The dollar endorsement limit in Bangladesh, and how much money you can take to India for treatment

Last checked: 14 September 2026. Every figure on this page was read that day, directly from the Bangladesh Bank circular or the Reserve Bank of India document named next to it. Nothing here is copied from another guide. Open the links and check us.

One of the two main figures on this page changed on 6 September 2026 — eight days before the date above. Bangladesh Bank raised the annual travel entitlement that day. If a guide gives you a figure without naming the circular it came from and the date on that circular, you cannot tell which figure you are being given.

And the circular that sets the medical limit says in its own text that it expires. Paragraph 03 of it reads: "The instructions of this circular will remain valid for one year from the date of its issuance." It was issued on 30 September 2025, and we read it on 14 September 2026. Read section 4 before you rely on anything here for a journey on or after 30 September 2026.

This page is not legal, financial or medical advice. It quotes what Bangladesh Bank and the Reserve Bank of India publish. It cannot tell you what your bank will do, and it does not tell you what to do.

1. Read this first: what we could NOT verify

This is at the top, not the bottom, because it is the part that can hurt you if you assume otherwise.

• We could not read the application form. Paragraph 10(1) says an application for foreign exchange on health grounds goes in "form as at Appendix-3, in duplicate". The appendix pages of that circular are scanned images, not text, in the copy Bangladesh Bank publishes. We are not going to describe a form we could not read.
• We do not know how a patient actually reaches "the Medical Board set up by the Health Directorate". The circular names it as one basis for release. We found no published page explaining who sits on it, where it meets, or how an ordinary patient applies to it.
• We do not know whether you may use the medical limit and the annual travel entitlement for the same trip. They are two separate paragraphs of the same circular. Neither paragraph says anything about the other. We are not going to add them together for you.
• We do not know whether the rules written into the travel paragraph carry across to the medical paragraph. The travel paragraph sets a half-rate for minors under 12 and caps how much may be taken as US dollar notes. The medical paragraph contains neither of those sentences. We are not going to assume it inherits them.
• We could not find any published permission for a Bangladeshi citizen to carry Indian rupee notes into India — and we could not find a published prohibition either. See section 6. What we found is a permission that names who it excludes.
• We do not know what applies at a land border. The Reserve Bank's own FAQ says a declaration is made to Customs "at the Airport". The regulation itself says "on arrival in India". Nothing we read addresses Benapole, Burimari, Akhaura or any other land crossing by name. Entering India by land is unresolved in a second, separate way as well: our page on what happens after you arrive in India sets out a contradiction on the Indian government's own e-Visa site about whether an e-Visa may be used at a land crossing at all.
• We publish no exchange rate and no treatment price. We have not verified any, and a rate we printed today would be wrong tomorrow.

If another website gives you a single confident number for "how much you can take", ask which circular it came from and what date is printed on that circular, and open it yourself.

2. The travel number changed on 6 September 2026

Bangladesh Bank published a one-page circular. This is the operative part of it, word for word:

"Please refer to paragraph 9(2) of FE Circular No. 37 dated September 30, 2025, in terms of which Authorized Dealers (ADs) are permitted to release foreign exchange to an adult Bangladeshi national residing in Bangladesh for travel abroad during a calendar year up to USD 12,000 or equivalent.

2. With a view to facilitating genuine travel-related foreign exchange

requirements of Bangladeshi nationals and considering the evolving needs of international travel, it has been decided to enhance the annual travel entitlement to USD 18,000 or equivalent from USD 12,000 or equivalent. As before, the applicable foreign exchange entitlement for minors (below 12 years of age) shall remain at 50 percent of the amount admissible for adults. Furthermore, release of foreign exchange in the form of USD notes shall not exceed USD 5,000 (five thousand) per person within the applicable entitlement.

3. All other instructions relating to the release of foreign exchange for

travel abroad shall remain unchanged."

— Bangladesh Bank, Foreign Exchange Policy Department-1, Release of foreign exchange for travel abroad, FEPD-1 Circular No. 33, dated September 06, 2026 (PDF), read 14 September 2026.

Three things are in that text and nothing else is:

This is the travel entitlement. The circular's subject line is "Release of foreign exchange for travel abroad", and the paragraph it amends is the travel paragraph. It says nothing about treatment. The medical limit is set somewhere else, and it is a different number — that is section 3.

3. Treatment abroad has its own paragraph, and its own limit

The travel entitlement and the medical release live in two consecutive but separate paragraphs of the same circular: paragraph 9 is "Release of foreign exchange for travel abroad", and paragraph 10 is "Release of foreign exchange for travel on health ground".

