International Speed Post (EMS) — How to Send Parcels Abroad from India via India Post
Where to book, which customs form to fill and what to write on it, weight limits, how the charges work, the special rules for the USA, and how to follow your parcel once it leaves India.
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Yes, you can send documents and parcels abroad from almost any post office in India. The service is called International Speed Post, or EMS (Express Mail Service), and India Post describes it as its premium, time-bound international service for documents and merchandise. You take the parcel to the counter, fill a customs form if it contains goods, pay by weight and destination country, and get a tracking number that works in India and in the destination country.
The parts that trip people up are the customs form, the country-specific weight limits, and, for the USA, the import duty you now pay at the counter. Get those right and EMS is a sensible, tracked way to get a passport copy to Toronto or a box of clothes to your sister in Dubai without paying private courier prices.
Below is everything in the order you'll need it: what EMS is, what to check before you leave home, the counter steps, the forms, the money, and tracking.
What EMS Actually Is
EMS is an express postal service that runs between the national post offices of Universal Postal Union (UPU) member countries. India Post carries your parcel to an office of exchange in India and puts it on a flight. The destination country's post office (USPS in America, Royal Mail in the UK, Canada Post, Australia Post, Emirates Post and so on) takes it through customs and delivers it.
That hand-over between two national posts is the whole model. It's also why your tracking has two halves, an Indian half and a foreign half, which confuses a lot of first-time senders.
EMS is a good fit for
Documents (degree certificates, signed forms, legal papers), clothes, books, gifts and small personal items going to family, when you want tracking at a post-office price.
Think twice for
Expensive goods (the compensation limit is low; more on that below), anything that must arrive on a fixed date, and food or medicines for strict countries like Australia or the USA.
Where You Can Send EMS and How Long It Takes
India Post's International Speed Post page lists destination countries with a YES/NO operational status and the maximum weight each one accepts. Some countries on that list are marked not operational, so check yours before you pack. You'll find it under Mail Products → International on India Post's website, indiapost.gov.in.
India Post doesn't publish a simple country-by-country delivery promise for customers. The ranges below are what guides and senders commonly report. Treat them as rough planning numbers, not guarantees:
| Destination region | Commonly reported time | What slows it down |
|---|---|---|
| Gulf (UAE, Saudi Arabia) | About 5–8 working days | Customs checks on goods |
| South-East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia) | About 5–10 working days | Customs checks on goods |
| USA, Canada, UK, Europe | About 7–14 working days | Customs, and for the USA, duty paperwork |
| Australia, New Zealand | About 7–14 working days | Strict checks on food, seeds, wood and plant material |
Customs time is extra. Every EMS item can be held for customs examination, and that waiting time isn't part of any delivery estimate. If you're posting from a small town, also allow a day or two for the parcel to reach the big city it flies out from.
Before You Leave Home: 5-Minute Checklist
- Check the item is allowed, both by India Post and by the destination country (see the prohibited items section below).
- Check the weight limit for your country. The general EMS limit is 35 kg, but many countries accept less. Australia and Argentina take up to 20 kg, Bangladesh and Bahrain up to 30 kg.
- Get the full foreign address: name, house/flat number, street, city, state or province, ZIP/postcode, country in capitals, and a local phone number for the receiver.
- Make a list of contents with values: what each item is, how many, roughly how much it weighs and what it's worth. You'll copy this onto the customs form.
- Carry the parcel unsealed, plus tape and a photo ID. The clerk may want to see what's inside before you close it, and you save a second trip if something has to come out.
How to Book International Speed Post — Step by Step
Pick the right post office
India Post says International Speed Post can be booked in almost all post offices, and in metros and other major cities you can book till late in the evening. For the USA, the official announcement names any post office, an International Business Centre (IBC) or a Dak Ghar Niryat Kendra (DNK) as booking points.
Honest advice: for your first international parcel, go to a head post office or your city's main Speed Post centre rather than a tiny branch. Staff there book international mail all the time and know the forms. A small office may accept it, but you're more likely to hear "come back tomorrow".
Go early in the day
India Post doesn't publish one national cut-off time for EMS. Each office closes its outgoing bags at its own fixed time. You'll often read that you should book before 2 PM for same-day dispatch. That's a sensible rule of thumb, but it isn't an official India Post rule.
