Sending/Receiving Money
Sending money to Afghanistan can be done a few ways. Western Union in Afghanistan is operating again. There are many limitations to the amount of money that can be transferred. Reportedly there is a $200 per day / per person limit – with reported transfer frequency limits per week.
16SEP UPDATE: One American noted “After a few successful transfers of money to Afghanistan via Western Union, the company blocked our account (it doesn’t say explicitly but apparently there is a limit on how many transfers can be made to Afghanistan in a week).”
13SEP UPDATE: A USG contracting company with Afghan employees, reported that their salary payments to the local were flagged/frozen and the company had to jump through a lot of hoops to confirm they were not paying the Taliban and this person was a USG contractor to continue to pay the Afghan.
12SEP UPDATE: Sending/Receiving money via Western Union or MoneyGram is still hit or miss, with varying results. Here is an article from yesterday explaining further details: https://kfgo.com/2021/09/11/afghanistan-remittance-payouts-limited-to-local-currency-sources/
08SEP UPDATE: “As of 5 hours ago only some banks can disperse funds and it’s only in Afghani.” Advice is to spread out transactions between family members. Also, when they go to pick it up they need a identification with the matching name, and the Western Union Confirmation number of the transaction. It has been recommended to go to main branch of Pashtanay bank if possible.
Below are a list of some of the locations in Kabul, according to the Western Union website.
MoneyGram is another method. One person reported on 05OCT “Today I used https://www.moneygram.com/mgo/us/en/ to send money to one of my families stuck in Afghanistan. It worked & he got the money. They do have to show identification to get the money. They are not charging any fees to get money to Afghanistan.”
Aid Organizations in Afghanistan
There are likely still aid organizations in Afghanistan that can help you with food, medical, legal and financial assistance. Knowing where these organizations are, how to contact them and what they can do for you is critical.
UNICEF –
IRC –
International Rescue Committee– https://www.rescue.org/video/afghanistan-emergency-updates-irc-staff
WHO – (https://kfgo.com/2021/08/30/who-opens-air-bridge-to-afghanistan-with-medical-supplies/)
Afghan Journalists Safety Council – https://rsf.org/en/news/afghan-and-international-journalists-organisations-including-rsf-call-un-security-council-protect
GIMC (private consultancy from Afghan diaspora that will start aid work.)
Tashakor - Helping Afghan Allies 