• Afghanistan
• Germany
• Syria

The money that is sent by migrants to their families back home provides a lifeline to people across the globe – millions would not survive without it. So it's crucial that those who are transfering money have good information and reliable ways to do it. Usually, trusted community networks are the best way of finding out which methods are best. But InfoMigrants has found that some migrants may still have concerns. Our list of five things to know about remittances aims to answer some of those questions.

• Italy

Immigrants working in Italy account for almost 9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and pay 11.5 billion euros of social security contributions, according to a recent report.

• Italy
• United States

Migrant remittances to their countries of origin have grown by 51 percent over the last 10 years. More than one billion people are involved in either sending or receiving almost half a trillion dollars in remittances every year, says a report from the International Fund for Agricultural Developoment (IFAD), based in Rome.