A parcel booked in the evening still gets a receipt and tracking number that day. It just moves the next morning. If the date matters (a visa document, say), ask the clerk straight out: "What time does today's international bag close?"
Show the contents, then pack and seal
Tell the clerk the country and what's inside. Use a sturdy box with no old labels, wrap fragile things, and fill empty space so nothing rattles. Once the clerk is happy, seal every seam with tape. A box that bursts in a foreign sorting centre is far harder to sort out than one at your local post office.
Write the addresses and fill the customs form
Write the receiver's address in English with the country name last, in capitals, and your own Indian address as sender. Our guide to writing a Speed Post address covers the layout. Then fill the CN22 or CN23 customs declaration (next section). Ask the counter for the form.
Don't skip the form for goods. The Department of Posts has warned that articles containing goods without correct and complete CN22/CN23 forms will not be processed and will be returned to the sender.
Weigh, pay, and keep the receipt
The clerk weighs the parcel, works out the postage for that country, and adds the duty if it's going to the USA. You pay and get a receipt with a 13-character tracking number. International Speed Post numbers start with E and, for items posted in India, end in IN, for example EE123456789IN.
Photograph the receipt and your copy of the customs form before you leave the counter. You'll need both if anything goes wrong.
No doorstep pickup to count on. For a one-off personal parcel going abroad, plan to take it to the counter yourself. Don't wait at home expecting a pickup for international EMS. If you're new to the counter routine in general, our step-by-step guide to sending Speed Post walks through it.
Customs Forms: CN22 vs CN23 and What to Write
Any item containing goods needs a customs declaration. Which form depends on the value of the contents, measured in SDR (Special Drawing Rights, the accounting unit used in international mail). India Post uses 1 SDR = ₹115.2060 for 2026.
CN22: up to 300 SDR
Up to about ₹34,500
A small declaration label stuck on the parcel. Most gift parcels to family fall here.
CN23: above 300 SDR
Above about ₹34,500
A fuller declaration. Commercial shipments should carry an invoice with it.
Filling it in, box by box
| Box on the form | What to write | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Tick one: Gift, Documents, Commercial sample, Returned goods, Sale of goods, or Other | Ticking "Gift" for something you sold |
| Description of contents | Specific items with quantity: "2 cotton kurtas", "1 steel tiffin box", "3 paperback books" | Vague words like "clothes" or "gift items" |
| Net weight | Weight of each item line, and the total in kg | Leaving it blank |
| Value | The true value of each line with its currency, and the total | Writing a token value to dodge duty |
| HS tariff number & origin | For commercial items: the 6-digit HS code and the country where the goods were made | Skipping it on a sale — customs uses it to work out duty |
| Signature & date | Sign to certify the details are correct and there's nothing dangerous or prohibited inside | Forgetting to sign |
Don't under-declare. It's tempting to write a low value so the receiver pays less duty. Customs can hold the parcel, and if it's lost, a low declared value also weakens your compensation claim. For the USA, the duty you pay is worked out from what you declare anyway. Write the real value.
Sending only papers? The customs-form rule is aimed at items containing goods. If yours is purely documents (certificates, letters, signed forms), tell the clerk it's "documents only". If they still want a CN22 with the Documents box ticked, it takes a minute.
International Speed Post Charges — How the Price Is Worked Out
EMS postage depends on the destination country, the weight (charged as a first slab plus each additional slab), and whether it's documents or merchandise. There's no flat "abroad" rate. A kilo to Nepal costs far less than a kilo to Canada.
A warning before you trust any rate chart online. While researching this guide, we found websites quoting the first-slab EMS rate to the USA at under ₹900 on one site and over ₹1,800 on another. They can't both be right. Don't plan your budget on a third-party chart, and that includes any old one you've screenshotted.
Get the exact postage before you go
Use the postage calculator on India Post's website, indiapost.gov.in, with the country, weight and type. Or phone your head post office and ask for the EMS rate for that country and weight.
Weigh at home and watch the slab edge
Every extra slab adds a fixed amount, and going even slightly over a slab means paying for the next one. Taking clothes out of their shop boxes or using a lighter carton can drop you a slab.
Ask for an Air Parcel quote too
India Post's International Air Parcel also carries goods to UPU countries with track and trace, up to 20 kg (or the destination's lower limit). It isn't sold as a premium time-bound service like EMS, so if you're not in a hurry, compare both prices at the counter.