Here is paragraph 10, in full, exactly as published:

"10. Release of foreign exchange for travel on health ground

(1) All applications for foreign exchange for travel abroad on health grounds should be submitted in form as at Appendix-3, in duplicate. Up to USD 15,000 or equivalent may be released by ADs on the basis of the recommendation of the Medical Board set up by the Health Directorate or on the basis of the need established through recommendation of appropriate medical specialists and the cost estimate of the foreign medical institution. Request for release of foreign exchange exceeding USD 15,000 for treatment abroad should be forwarded by ADs with supporting documents to Bangladesh Bank (FEOD/other office) which will authorize release upon verification of the bonafide of the expenses.

(2) The limit of USD 15,000 or equivalent shall stand relaxed on account of treatment abroad for persons injured in the Students-People's uprising - July 2024 Revolution. In this context, ADs may release foreign exchange based on estimation. In addition to banking channel, international card channel may be used for the transactions.

(3) In case of release of foreign exchange through international cards (prepaid/debit/credit) for travel abroad on health ground. ADs shall report the transactions in the field named 'Medical Quota' under ENTITLEMENT menu in online international card monitoring system."

— Bangladesh Bank, FE Circular No. 37, dated September 30, 2025, Part-B Travel, paragraph 10 (PDF), read 14 September 2026.

Read what that paragraph actually gives you, and what it does not.

• USD 15,000 is not a ceiling on treatment. It is the ceiling on what your own bank may release without going further. Above it, the paragraph does not say no — it says the bank forwards the request to Bangladesh Bank, which "will authorize release upon verification of the bonafide of the expenses".
• Two different bases are named for the release below USD 15,000: the recommendation of the Medical Board set up by the Health Directorate, or need established through the recommendation of appropriate medical specialists together with "the cost estimate of the foreign medical institution". That second route is the one that needs a written cost estimate from the hospital abroad. If you have not been given one, that is a question to put to whoever is arranging your treatment — our questions to ask before you pay anyone covers what a real hospital quotation looks like.
• "AD" means Authorized Dealer. The circular is addressed, in its own words, to "All Authorized Dealers in Foreign Exchange in Bangladesh", and it does not define the term any further. We are not going to define it for it. The instructions are written to those banks, not to you. You are the person on the other side of the counter.
• Paragraph 10 sets no half-rate for children and no cash-notes cap. Those sentences are in paragraph 9 and in the September 2026 circular, both of which are about travel. We are not going to tell you they apply here. Ask the bank.

On paragraph 10(2): the circular states a relaxation of the USD 15,000 limit for persons injured in what it calls the "Students-People's uprising - July 2024 Revolution", and says ADs may release foreign exchange based on estimation for those cases. We quote it because it is in the text. We have no source for how a person establishes that they fall inside it, and we are not going to invent one.

4. The circular that sets the medical limit states its own expiry date

This is the single most important sentence on this page, and almost nobody quotes it:

"03. The instructions of this circular will remain valid for one year from the date of its issuance. However, instructions to be issued within this period will be read with this circular."

— Bangladesh Bank, FE Circular No. 37, dated September 30, 2025, paragraph 03 (PDF), read 14 September 2026.

The same circular also states, in its opening paragraph, what it replaced:

"To bring ease in conducting outward remittances on account of current account transactions other than imports and transportation services, the existing regulations have been compiled at one place with modifications as necessitated. Accordingly, relevant instructions in this regard contained in the Guidelines for Foreign Exchange Transactions-2018 (GFET) and its subsequent circulars will stand repealed with issuance of this circular excepting monthly reporting instructions contained in GFET, Vol-2."

So the older Guidelines document is, by the circular's own words, repealed on this subject. We did not read the 2018 Guidelines, and we therefore print no figure from them. We mention it only because a number you find elsewhere may have come from a document that says it no longer applies.

What we checked, and what we could not check. On 14 September 2026 we read Bangladesh Bank's own circular index for the Foreign Exchange Policy Department and went through every circular in its main numbered series issued after FE Circular No. 37 — Nos. 38 to 51 of 2025 and Nos. 1 to 35 of 2026, forty-nine in all. Only one of them changes anything about releasing foreign exchange for a personal journey: FEPD-1 Circular No. 33 of 6 September 2026, quoted in section 2, and it is about travel. We found none that changes paragraph 10. Two limits on that check, stated plainly: the department also issues circulars in other numbered series, and we did not read every one of those; and we could not check what happens on or after 30 September 2026, because nothing has been published about it yet.

So: if you are travelling in October 2026 or later, do not take the USD 15,000 figure from this page. Ask your bank what the current instruction is, and ask which circular it is in. We will re-check this page after 1 October 2026 and say here what we found.

