Send money from India to the UAE in 2026: AED peg, 23-character IBAN, what LRS allows, 20% TCS on family maintenance and a worked AED 20,000 example.

How to Send Money from India to UAE: NRI and Family Remittance Guide 2026

You send money from India to the UAE by SWIFT wire through an RBI-authorised dealer into a 23-character UAE IBAN. The dirham is pegged at AED 3.6725 per US dollar, so the AED/INR rate moves with USD/INR. Family maintenance and gifts attract 20% TCS above INR 10 lakh a year, not the 2% education rate.

Key facts

• UAE IBAN: 23 characters, starting AE, mandatory for every credit to a UAE bank account since 2012.
• AED is pegged at 3.6725 per USD. With USD/INR near 94.75 in early September 2026, AED/INR was roughly 25.80.
• TCS from 1 April 2026: family maintenance, gifts, property and investment 20% above INR 10 lakh per financial year; medical 2% above INR 10 lakh; tour packages 2% from the first rupee.
• LRS limit: USD 250,000 per resident individual per financial year.
• Bank SWIFT charges from India: INR 500 to 1,500 plus a 2% to 3.5% rate margin; Fairexpay charges from 0.4% with zero markup.
• UAE is 1.5 hours behind India; the banking week runs Monday to Friday.

Who sends money from India to the UAE, and why it is the reverse flow

Most money between India and the Gulf flows west to east: workers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi sending salaries home. The other direction is smaller but common, and it has its own rules because the sender is a resident Indian using LRS.

The typical cases we handle: parents supporting a son or daughter who has just landed a job in Dubai and needs rent, deposit and a car before the first salary; families sending money to an elderly relative or a spouse living in the UAE; someone moving for work who wants to fund their own UAE account before they arrive; a resident Indian paying a UAE property developer’s instalment; and a small business paying a UAE supplier or consultant, which is a current-account business payment rather than LRS at all.

Each case has a different Form A2 purpose code and a different TCS rate. Get the purpose right first.

What a UAE bank needs from you

The UAE moved to IBAN in 2012 and the Central Bank of the UAE requires it on every domestic and cross-border credit. A UAE IBAN is always 23 characters: AE, two check digits, a three-digit bank code and a 16-digit account number. Example format: AE07 0331 2345 6789 0123 456. Payments without a valid IBAN are rejected and the receiving bank may charge a rejection fee.

You also need the bank’s SWIFT code (BIC). Ask the recipient to send a screenshot of their account details from the bank app, which shows IBAN and BIC together; the large banks (Emirates NBD, FAB, ADCB, Mashreq, Dubai Islamic Bank) all display it. Match the beneficiary name to the passport name on the account. UAE banks are strict about this, and a name in a different order or missing a middle name is the most common reason for a payment to sit in the bank’s exceptions queue for days.

Put a clear reference in the narrative: “Maintenance from father” or the property unit number. UAE banks sometimes ask the account holder about the source of an inward credit, and a clear narrative shortens that conversation.

The AED peg and what it means for your rate

The dirham has been pegged to the US dollar at AED 3.6725 since 1997. In practice that means the AED/INR rate is USD/INR divided by 3.6725. When USD/INR is 94.75, AED/INR is 25.80. When the rupee slips to 96, AED/INR becomes 26.14.

Two consequences. First, if you follow the dollar you already know where the dirham is; there is no separate AED market to watch. Second, some banks quote a wider margin on AED than on USD because it is a “minor” currency for them, even though the dirham risk is identical to dollar risk. If a bank offers you AED at a 3% margin and USD at 2%, ask why. A good authorised dealer prices AED off the live USD/INR rate with the same spread.

Many UAE recipients also hold USD accounts. Sending USD avoids the double conversion some banks apply, though the recipient then pays their own bank’s AED conversion. Compare the rupee cost both ways for large amounts.

What LRS allows for the UAE, and what it does not

Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme a resident individual may remit up to USD 250,000 per financial year for permitted current and capital account purposes. For the UAE the permitted list covers what most families need: maintenance of close relatives, gifts, medical treatment, travel, education, funding your own account abroad, buying property, investing in shares or a business abroad, and emigration.

Family maintenance goes under purpose code S1301 and gifts under S1302. Our gift and family maintenance page covers the documents. Both need the recipient’s name and relationship, and for maintenance a declaration on Form A2 that the person is a close relative. Anything that looks like a payment for services (a consultant, a contractor) is not maintenance and needs to go through the business remittance route with tax paperwork.

Funding your own account before a move uses the own account abroad route, and once you have a UAE residence visa and are leaving India for good the emigration purpose (S0023) applies. After you become a non-resident under FEMA, LRS stops applying to you; you then operate through NRE and NRO accounts.

Not permitted under LRS: margin trading, lotteries, sweepstakes and anything on FEMA’s prohibited list; crypto purchases abroad are not a permitted purpose either. Buying a Dubai apartment is permitted, and paying the developer in instalments over three years is fine as long as each year’s instalments fit inside the limit.

Worked example: AED 20,000 to a Dubai account

Assume USD/INR is 94.75 and the live AED/INR rate is therefore 25.80 (roughly where it stood in early September 2026).

Through a typical Indian bank at a 2.5% margin, the selling rate becomes 26.445 and AED 20,000 costs INR 5,28,900. Add a flat charge of INR 1,000 and GST on the conversion (INR 180 plus 0.09% of the amount above INR 1 lakh, about INR 566). A correspondent bank may deduct USD 15 to 25 in transit, so the recipient sees roughly AED 19,925. Total outlay: INR 5,30,466.

