
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Some examples. If you send $5,000 to India every month, the choice between a bank wire, Wise, and Remitly changes your costs by about $180 a year. If you hold ₹50 lakh in an NRE fixed deposit at 7%, your return in dollars after the rupee's fall is closer to 3.5%, which is less than a US money market fund pays. If you bought property in 2014 when the rate was ₹60 and sell it now at ₹95, a 27% gain in rupees is a loss of about 20% in dollars. Once you account for the currency, the answer to "should I keep this money in India?" often changes.
This topic covers five decisions about moving money where the numbers often surprise people. The remittance guide compares the exchange rates you really get, not the advertised ones. The repatriation guide explains the $1 million yearly limit on money leaving NRO accounts, what counts toward it (rent, property sale proceeds), and what doesn't (NRE funds, FCNR maturities). The question we get most is about currency-hedged India ETFs: do they exist, and is the cost of the hedge worth it if you hold for 10 years? We answer it with numbers.