Every document you need to buy foreign exchange in India

Almost every delayed forex order comes down to one missing piece of paper, and it is nearly always the same few. This is the full list, grouped by what you are buying currency for, so you can put the folder together once and be done.

• PAN card. Not negotiable, and not substitutable with anything else — it is how the transaction is reported and how TCS reaches you.
• Passport, first and last pages. The name on it is the name that goes on the card or the remittance.
• Valid visa, for travel purposes. A visa-on-arrival destination is an exception your dealer will confirm.
• Confirmed travel itinerary or ticket, for travel purposes. It establishes the date, which sets the window in which currency may be released.
• The signed A2 declaration.

Names must agree across all of them. A passport reading SURESH KUMAR RAO and a PAN reading S K RAO will stop the transaction, and correcting it is slow.

• Education — admission or enrolment letter, and the fee invoice from the institution. If a loan is funding it, the sanction letter, which is also what removes TCS.
• Medical treatment — the estimate from the hospital or clinic abroad, on their letterhead.
• Business travel — a letter from your employer confirming the trip, and the invitation or conference registration if there is one.
• Emigration — the visa or residence permit.
• Maintenance of relatives — proof of relationship, and the beneficiary's bank details.

Two thresholds change the paperwork. Beyond roughly USD 25,000 in a single transaction, expect enhanced due diligence — source of funds evidence such as bank statements, salary slips or a sale deed. And once your remittances cross ₹10 lakh for the financial year, TCS enters the picture, which makes the PAN and the purpose documentation matter more, not less.