Getting paid by a foreign client as a freelancer in Algeria: what Bank of Algeria regulation 21-01 says

If a foreign client pays you for a service (design, development, translation, consulting), Bank of Algeria regulation 21-01 exempts you from bank domiciliation, but not from two duties: declare your project to your bank before you get paid, and bring the money in through a bank in Algeria, into a foreign-currency account. Without a prior declaration, the receipt is converted into dinars.

What the text says

The regulation was signed on 28 March 2021 and published in Official Journal no. 30 of 22 April 2021. It rewrites article 57 of regulation 07-01 on current transactions with abroad. For service exports, it exempts online digital services, start-up services and the services of “non-trader professionals” from domiciliation.

The exemption is not a free pass. The provider files a declaration with the bank that describes the project(s), with the unit price and the go-live date. Each payment received must be repatriated through a bank in Algeria and credited to the currency account, to be used first and exclusively for the activity. Article 57 also says that receipts from projects not declared beforehand are collected in dinars.

A worked example

An invented example, only to illustrate: a translator in Oran signs a one-year contract with an agency in Europe, at 800 EUR a month. Before the first transfer she hands her bank a declaration describing the service and its price. The transfers then land in her currency account. Had she collected without declaring, the bank would have converted the money into dinars instead of crediting the currency account.

What gets repeated and is wrong or incomplete

Many guides say “a freelancer can receive foreign currency freely”. The text says something else: the exemption covers domiciliation, not going through an Algerian bank. You also read that the currency account is a safe you can empty: the regulation talks of priority and exclusive use for the activity, and in its July 2021 clarification the Bank of Algeria says cash withdrawals are only a top-up. The account details (documents, 80/20) are in our article on the auto-entrepreneur currency account, which we do not repeat here.

What users report (not verified)

Freelancers say online that they get paid by direct bank transfer, or through payment platforms that then pay out to a bank account or card. We found no text listing the accepted platforms, nor how each bank handles these transfers. Treat these accounts as leads to check with your bank, not as rules. If an intermediary offers to receive your money outside the banking system, ask which text allows it: we found none.

Before the first payment

Ask your branch three things in writing: the project declaration template it expects, the repatriation deadline it applies, and the fees for receiving a transfer and for conversion. Keep the contract, the invoice and the transfer proof. These sums are receipts. Whether the 0.5% IFU applies to a service exported and paid in currency is not settled by any text we read, as the tax guide explains. Ask your tax inspection and keep its answer. To estimate what stays in your pocket, try the freelancer net income calculator and the DZD converter. The terms (NIF, G12…) are explained in the glossary.