Sending to the USA? You pay the US duty in India
India Post suspended bookings to the USA on 22 August 2025 after US customs rules changed, then resumed all categories, including EMS, from 15 October 2025. Under the new Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) system, US import duty is collected from you at booking and passed on to US customs, so the parcel can be delivered without the receiver being asked for duty. India Post said it charges no extra fee for this and that postal tariffs stay unchanged.
The duty is calculated on the value you declare, and the US rate for postal shipments has changed more than once since 2025. So don't rely on a percentage you read online. The counter works it out on the day, and your total is postage plus duty.
Weight Limits and Size Restrictions
Maximum weight
35 kg
The general EMS limit, but the destination's own limit applies if it's lower. Examples from India Post's list: Australia 20 kg, Argentina 20 kg, Bangladesh 30 kg, Bahrain 30 kg.
Maximum size
1.5 m / 3 m
No single side over 1.5 metres, and the length plus the greatest circumference (measured in a direction other than the length) no more than 3 metres.
Families sending one big box to Australia get caught by this: 25 kg is under the general 35 kg limit but over Australia's 20 kg. Split it into two parcels, each with its own customs form.
What You Can't Send Abroad
International mail has to clear three sets of rules: India Post's, the UPU's, and the destination country's customs. Something that's fine for Pune can be refused for Perth.
Never accepted
Narcotics, obscene material, counterfeit and pirated goods, explosives and fireworks, live animals, and dangerous goods. The UPU's dangerous-goods list includes things people pack without a second thought: perfume, aerosol sprays, lighter fuel and matches.
Cash, gold and valuables
International postal rules don't allow banknotes, coins, traveller's cheques, gold, silver, precious stones or jewellery in items sent without a declared value. Don't tuck a few notes or a gold chain into a gift box.
Food, medicines, batteries: depends on the country
Homemade sweets, pickles, masalas and medicines cause the most trouble at foreign customs. Check the destination's import rules first. India Post's own rule is that batteries and other items barred from air go by surface mode only, which doesn't suit an express service.
For the full list and how each category is handled, read our Speed Post prohibited items guide. When in doubt, take the item to the counter unsealed and ask.
Tracking International Speed Post: Two Halves of One Journey
The same 13-character number works the whole way, but the scans come from two different postal systems. This is the usual pattern (exact wording varies):
Booked, bagged and sent to the exchange office (India)
Your post office books it, bags it and sends it to the office of exchange that handles mail going abroad. Follow this part on our tracker or India Post's website.
Dispatched from India
The last Indian scan. After it there's usually a quiet gap of several days while the bag flies and waits to be received abroad. This is normal.
Arrived abroad, held for customs
The destination post office scans it in and presents it to customs. This is the step most likely to take time, especially for goods.
Out for delivery and delivered
Handled entirely by the foreign post. For the freshest status, ask the receiver to enter your tracking number on their own post office's website (USPS, Royal Mail, Canada Post, Australia Post and so on).
If the number shows nothing for the first few hours after booking, that's usually just the upload delay. See why Speed Post tracking stops updating. To understand what each letter of the number means, see our consignment number guide.
If Something Goes Wrong: What India Post Pays
| Situation | Compensation (India Post's EMS terms) |
|---|---|
| Merchandise lost or totally damaged | Value of contents or 130 SDR (about ₹15,000), whichever is less, plus the postage paid |
| Merchandise partly lost or damaged | Limited to the actual value of the loss or damage |
| Documents lost or damaged | Postage paid only |
| Delayed more than 5 days beyond the published standard | 5% of the postage charged |
The cap is what matters. A ₹60,000 phone lost in EMS is covered for a fraction of its value, so for anything precious, ask at the counter about insured or declared-value options before you book. To raise a problem, start at your booking post office with the receipt. Our Speed Post complaint guide and compensation claim guide explain how to escalate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What to Do Now
- Check your country's status and weight limit on India Post's International Speed Post page, plus its import rules for anything edible or medicinal.
- Write your contents list with real values, and weigh the parcel at home.
- Go to your head post office in the morning with the parcel unsealed, tape, photo ID and the full foreign address.
- Photograph the receipt and customs form, send the tracking number to the receiver, and follow the Indian leg here.
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