Migrate FIRA Records to New Bank: What Actually Moves
TL;DR - Summary
- What is a FIRA and why do freelancers need it? - A FIRA records an inward remittance. Keep it with invoices and bank statements to support reconciliation, tax records and any required export-payment checks.
- Who issues your FIRA records, your bank or your payment platform? - Your bank or platform can help you obtain it. A platform may distribute advice issued by a partner bank, so check the issuer named on the document.
- What happens to your FIRA records when you switch banks? - Historical advice does not automatically move to your new bank. Keep copies from the original bank or platform, and confirm how you can access them after the change.
- What should you do before closing your old bank account to protect your FIRA records? - Download your advice, reconcile it against a remittance statement, save transaction references, and ask your CA about missing records and open export entries before closing the account.
What Is a FIRA and Why Do Freelancers Need It?
A Foreign Inward Remittance Advice (FIRA) records an inward remittance received in India. Freelancers and exporters keep it with invoices and bank statements as part of their payment and tax records. It can support Goods and Services Tax (GST) documentation, but does not by itself establish eligibility for every export benefit.
The importance of FIRA for freelancers comes down to one thing: it ties an international payment to your Indian account.
Say a Bengaluru-based UX designer invoices a US client $2,000. The remittance advice helps link the receipt to that invoice and the bank credit. Keeping these records together makes it easier to reconcile income and explain the transaction during an audit.
✅ PRO TIP
Save each FIRA when it becomes available. Keep a separate copy rather than relying only on continued access to a bank or platform dashboard.
Who Actually Issues Your FIRA, Bank or Platform?
Your FIRA retrieval route depends on how the payment reached India. For a direct bank transfer, ask the receiving bank for its remittance advice. For a platform payment, check the platform dashboard and the issuer named on the document: the platform may distribute bank-issued advice. Dashboard delivery does not remove the underlying banking arrangement.
- Direct SWIFT wire: ask the bank that processed the receipt for the relevant advice. Banks may use names such as credit advice or remittance certificate, so specify the payment and the document's intended use.
- Platform payment: platforms such as Skydo provide FIRA through their dashboards for payments processed through them. Confirm the issuer, payment details and any document requirements rather than relying only on the platform's name.
Do not expect a new bank to fetch old FIRA PDFs automatically. Start with the bank or platform that handled the payment. Export-reporting systems serve different purposes; a record there is not the same as a downloadable FIRA archive.
Knowing who issued your FIRA tells you exactly who to contact when you need it, and what happens when you switch banks.
✅ PRO TIP
Check your recent payments and tag each receipt as bank-direct or platform-routed. Record where its advice is available and who issued it.
What Happens to Your FIRA Records When You Switch Banks?
When you switch banks, your historical remittance advice does not automatically transfer to the new account. The original bank or platform remains your starting point for copies. You can share downloaded records with your new bank or CA, but that does not make the new bank the original issuer.
- Bank-held records: ask the original bank for advice relating to payments it processed. Record-retention duties do not guarantee permanent online access or instant retrieval after closure.
- Platform-held records: a settlement-bank change does not move an old transaction to the new bank. Check the platform's bank-change procedure and historical-download access, and keep your own copies.
- Your new bank: it does not automatically inherit the old bank's advice or issue original advice for a receipt it did not handle. It can review copies you provide; separately coordinate any transfer of outstanding export-monitoring entries with both banks.
If you want to migrate FIRA records to a new bank, the practical step is to download and share copies, not transfer the original issuing history. Keep the old bank's contact details and transaction references even after you finish the switch.
The practical risk is an incomplete payment trail. Missing advice can make tax reviews, export-service refund claims and reconciliation harder. Filing a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) and proving receipt for a refund are different processes; do not treat FIRA as a universal LUT-renewal requirement.
Most freelancers put the new bank details on their next invoice and assume the job is done. Clients often have the old account saved in their payment system, and recurring payments keep going there for months. If that account is already closed, the money comes back with return charges and an exchange-rate loss. Confirming the change in writing with each client's accounts team avoids this.
What Should You Do Before Closing Your Old Bank Account?
Before closing your old bank account, download the advice available to you, request a consolidated inward-remittance statement, save transaction references, and notify your Chartered Accountant (CA). Confirm with the bank whether pending receipts, refunds, charges or export-monitoring entries must be resolved before closure.
- Download all available advice: Save FIRAs and other remittance documents for the period your record-retention obligations cover, not just the last two years. Use a clear filename with the client, date and transaction reference.
- Request a consolidated inward-remittance statement: Ask for the period you held the account, with dates, amounts, remitter details and transaction references. Reconcile it against invoices and individual advice to identify gaps.
- Save all transaction references separately: Keep the bank's remittance reference and any Unique Transaction Reference (UTR) or SWIFT reference available. These help the back office trace missing advice, but do not guarantee that a document can be reissued.
- Notify your CA: Share the bank-change date and downloaded records before closure. Ask about missing advice, retention periods and outstanding export entries, then obtain written confirmation from the relevant bank about any required follow-up.
