Moving money from Ukraine to Portugal: National Bank ceilings, Portuguese rules

Two very different regimes

Since 24 February 2022 the National Bank of Ukraine runs the banking system under Board Resolution No. 18, amended more than a hundred times since. Its logic is a prohibition with exceptions: transfers of currency values out of Ukraine are banned (para. 14) unless the transaction is on the list, and each listed channel carries its own ceiling. The ceilings have been raised step by step — the last big package, Resolution No. 90 of 10 August 2026, took effect on 11 August 2026.

Portugal, at the other end, has no exchange controls. Any resident may open and use accounts abroad (Decreto-Lei n.º 295/2003, as the Bank of Portugal’s client portal puts it), transfers in and out are free, and the only obligations are declarative: foreign accounts listed in the tax return, cash of 10 000 € or more declared at the EU border, and the bank’s own identification and origin-of-funds checks.

• 200 000 UAH a month — payments and rent abroad from Ukrainian hryvnia accounts, by card or SWIFT (about 3 900 € at the September 2026 rate)
• 500 000 UAH a month — accommodation and housing rent abroad from foreign-currency accounts
• 200 000 UAH a day — cash withdrawn from foreign-currency accounts, in Ukraine or abroad
• 10 000 € — cash to declare when entering the EU; foreign accounts listed in annex J of the Portuguese return

What an individual can move out of Ukraine (11 August 2026)

Two things are not on the list. There is no general channel for a resident individual to transfer savings from a Ukrainian account to their own account abroad — we searched the September 2026 text of Resolution 18 and found exceptions only for e-residents and, since 1 May 2026, for non-resident individuals repatriating salaries and civil-contract fees credited to their Ukrainian hryvnia accounts (Resolution No. 43 of 23 April 2026). And there is no cap on money entering Ukraine: para. 14 restricts transfers out, not in, so sending euros from Portugal to a parent’s account in Kyiv is a normal SWIFT transfer, credited in the bank’s currency rules.

The practical picture for a family in Portugal with savings left in Ukraine: the money comes out through spending, not through a lump-sum transfer — card payments here, rent paid from the Ukrainian foreign-currency account, and cash withdrawn at Portuguese ATMs within the daily ceiling — and the ceilings are per calendar month per person, so a couple has two.

The Portuguese side

Opening an account. A Portuguese bank identifies you with a valid identity document (passport, or the residence permit issued under temporary protection), your Portuguese tax number, your address, and your profession and employer; being unemployed is not a ground for refusal. The temporary-protection certificate issued through the AIMA platform assigns the tax number (NIF), the social security number (NISS) and the health number at once. Banks may ask for the origin of larger deposits under the anti-money-laundering law (Lei n.º 83/2017) — the NBU-channel confirmations answer that question.

Declaring the accounts. A tax resident must list in the annual IRS return every deposit or securities account held with a non-resident institution — the IBAN of the Ukrainian accounts goes in annex J (Lei Geral Tributária, art. 63.º-A n.º 8). The balance is not taxed; interest on it is, at 28 % with a credit for Ukrainian tax up to the treaty’s 10 %.

Cash at the border. Ukraine is outside the EU, so anyone entering the Union — at the Polish border, or landing at Lisbon from a non-EU airport — with 10 000 € or more in cash, in any currency, must declare it to customs (Regulation (EU) 2018/1672, art. 3). Undeclared cash can be detained. Ukraine has its own written-declaration threshold on the way out; ask the Ukrainian customs service before travelling with cash.

Steps

Questions