5. What "endorsement" actually means, and what the bank has to do

"Dollar endorsement" is not a fee and not a permission to travel. It is the bank writing the released amount into your passport. The circular tells the bank exactly how to do it:

"The amount of foreign exchange released by an AD to a traveler with the approval of the Bangladesh Bank or under general authority given to ADs by Bangladesh Bank should be recorded by them on the traveler's valid passport as well as ticket under their stamp and signature at the time of release of such exchange. Release of foreign exchange in excess of USD 200 or equivalent will require valid visa except in the cases mentioned in sub-paragraph 10 below. […] ADs should verify to satisfy that the ticket covers a journey to be undertaken not later than two weeks after the date on which exchange is issued. No exchange should be sold against tickets, which do not specify the date of departure."

— FE Circular No. 37, paragraph 9(1). The omission marked […] is a sentence about diplomats and government officials travelling on official duties, who do not need the endorsement.

And on what the endorsement has to physically look like:

"the amount released is endorsed on the passport and air ticket (where applicable) of the traveler with indelible ink, with the signature and name of AD branch embossed in the passport and ticket (where applicable); the same has been reported to the 'Online Foreign Exchange Transaction Monitoring System' of Bangladesh Bank."

— FE Circular No. 37, paragraph 9(8)(c).

Four more sentences from the same paragraph:

• The limits are described by Bangladesh Bank itself as indicative. "The above limits are indicative. Bangladesh Bank will authorize release of foreign exchange for travel abroad beyond these indicative limits upon submission of documents regarding the bonafide of the expenses. Application for such authorization should be sent to Foreign Exchange Operation Department (FEOD)/other office of Bangladesh Bank." (paragraph 9(4))
• Taka you carry is a separate, much smaller allowance. "Irrespective of foreign exchange entitlement, the outgoing passenger is permitted to take up to Bangladesh Taka 10,000 in cash at each time." (paragraph 9(2))
• The year is a calendar year. "The time limit for annual travel quota will be counted from January 01 to December 31." (paragraph 9(11))
• A card can be endorsed too, and in two cases need not be. "Endorsement of foreign exchange on passports is applicable against release of foreign exchange either in cash or in non-cash form like international cards, etc. or both out of eligible entitlements of travels. […] However, foreign exchange can be released without endorsement on passports in non-cash form like international cards, etc. out of balances held in private foreign currency (FC) accounts and resident foreign currency deposit (RFCD) accounts maintained under general authorization by concerned accountholders." (paragraph 9(3))

All four quotations are from FE Circular No. 37 of 30 September 2025, read 14 September 2026. Every one of them sits in paragraph 9, the travel paragraph.

6. What India publishes about money you bring in — and where its own two documents differ

The conflict, first

Two Reserve Bank of India documents describe who may bring Indian rupee notes into India, and they do not describe it the same way. Both are RBI's. Both are dated. We are printing both and we are not going to tell you which one wins.

The regulation — the page's own heading reads "Amended up to February 24, 2026":

"(2) Save as otherwise provided in these regulations, any person resident outside India, not being a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh, and visiting India, […] may bring into India currency notes of Government of India and Reserve Bank of India notes up to an amount not exceeding Rs.25000 (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand Only) per person or such other amount and subject to such conditions as notified by Reserve Bank of India from time to time."

— Foreign Exchange Management (Export and import of currency) Regulations, 2015, Notification No. FEMA 6(R)/2015-RB, regulation 3(2) (source), read 14 September 2026.

RBI's own FAQ — the document's own line reads "Updated as on November 28, 2025":

"Any person resident outside India, not being a citizen of Pakistan and Bangladesh and also not a traveller coming from and going to Pakistan and Bangladesh, and visiting India may bring into India currency notes of Government of India and Reserve Bank of India notes up to an amount not exceeding Rs.25,000 while entering only through an airport."

— Reserve Bank of India, FAQ Miscellaneous forex facilities, Q 4 (source), read 14 September 2026.

The FAQ carries two conditions the regulation does not: it also excludes a traveller "coming from and going to" those countries, and it limits the permission to people entering through an airport. The regulation, whose page carries the later date, carries neither. We have not found a document that reconciles them.

For a Bangladeshi citizen, both documents give the same answer. Under either text, the general permission to bring Rs. 25,000 in Indian notes into India does not extend to you. Note what that sentence does and does not say: we found a permission that names who it excludes. We did not find a published prohibition, and we did not find a published alternative permission either. The same regulation ends with:

"Notwithstanding anything contained in these regulations, the Reserve Bank may, on an application made to it and on being satisfied that it is necessary to do so, allow any person to take or send out of India to any country or bring into India from any country currency notes of Government of India and /or of Reserve Bank of India subject to such terms and conditions as the Reserve Bank may stipulate."

