Money Rules to Know Before You Leave for MBBS Abroad

How the money actually leaves India

The yearly ceiling is 250,000 US dollars

The Reserve Bank of India lets one resident send up to 250,000 US dollars abroad in a financial year under its remittance scheme. Tuition comes out of that same allowance.

For a university bill the bank can go higher

The rules let your bank send more than the ceiling for studies, on the strength of the estimate the foreign university gives you. No separate permission is needed.

Under the ceiling, no estimate is asked for

Up to 250,000 US dollars your bank may release the money without insisting on any estimate from the university. The paperwork only grows once you cross that line.

The limit belongs to a person, not a family

It applies to each resident individual, children included. A parent and a student each hold an allowance, and for anyone under eighteen a guardian countersigns the form.

Nothing is taken on the first Rs 10 lakh

The Finance Act 2025 lifted that threshold from Rs 7 lakh. Above it, tax is collected at five per cent, and nothing at all if an education loan is paying the bill.

Only 3,000 US dollars may travel as cash

The rest goes as a card, a traveller's cheque or a banker's draft. Coming home you may keep 2,000 US dollars, and the remainder is handed back within 180 days.

Want the whole pre departure list

Our pre departure checklist for MBBS abroad sets out the ten steps to clear before you fly, from the documents to the registrations waiting at the other end.