Through Fairexpay at the live rate, AED 20,000 costs INR 5,16,000. The fee at 0.4% is INR 2,064. GST on the conversion is INR 554. Total: INR 5,18,618, with the full AED 20,000 credited because charges are borne by the sender.

The difference is INR 11,848, or about 2.3%. A family sending AED 20,000 every quarter to support a relative pays roughly INR 47,000 a year extra through the bank route.

Now the TCS layer, which is where this corridor surprises people. Family maintenance is an “other purpose”, so TCS is 20% on the amount above INR 10 lakh in the financial year. If this AED 20,000 is your first remittance of the year, TCS is nil. If you have already sent INR 10 lakh, TCS on the full INR 5,16,000 is INR 1,03,200, collected upfront by the dealer. It comes back as a credit when you file your ITR, but you fund it now.

TCS on India-to-UAE transfers by purpose

The rates that apply from 1 April 2026 are set out in our post on the new TCS rates. For the UAE the relevant lines are:

Purpose	Form A2 code	TCS from 1 April 2026
Family maintenance	S1301	20% above INR 10 lakh
Gift to a relative	S1302	20% above INR 10 lakh
Funding own account, property, investment	Described in words; AD assigns the code	20% above INR 10 lakh
Medical treatment	S0304	2% above INR 10 lakh
Education (self-funded)	S0305	2% above INR 10 lakh
Education (Section 80E loan)	S0305	0%
Overseas tour package	Described in words	2% from the first rupee
Emigration	S0023	20% above INR 10 lakh

The INR 10 lakh threshold is per PAN per financial year across all authorised dealers and all purposes combined. If you sent INR 8 lakh for a child’s education in June, a INR 5 lakh maintenance transfer in September crosses the threshold and INR 3 lakh of it attracts 20%.

TCS is not a tax cost. It appears in Form 26AS and AIS, the collector issues Form 27D, and you claim it in your ITR; excess comes back as a refund with interest.

Because the rate is 20%, families supporting a relative in the UAE often plan the year. Each adult has their own INR 10 lakh threshold and USD 250,000 limit, so a husband and wife each sending INR 10 lakh in maintenance pay no TCS at all.

Documents, timing and common rejections

For any transfer: PAN, Aadhaar or passport, and a signed Form A2 with the purpose code. For maintenance or gifts: the recipient’s name, relationship and UAE bank details; some dealers ask for the recipient’s passport copy or Emirates ID. For property: the sale agreement and the developer’s payment schedule. For funding your own account: proof the account is in your name.

Timing is easier than for Australia or Canada. The UAE is 1.5 hours behind India and its banking week has been Monday to Friday since 2022. A transfer released by the authorised dealer before 2 pm IST on a weekday usually credits the same day or the next morning in the UAE. Friday afternoon transfers land on Monday.

Rejections we see: an IBAN with 22 or 24 characters, a beneficiary name not matching the passport name on the account, maintenance sent to someone who is not a close relative under FEMA’s definition, and a business-looking payment declared as a gift. The last one is a misdeclaration, not a paperwork error, and dealers refuse it.

How to do this with Fairexpay

On our India to UAE page you select the purpose (family maintenance, gift, own account, medical, emigration), enter the AED amount and see the live rate priced off USD/INR with no markup, and the fee from 0.4% shown separately.

KYC is PAN and Aadhaar, completed once. Form A2 is filled and signed digitally with the purpose code set for you, and the TCS that applies to your purpose and your year-to-date remittances is calculated and shown before you confirm, so a 20% collection is never a surprise at the debit stage. You enter the 23-character IBAN and the BIC, add the relationship or property reference, upload the supporting document, and pay by UPI or net banking.

Execution is through our RBI-authorised AD-I bank and AD-II partners on a T+1 basis. Tracking is under “My Remittances” with SMS and email updates. Pay before noon IST for same-day release.

FAQs

How much can I send from India to the UAE in a year?

USD 250,000 equivalent per resident individual per financial year under LRS, across all purposes and all banks. Each adult family member has their own limit. Once you become a non-resident under FEMA, LRS no longer applies and you use NRE and NRO accounts instead.

Why is TCS 20% on money sent to family in the UAE?

Family maintenance and gifts fall under “other purposes”, which carry 20% TCS above INR 10 lakh per financial year from 1 April 2026. The 2% rate applies only to education and medical remittances. TCS is credited against your income tax when you file and refunded if in excess.

What is the AED to INR rate today?

The dirham is pegged at AED 3.6725 per USD, so AED/INR equals USD/INR divided by 3.6725. With the dollar at about 94.75 in early September 2026 that gave roughly 25.80. Check the live rate on the day; it moves with the rupee-dollar rate.

Do I need an IBAN to send money to Dubai?

Yes. The UAE requires a 23-character IBAN starting with AE on every inbound credit, and payments without it are rejected. You also need the bank’s SWIFT code and the beneficiary’s name exactly as it appears on their account, which UAE banks match to the passport.

Can I send money to fund my own bank account in Dubai before I move?

Yes, under LRS as funding your own account abroad, with proof the account is in your name. TCS is 20% above INR 10 lakh. Once you hold a residence visa and leave India permanently, the emigration purpose (S0023) applies to your final transfers.

Can I pay a UAE supplier or freelancer under LRS?

No. Payments for goods or services are business remittances, not LRS. They go through the current-account route with an invoice and, where the payment may be taxable in India, Forms 145 and 146. Declaring a business payment as a gift is a misdeclaration that dealers will refuse.