If you are working from India, you may need a Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) or Non-Objection Certification for Issuance of FIRC/FIRA (NOC) to document your foreign money transfers from Upwork. If you need help getting a FIRA/NOC for your payments from Upwork, please contact Upwork Support by selecting Get Support from any Help page.
Important:
We are not a bank and do not produce the FIRC. We can request the FIRA/NOC information from the payment processor who sends your payment and forward that to you.
To request a FIRA/NOC, you’ll need to provide us with the following information:
- Transaction ID of the withdrawal
- Date of withdrawal
- Amount in INR
Please note that some banks can only provide the Disbursement Receipt or Proof of Transfer, Non-Objection Certification for Issuance of FIRC/FIRA (NOC), Foreign Inward Remittance Advice (FIRA), and not the actual FIRC, and there may not be a FIRA/NOC available for older withdrawals.
Categories and coding
According to India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) laws, freelancing services are categorized under database and online information.
The purpose codes are hardcoded to P0103 or P1006. Upwork does not control which of these purpose codes are used. If you need a different purpose code, please contact your bank directly for the purpose code amendment.
As of December 2022, purpose code amendments will abide by the following schedule as per Reserve Bank of India guidelines:
| Transaction Months | Amendment Due Date |
|---|---|
| January - March | Before April 30th |
| April - June | Before July 31st |
| July - September | Before October 31st |
| October - December | Before January 31st |
You must make your requests for purpose code amendments within the timelines for the amendments to be available. For example, for a transaction created on February 16th, the amendment request must be submitted before April 30th.
Note:
Upwork can no longer assist in requesting a purpose code change. Please see the FAQs below.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you need a FIRA/NOC, please contact Upwork Support by selecting Get Support from any Help page. You’ll need to provide us with your transaction ID, date of withdrawal, and the amount in INR.
Please note that some banks can only provide the Disbursement Receipt or Proof of Transfer, Non-Objection Certification for Issuance of FIRC/FIRA (NOC), Foreign Inward Remittance Advice (FIRA), and not the actual FIRC certificate, and a FIRC may not be available for older withdrawals. You’ll need to talk to your bank for assistance in those cases.
As of November 2023, Induslnd has updated FIRC (Non Objection Certification for Issuance of FIRC/FIRA) to Non Objection Certification for Issuance of BIRC, which refers to Bank Inward Remittance Certificate.
BIRC is a valid NOC for the beneficiary bank to issue FIRC/FIRA on their end.
The codes are hardcoded to P0103 or P1006 - Business and management consultancy and public relations services. (If you want to request a code change, please contact your bank directly).
Upwork can no longer assist in requesting a purpose code change. Please go through your AD Bank (where your bank account is) and ask them to send an email to IndusInd Bank (grdops_rda@indusind.com) for code update requests.
In line with this, the December 2022 Quarterly timeline in requesting purpose code amendments is still valid. Freelancers will need to request amendments within the timeframe prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India. After the timeline is breached, the bank may not be able to amend the purpose code.
Since Upwork no longer assist with purpose code update requests, you will need to request amendments with your AD Bank within 30 days per the timeline below:
| Transaction Months | Amendment Due Date |
|---|---|
| January - March | Before April 30th |
| April - June | Before July 31st |
| July - September | Before October 31st |
| October - December | Before January 31st |
If you need an amendment outside the timeframe, the request may be declined. Please reach out to your bank directly for further concerns.
In general, FIRA/NOC receipts are usually issued within 4 weeks. FIRA/NOC certificates for withdrawals made more than 2 years ago may take longer.
Please note that some banks can only provide the Disbursement Receipt or Proof of Transfer, Non-Objection Certification for Issuance of FIRC/FIRA (NOC), Foreign Inward Remittance Advice (FIRA) and not the actual FIRC certificate. Even banks who provide a FIRA/NOC may not have one available for older withdrawals.
Since Upwork uses multiple payment processors, FIRA/NOC availability may vary depending on which bank processed your payment. Please contact your bank for assistance if a FIRA/NOC is not available.
Clients pay on the Upwork platform in USD, but the currency that will show on your bank statement and FIRA/NOC will depend on the payment method and bank you added in your withdrawal method. If you add a Direct to Local Bank method, the currency reflected on your statement and FIRA/NOC will be in your local currency.
If you wish to receive your funds in USD, please add a US Dollar bank account (USD Wire transfer).