There are four ways to send money abroad from Ukraine: a SWIFT transfer from a bank account, a transfer from a foreign-currency card to a card abroad, a money transfer service or the post office, and USDT, which the recipient sells in their own country. The bank routes are restricted by the NBU: as of 16.10.2026, SWIFT is open for paying for goods and services, rent, education, medical treatment and alimony, while money for relatives’ living expenses is sent to a card or through a money transfer service.
Which route to choose depends on the purpose, the amount and what the recipient has: a bank account, a card or a crypto wallet. Below are the terms of each route, a table and a formula that shows how much actually arrived. A transfer in the other direction, from abroad to Ukraine, is a separate topic, covered in the article for Ukrainians abroad.
Our interest, up front: we are an exchanger, and people buy USDT from us for cash hryvnias and dollars. So the fourth route is ours, and where it does not fit, we say so. The other three routes are covered in just as much detail.
Which NBU restrictions on transfers abroad apply in 2026?
The rules are set by NBU Resolution No. 18 of 24.02.2022, paragraph 14: cross-border transfers are prohibited except in the cases listed there. The resolution is amended several times a year. As of 16.10.2026, the latest amendment is Resolution No. 105 of 15.09.2026, and a large package of relaxations has been in effect since 11.08.2026. For an individual, the following cases on the list matter:
- Education, medical treatment, alimony. Paying a foreign educational institution, paying for treatment at a medical facility in a foreign country and alimony are allowed separately; these subparagraphs set no limit on the amount.
- Goods, services and rent from a hryvnia account — up to UAH 200,000 a month: by card or by a transfer for which the bank buys the currency.
- Goods and services from a foreign-currency account by transfer, for example SWIFT — a separate UAH 200,000 a month. With a foreign-currency card, goods and services are paid for without a limit, except for certain categories.
- Housing rent from a foreign-currency account — up to UAH 500,000 a month, by card or by transfer.
- A transfer to an individual’s card abroad — only from a foreign-currency account, up to UAH 100,000 a month. The same limit includes “quasi-cash” transactions: buying cryptocurrency by card on a foreign platform, topping up e-wallets.
Amounts are in hryvnia equivalent. You can buy non-cash foreign currency for up to UAH 200,000 a month at one bank. Business payments for imports are regulated separately, and we do not cover them here. The bank applies the resolution as currently amended, so check the terms with your bank before the transfer.
How to send money abroad via SWIFT
SWIFT is a transfer from your account to the recipient’s account using their details: name, IBAN or account number, bank code. A bank whose page we reviewed on 16.10.2026 accepts SWIFT transfers from individuals only for purposes on the NBU list and asks for the recipient’s details, a passport and a document confirming the purpose, for example an invoice from the institution or a contract.
The cost is made up of several parts. The first is your bank’s fee: at two large banks, as of October 2026, it ranges from zero (one of them scrapped its fee for SWIFT transfers abroad on 10 June 2026) to 0.5% of the amount, but no more than $100, plus $12. The second is the exchange rate, if the bank buys the currency for the transfer. The third is the deductions taken by correspondent banks and the recipient’s bank.
Who pays the correspondent banks depends on the charge type. OUR — the sender pays; SHA — each side pays its own bank; BEN — everything is deducted from the amount. With SHA and BEN, the recipient may get less than you sent. For dollar transfers there is a charge type under which the full amount arrives without correspondent deductions — at one bank it costs $26.50.
Banks describe the timing differently. One says that thanks to the SWIFT gpi standard the money arrives within 24 hours; a business publication gives one to five business days as the standard time. Non-working days at banks along the route make it longer. Tracing or recalling a transfer is a paid service, and a return is not guaranteed.
How to send money to a foreign card
For helping your family, this is the simplest route: a card-to-card transfer to a Visa or Mastercard card from a foreign bank, in your own bank’s app. You need the recipient’s card number and their name in Latin letters. You can send only from a foreign-currency card; if you do not have one, the bank will open it online, and you buy the currency within the monthly limit.
The NBU limit is UAH 100,000 a month from all foreign-currency accounts combined, together with “quasi-cash”. There are also limits per transaction: one bank, as of October 2026, allows up to UAH 30,000 per transaction and no more than 5 transfers a week and 10 a month. The fee is a percentage of the amount: under the 2026 tariffs of two large banks, from 1% (minimum 1 dollar or euro) to 2% (minimum UAH 50); the app shows the exact fee before you confirm.
One bank warns that the money arrives instantly if the recipient’s card accepts such transfers, and otherwise within three days. Watch out for conversions: if your card and the recipient’s card are in different currencies, the money is converted, and the conversion rate is also part of the cost.
How to send a transfer through Western Union, MoneyGram or the post office
Money transfer services — Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria and others — are available in bank apps and branches, and Ukrposhta has its own international transfers. The recipient collects the money in cash at a payout point or receives it on a card, depending on the country. The fee is set by the service according to the amount, the country and the currency, and the app shows it before you confirm.