— FEMA 6(R), regulation 9.

We do not know whether any patient has ever used regulation 9, or how. We are telling you what the text says and stopping there.

Foreign currency: no limit, but a declaration above two thresholds

"A person may — send into India without limit foreign exchange in any form other than currency notes, bank notes and travellers cheques; bring into India from any place outside India without limit foreign exchange (other than unissued notes), provided that bringing of foreign exchange into India under clause (b) shall be subject to the condition that such person makes, on arrival in India, a declaration to the Custom authorities in Currency Declaration Form (CDF) annexed to these Regulations; provided further that it shall not be necessary to make such declaration where the aggregate value of the foreign exchange in the form of currency notes, bank notes or traveller's cheques brought in by such person at any one time does not exceed US$10,000 (US Dollars ten thousands) or its equivalent and/or the aggregate value of foreign currency notes brought in by such person at any one time does not exceed US$ 5,000 (US Dollars five thousands) or its equivalent."

— FEMA 6(R), regulation 6, read 14 September 2026.

RBI's FAQ says the same thing in shorter words, and adds one word the regulation does not use:

"A person coming into India from abroad can bring with him foreign exchange without any limit. However, if the aggregate value of the foreign exchange in the form of currency notes, bank notes or travellers cheques brought in exceeds USD 10,000 or its equivalent and/or the value of foreign currency alone exceeds USD 5,000 or its equivalent, it should be declared to the Customs Authorities at the Airport in the Currency Declaration Form (CDF), on arrival in India."

— RBI FAQ Miscellaneous forex facilities, Q 5, read 14 September 2026.

The regulation says "on arrival in India". The FAQ says "at the Airport". If you are crossing a land border, we cannot tell you from these documents which counter you should go to. Ask at the border post, before you cross.

Taking unspent money back out

"Any person resident outside India may take out of India unspent foreign exchange not exceeding the amount brought in by him and declared in accordance with the proviso to clause (b) of Regulation 6, on his arrival in India."

— FEMA 6(R), regulation 7(4).

And the form itself tells you to keep it:

"Visitors to India may please note that in case they do not wish to encash all the foreign exchange declared below they should retain this form with them for production to the Customs at the time of their departure from India to enable them to take with them the unutilised balance."

— Currency Declaration Form (CDF), Instructions for passengers, item 3, annexed to FEMA 6(R).

This is a simple, concrete instruction: if you declare, do not lose the form. Treatment costs are hard to predict in advance. If you bring more than you spend, this form is what the instruction says you need in order to take the rest out again.

7. Check it yourself — every address on this page

All six were open and readable on 14 September 2026. Two notes so you are not confused when you open them:

• The Bangladesh Bank website can refuse some browsers and tools. If a link above does not load, that is the site, not a dead page — try a different browser.
• RBI's FAQ is published twice, as a web page and as a PDF. The PDF's file name carries a December 2025 date while the document's own first line reads "Updated as on November 28, 2025". We quote the line inside the document, not the file name.

8. The rest of this series

• Indian medical visa requirements from Bangladesh — the two official document lists, and exactly where they differ, including on the foreign-currency endorsement the visa application itself asks for.
• Indian medical visa from Bangladesh: the process — the four steps, the categories, and why appointments are the real constraint.
• Indian medical visa fraud from Bangladesh — what the High Commission itself says about agents, fees and appointment slots.
• How many people can travel with a patient — the attendant routes, and the different numbers each one publishes.
• After you arrive in India — FRRO registration, the hospital's own duty to report you, and a contradiction on the government's own site about entering India by land.
• When treatment outlasts your visa — the extension rule, and the numbers the government does not publish.
• Changing hospital on a medical visa — the rule is published; the procedure is not.
• Why every website gives you a different price — four different things get called "the price", and they are not the same thing.
• Questions to ask before you pay a medical travel agent — including what a real hospital quotation looks like.

About this page

Infirmy is a marketplace. Hospitals and medical facilitators list for free and pay only per qualified lead they receive — no commission on treatment. Today it has none listed. This page names no hospital, quotes no treatment price, gives no medical advice and gives no financial advice. We are not a bank, a money changer or a visa agent. Every figure above carries the circular or regulation we read it in, that document's own date, and the date we read it. If something here turns out to be wrong, we will correct it here and record when we did.

This is general information about process and paperwork, not medical advice. Infirmy does not diagnose, recommend a treatment, or tell anyone what care to seek.