A consolidated statement helps identify missing payments and supports reconciliation. It does not automatically replace a remittance certificate required for a specific claim. If an advice cannot be retrieved, ask the bank which alternative it can provide and your CA whether that evidence meets your purpose.
⚠️ WATCH OUT
Closing an account may end online access. Ask the bank about historical-document retrieval, charges and timelines before closure; do not assume there is a standard 90-day request window.
How Do You Request FIRA Records From Your Old Bank?
To request old advice, contact the branch, relationship manager or trade/forex desk that handled the receipt. Include your name, account number, credit date, amount, remitter name, transaction reference and reason for the request. Ask which document the bank can provide, how it will deliver it and whether fees apply.
- Single or bulk requests: Identify each missing transaction and the period needed. Request individual advice as well as a consolidated statement if available. One statement may help reconcile many receipts without replacing the document required for each claim.
- Active account: Check the bank's registered-email delivery and online services. Advice availability and portal menus vary; a payment-tracking page or disposal instruction is not necessarily a FIRA download.
- Closed account: Send a written request to the former branch or trade desk with identity and transaction details. Ask for the applicable retrieval policy, fee and expected response time; do not assume records are unavailable just because the login has stopped working.
⚠️ WATCH OUT
Always make document requests in writing. Email creates a paper trail if the bank delays or disputes the request.
Bank-Issued vs Platform-Issued FIRA: What Is the Difference?
The useful distinction is how you obtain the advice: directly from a bank or through a payment platform. The underlying receiving-bank arrangement and the document's issuer still matter. A platform dashboard can make retrieval easier, but it does not remove bank involvement or make every document interchangeable for compliance.
| Dimension | Bank-Issued FIRA | Platform-Issued FIRA |
|---|---|---|
| Who issues it | The bank that processed the receipt; terminology varies | Check the issuer shown on the platform-provided advice |
| Where it is stored | Bank records, registered email or enabled online services | Platform dashboard, subject to its access terms |
| What happens when you switch banks | Original bank remains the source; share downloaded copies | Historical payments remain separate from future settlement details; confirm continued access |
| Retrieval difficulty | Depends on the bank's retrieval process and account status | Dashboard download where available; keep an offline backup |
| Cost | May be free or involve a fee per document | Free on platforms like Skydo |
Skydo provides free FIRA for payments received through its platform, with dashboard downloads. This can simplify recordkeeping for future receipts; it does not retrieve or replace advice for payments previously handled by another bank.
⚠️ COMMON MISCONCEPTION
A platform-delivered FIRA is not automatically interchangeable with every bank certificate. Check the issuer, transaction details and the evidence required for the specific tax, export or banking purpose.
How Does Skydo Store Your FIRA Records Across Bank Switches?
Skydo provides FIRA downloads through its dashboard for payments processed through the platform. Before changing your settlement bank, save historical copies and confirm the account-update and verification process with Skydo. Moving future settlements does not recreate old bank-direct receipts on Skydo.
- Switching settlement banks: Follow Skydo's process to update and verify the new account. Confirm when the change takes effect and how pending payments will be handled. Keep historical advice and statements separately, even when dashboard downloads remain available.
- Free FIRA for every settled international payment: Skydo automatically provides a free FIRA through its dashboard. You do not need a separate request or a separate FIRA fee.
- Multiple currencies: Skydo supports virtual accounts in USD, EUR, GBP, SGD, AUD, and CAD, all free, so you can receive international payments across multiple currencies while keeping all FIRAs in one place.
- Pricing: For Global Bank Account payments, Skydo lists $19 up to $2,000, $29 from $2,001 to $10,000, and 0.3% above $10,000, plus 18% GST on the transaction fee. There are no monthly fees, and you pay only when you transact.
- Beyond FIRA: For goods exporters, Skydo offers electronic Bank Realisation Certificate (eBRC) generation assistance: link your Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) account once, bulk upload shipping bills, auto-map Inward Remittance Messages (IRMs), and generate eBRC in a click. It also offers Export Data Processing and Monitoring System (EDPMS) closure assistance, but only your authorized dealer (AD) bank can close the EDPMS entry.
- Setup and support: Setup can take a few minutes with documents ready, but activation depends on verification. Skydo offers India-based support via WhatsApp, calls and text.
💡 QUICK INSIGHT
Keep two tasks separate: update where future payments settle, and back up the evidence for past receipts. A bank change is not a substitute for reconciling your records.
Can I use old FIRAs from my previous bank for current GST or IT filings?
Yes, closing the account does not by itself invalidate genuine advice for past receipts. Use it with the matching invoices and statements. It supports payment records, but GST export-service refunds have specific BRC/FIRC evidence rules. A FIRA is not a blanket requirement for filing or renewing an LUT.
Does my new bank automatically have access to FIRAs issued by my old bank?
What if my old bank has already closed my account - can I still get my FIRAs?
Is a platform-issued FIRA accepted the same way a bank-issued FIRA is?
How far back should I download FIRAs before switching banks?
If I use Skydo, do I need to do anything to my FIRA records when I switch settlement banks?
What is the difference between a FIRA and a FIRC?
Do I need to inform my CA when I switch banks mid-year?
