Help article

Country Restrictions for Sending or Receiving International Wires

Eligible businesses can apply to receive international wires into their Relay account, directly from their Relay account by navigating to Settings → International Wire Activations. Applications are reviewed by our international payments partner, Nium, typically within 3 business days. For more details and requirements, see How to Activate Receiving International Wires.

Relay users are currently unable to send or receive international wires to a select few countries, listed below. This applies to both the Swift Network and the Local Network.

Additionally, Relay is unable to provide International Wire services to Relay accounts with Beneficial Owners of certain citizenships.

Please note: these lists follow our banking partner's anti-money laundering policy and sanction screening requirements and may be subject to change.


Countries Where Relay is Unable to Send or Receive International Wires

  • Afghanistan

  • Belarus

  • Central African Republic

  • China1

  • Cuba

  • Guinea-Bissau

  • Haiti

  • Iran

  • Iraq

  • Israel

  • Lebanon

  • Libya

  • Mali

  • Myanmar (Burma)2

  • North Korea

  • Russia

  • Somalia

  • South Sudan

  • Sudan

  • Syria

  • The Democratic Republic Of The Congo
  • Ukraine3

  • Venezuela

  • Yemen

  • Zimbabwe

For more information on the international wire networks at Relay, please see: Sending international wires at Relay.


International Wire Restrictions due to Relay Account Beneficial Owner Citizenship

  • Afghanistan

  • Algeria

  • American Samoa

  • Angola

  • Anguilla

  • Belarus

  • Bolivia

  • British Virgin Islands

  • Bulgaria

  • Burkina Faso

  • Cameroon

  • Central African Republic

  • Chad

  • Comoros

  • Cote D'ivoire

  • Cuba

  • Curaçao

  • Eritrea

  • Equatorial Guinea

  • Ethiopia

  • Fiji

  • Gabon

  • Guatemala

  • Guam

  • Guinea-Bissau

  • Haiti

  • Iran

  • Iraq

  • Jamaica

  • Kenya

  • Laos

  • Lebanon

  • Liberia

  • Libya

  • Madagascar

  • Mali

  • Moldova

  • Monaco

  • Mozambique

  • Myanmar

  • Namibia

  • Nepal

  • Nicaragua

  • Nigeria

  • North Korea

  • Palau

  • Palestine

  • Panama

  • Philippines

  • Republic of Congo

  • Russia

  • Samoa

  • Sierra Leone

  • Somalia

  • South Sudan

  • Sri Lanka

  • South Africa

  • Sudan

  • Syrian Arab Republic

  • Tanzania

  • The Democratic Republic of The Congo

  • Trinidad and Tobago

  • Ukraine

  • US Virgin Islands

  • Vanuatu

  • Venezuela

  • Vietnam

  • Yemen

  • Zimbabwe


The country I'm trying to process an international wire to/from is on this list. What do I do?

If the country you're trying to send an international wire to is listed above, you might consider using a third-party platform, like Wise or another similar payment provider, to send an international payment to this payee from your Relay account.


1 Clients or customers located or operating in the following regions within China are prohibited. All other regions of China are accepted, subject to a compliance review.

  • Liaoning
  • Jilin
  • Heilong Jiang

2Due to the current military coup in Myanmar, all banks onshore have been instructed by the Myanmar Banks Association to remain closed. As the banking system is now offline, our provider is unable to process any payments to Myanmar until further notice.

3Clients or customers located or operating in the following regions within Ukraine are prohibited. ​Furthermore, transactions in and out of these regions are also prohibited. All other regions of Ukraine are accepted, subject to a compliance review.

  • Crimea​
  • Donetsk​
  • Luhansk ​
  • Kherson​
  • Zaporizhzhia​
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