Money to US

[MBA11]

There is one more option. You can withdraw money here using a international debit card from india. Now there will be a numerical limit on daily withdrawal amount, but you can deposit the same into your US account using the same ATM. The biggest advantage is that you will get the best rates on international exhange.

Next good option will be of travellers cheques. Buy them in India whenyou think Rupee is the strongest and you will have instant and fixed amount of dollars in any bank or merchant establishment here. The good thing here is you are spared of the exchange volatility once you buy them.

Number three option id of direct wire transfer. Usually there is no limit if they are for legitimate purposes. But I am not in touch with Indian banks policies anymore so I may be wrong. These are quick and money is never lost but you will be charged with a number of fees form both the sending and receiving bank. The receiving bank though may waive its fees at its descrition.



Finally, avoid WU/Xoom/Money gram at all costs if you can. IMO, they should be used only in emergencies.

Hope it helps.

[mbabuster]

I did'nt really understand your option 1 : You I can deposit money into my BoA account from India ? How ?

[MBA11]

Originally Posted by mbabuster

I did'nt really understand your option 1 : You I can deposit money into my BoA account from India ? How ?

Well, you deposit money in Indian account, get a international debit card linked to that account from Indian bank and use that to withdraw money in US. Then use your US check card to deposit the cash into US account.

[mkarthik01]

Originally Posted by MBA11

Well, you deposit money in Indian account, get a international debit card linked to that account from Indian bank and use that to withdraw money in US. Then use your US check card to deposit the cash into US account.

Hi MBA11

Are you sure this method ofd 'debit card', is the cheapest?
Any idea of transaction cost involved.
Is it cheaper han bank transfer also.

Karthik

[MBA11]

Originally Posted by mkarthik01

Hi MBA11

Are you sure this method ofd 'debit card', is the cheapest?
Any idea of transaction cost involved.
Is it cheaper han bank transfer also.

Karthik

Karthik

I posted that based on my experience and research when one of my fmaily members flew to australia for studies. Our bank in India provided the lowest rates on foreign curreny withdrawals if we used their ATM card. Also, if you are going to bring all the money in one go, a wire transfer may be cheaper.You will have to go through your Indian bank to determine the fees and compare it with other banks to determine if it will benefit you. Also, compare the cost of one time wire transfer from India /repeated wire transfers from India/repeated ATM withdrawals in US and you will have your answer.

[nemo]

I did some research on available options for wire transfer to US. Quite a few banks, including SBI, ICICI and Axis have an outward remittance facility. I visited the ICICI branch and this is what I understood. For outward remittance, the remitter (my father in my case) will have to visit the foreign exchange dealing branch of ICICI (the nearest one in NCR is in CP). There is a set of forms that need to be filled up, including an Outward Remittance Request form. There are 2 more forms (something called A2 form and a CA declaration), which may not be needed in case of a remittance for education abroad (that's what the bank person told me). The amount will be transferred to the US bank account in 2-3 working days. The charges are 0.25% of the transferred amount or Rs 1200, whichever is higher.

So basically, it's a bit of a painful process as far as visiting the branch and filling up forms are concerned. But being the safest and probably the most economical (I am really not sure whether international debit cards is a viable option, I maybe wrong though), I guess this is what we all will have to do.

For more info, visit (Is posting links against forum rules? If it is, I apologize):
ICICI Bank :: Outward Remittance

ICICI Bank Outward Remittance FAQs: Send Money Outside India, Outward Remittance India

[eng_harsh]

Let me make things a bit clearer.
You can legally transfer only 5000$ a year abroad.
If it is for the purpose of education you can transfer till 1,00,000 USD a year. For this you neeed to fill form A-2 available with the bank.

As far as International debit card is concerned, I would suggest that is a good option, as you may need some ready cash fo rinitial accomodation deposit etc. The charge for withdrawing money from a foreign ATM thru HDFC debit card is just $2 per transaction, which is very cheap. The exchange rate they give you is TT sell rate - 0.1% .

For depositing rest of the money either you can do a wire transfer or carry travellers check with you.

Regards,
harsh

[mbabuster]

I was also doing some investigation and I found that you can transfer almost any amount from your NRE account ? Is this possible , also this can be done online and not from a physical location. If possible then this is also a very good option. ( at least for NRIs )

There is also another way of making a foreign currency demand draft

ICICI Bank :: Outward Remittance :: Foreign Currency Demand Draft

[MBA11]

Originally Posted by mbabuster

I was also doing some investigation and I found that you can transfer almost any amount from your NRE account ? Is this possible , also this can be done online and not from a physical location. If possible then this is also a very good option. ( at least for NRIs )

There is also another way of making a foreign currency demand draft

ICICI Bank :: Outward Remittance :: Foreign Currency Demand Draft

You can bring unlimited money from NRE account to US because any money in NRE account is always repatriable. But again, consider the costs of transfering the amount and currency exchange.

Regarding online availibility, I guess that depends on the bank's facilities. I do not believe any Indian bank would let us transfer money online. Hell, they dont even let me change my password online!!.

Basically it all comes down to cost. I would only choose this option as a last resort.

[mbabuster]

Hi MBA11,
I am seriously considering your option 1 so looking for some data on the fees associated with this option. You mentioned a 2$ withdrawal fee , now since I need to move approx 45K$ this would require some 42 withdrawals since the limit is set at 50K Rs . So this would mean a total cost of 84$ for transferring all the money to US ( provided the dollar remains the same value vs rupee ) .

Now the wire transfer option costs 1200 Rs to send the money to the US and 10$ incoming wire charge in the US bank. That's a total of 40$ approx.

Now still option 1 is more convenient for me since it means my money can stay in India and thus take advantage of higher interest rates in india but my question is : Are there any other hidden charges in option 1 ? ( in ICICI website I found a 3.5% charge on conversion when using travelers card (ICICI Bank Travel Card Benefits | Travel Card Information | Travel Card in India ) , is the same levied on debit cards ?

Any help will be welcome from existing students in the US

Originally Posted by MBA11

Karthik

I posted that based on my experience and research when one of my fmaily members flew to australia for studies. Our bank in India provided the lowest rates on foreign curreny withdrawals if we used their ATM card. Also, if you are going to bring all the money in one go, a wire transfer may be cheaper.You will have to go through your Indian bank to determine the fees and compare it with other banks to determine if it will benefit you. Also, compare the cost of one time wire transfer from India /repeated wire transfers from India/repeated ATM withdrawals in US and you will have your answer.