Top 3 Money Transfer Providers for Australia to India

Australian residents who visit India for the purposes of sightseeing, vacation, visiting friends or relatives, travelling for medical treatment, or for business trips of a short duration may apply for an Indian visa on Arrival. Visitors must have a passport that is valid for at least six months from the date of your arrival in India and be able to show proof of sufficient funds to cover your stay in the country.

If you will be conducting business in India you will need to apply for a business visa. For this process you will be required to present a letter of sponsorship from a partnering Indian company, along with a letter of association from the Australian company with which you are affiliated. There are several different types of Indian visas that authorize you to work, study or carry out other specific tasks while in the country, such as the journalist visa, emergency visa, or a conference visa.

Although it is fairly straightforward to apply for and obtain a visa for India, it is important to determine which particular category of visa you will require. International visa applications have been outsourced to VFS Global. Australians should schedule an appointment to visit the application center.

India ranked as Australia’s fifth most popular export destination between 2012 and 2013. The major categories of goods exported to Australia from India include jewelry, textiles, gems, and machinery. From Australia, India receives copper, fertilizers, crude oil, coal, and non-monetary gold.

India is the largest market for Australia’s export for chickpeas and gold; the second largest for copper ores and coal and the third largest market for wool and lead. Trade in services totaled US$ 3.5 billion in 2010-2011. India’s main exports in services to Australia include computer and information technology, as well as tourism. On the other hand, Australia main services exports are tourism, education and education-related services.

Several cooperative groups have been convened with the aim of fortifying the bilateral trade partnership between the Australia and India. These include the CEO Forum and the India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission. Plans are currently in place for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between India and Australia.

Several Australian companies also operate in India. These include MIM Holdings, the Australian Wheat Board, Telstra, Rio Tinto, P&O Australia, BHP Billiton, Lucent Technologies, Clough Engineering, and ANZ Bank.

Australia is becoming a more popular choice for tertiary and vocational education for Indian students. To date, there are approximately 36,000 Indian students enrolled in Australian universities. Several Australian and Indian universities have entered into formal agreements to further benefit their students. These relate to student and staff exchanges, joint degree programmes, and academic research. Several Australian vocational institutions are active in implementing programmes in India.

Australia is home to almost 450,000 Indian expats who work in a variety of industries including doctors, accountants, teachers, researchers, and engineers. India is Australia’s third largest source of immigrants. Such an expansive Indian community means that many are sending remittance payments home to their families in India from Australia.

The Indian banking sector has experienced rapid and significant growth, to the point that local banks can compete strategically with their foreign-based counterparts. Australian expats will be able to find several options among the 31 foreign banks within the country. These include ANZ, HSBC, Barclay’s, Royal Bank of Scotland and Citibank, among others.

Local Indian banks now offer similar services at competitive rates. They also tend to be quite customer centric. The most popular local Indian banks include HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. They offer a wide range of products such as ATM cards, period deposits, debit cards, and telephone and internet banking. These local entities have a wider reach than foreign banks, which could make them more efficient options when expats need to transfer money from Australia to India.

Opening a bank account in India is not difficult. You will need a copy of a resident permit, proof of identity, a copy of your Australian passport and a proof of a local Indian address.