Each bank has its own limits on the number and amount of transfers — check them in the app or at a branch. At the post office, a transfer of up to UAH 30,000 needs only an identity document, while from UAH 30,000 to UAH 400,000 you also need your tax number and a questionnaire.
One bank says such a transfer becomes available for payout within a few minutes. The cost is made up of the service’s fee and the rate at which the recipient is paid out, so compare it with a card transfer for the same amount. Which countries and currencies are available for sending from Ukraine is shown in the app or at the branch.
How to send money abroad via USDT
Here we are an interested party. USDT is a stablecoin whose price stays close to the dollar; for details, see our explainer on what Tether USDT is. The route: you buy USDT and send it to the recipient’s wallet, and the recipient sells the coins for local currency or keeps them in USDT.
- Buy USDT. With us — for cash hryvnias or dollars in the cities where buying is open, as shown in the USDT rate table. The rate depends on the amount: for a large amount it is better; the exact rate for your amount is calculated by the form. Other ways are covered in our article on how to buy USDT in Ukraine.
- Agree on the network and the address. The recipient gives you a USDT address on a specific network that their wallet supports — how to choose a network. Send a small test amount first.
- Send. According to our measurement of 19.09.2026, a transfer becomes irreversible in about a minute on the TRON network and in 15–17 minutes on Ethereum. The network fee does not depend on the amount, so on a small transfer it takes a larger share.
- Sell. The recipient sells the USDT on a platform in their country, via P2P or at an exchanger. That is a second exchange with its own cost, and both need to be counted.
How an order works with us: the form asks for your Telegram username, after the order the manager writes to you there, and an operator sends the USDT to your wallet. The rate is held for the time the form shows. Buying carries a small fixed payout fee — the form shows it before you place the order. The minimum is also stated in the form.
Where can the recipient exchange USDT for euros, zloty or another currency?
Find this out before the transfer. The EU has the MiCA regulation, and as of October 2026 the issuer of USDT is not in the ESMA register. So a platform licensed in the EU may not let a customer sell USDT for euros: what is allowed is set out in its terms. How to get euros into an account in that case is covered in the article USDT to euros into an EU account.
The recipient’s bank may ask where the money from the sale came from. The answer is a chain of documents: how the USDT was bought, where it was sent, what it was sold for; what to keep is described in the article on the source of funds from cryptocurrency. The exchanger may check the origin of the coins; for a large amount, documents may be requested under the law.
We handle USDT to euros and USDT to zloty manually. There is no live rate for them: the manager names the rate, method and timing after you place the order, so find out before the transfer whether this suits the recipient abroad. For other currencies, check in advance where the recipient will sell USDT and on what terms.
Which way of sending money abroad should you choose?
The table sums up the terms as of 16.10.2026: the limits are from NBU Resolution No. 18, the costs and timing of the bank routes are from the banks’ tariffs and pages, and the network time for USDT is our measurement of 19.09.2026. Check them before the transfer: terms change.
Route | What the sender needs | What the recipient needs | What makes up the cost | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SWIFT | an account and a purpose from the NBU list, with a document for it | a bank account | bank fee, exchange rate, correspondent deductions | up to a day or 1–5 business days |
To a card | a foreign-currency card, up to UAH 100,000 a month | a Visa or Mastercard card | bank percentage, conversions | instantly or up to three days |
Transfer service, post office | a card or cash, and an ID document | an ID document for the payout, or a card | service fee, payout rate | a few minutes |
USDT | hryvnias or dollars to buy with, your own wallet | a wallet and a way to sell USDT | buying rate, network fee, selling rate | minutes on the network plus time to sell |
For a family’s everyday expenses, the simplest way is to send to a card, and if it is urgent and in cash, through a money transfer service. Education, medical treatment, rent and bills for services are easier to pay by SWIFT directly to the institution or the landlord: you are left with a bank document showing the payment.
USDT fits when the recipient already has a wallet and it is clear where they will sell the coins. It does not fit when the recipient does not want to deal with crypto, when the institution accepts only a bank transfer, or when the amount is small: the network fee will eat up a noticeable share. No bank will fix a mistake in the address or the network.
How to work out how much money will arrive
Compare results, not tariffs. Divide the hryvnias you paid by the amount the recipient received in their currency — that is your actual rate. Compare it with the official NBU rate on the day of the transfer: the difference is the full cost of the route, including fees, conversions and deductions.
An illustrative example, not the current rate: you paid UAH 45,000, the recipient received 900 euros, so the actual rate is UAH 50 per euro. If the official rate that day was 48, the route cost about 4%. Work out two or three options like this for your own amount: where there is a fixed fee, its share is larger on a small amount.
