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I just sent some $3k+ to Colombia to pay for a honeymoon and I thought I'd share some of the painful lessons I learned:

1. Wire transfers may not be as cheap or as quick as you think they are. To send money to Colmena bank I have to go through Citibank; it would have taken 3-7 days plus I'd pay a fee to my local bank, to Citibank, and I'd pay the receiver's fee as well. That would have ended up being close to $100 in fees.

2. Western Union, which is what I used, was very quick with good phone service but the fees hurt. I paid $180 for the transfer AND roughly $100 for the cash advance fee against my credit card. Ouch! I didn't realize at first that money transfers count as cash advances which makes sense now that I think about it. Their web-site, I believe, has lower fees but their web site is very flaky. You get tiny discounts after your first transaction if you become a prefered member. Western Union did have a decent exchange rate - roughly 22,000 pesos to the dollar.

In retrospect I could have avoided the cash advance fee by using an ATM card over the phone, assuming I had the balance in my checking account.

If I had planned this out much in advance I could have given my fiance an ATM card (which might be illegal) and moved the money to that account and had her withdraw it.

Any other thoughts on how to move money to Colombia?

All in all, in 20/20 hindsight it would have been best to just buy the honeymoon package here. What little money I've saved by buying the Club Med (Ixtapa) package in Colombia has been erased by the hassle and fees of getting the money there.

Thanks,
Sol

It is normally for kids but anyone can have it all you need is a social security number to set it up for them. In your case maybe your wifes name.

Here are the advantages I see in it.

1. It is not a credit card it is more like a visa check card.

2. You can use it anywhere that has the plus/Visa logo. I am pretty sure you would not have any problem in Columbia but anyone interested I will know for sure later this week when my step-daughter tries to use hers in Cali.

2. There are no overdrafts allowed at all.

3. You can review all withdrawals/deposits online.

4. You can SUSPEND it by clicking a button on the web site. So if you have a problem you just click and 2 minutes later it is no good.

You load money onto the card by transferring from a credit card, your debit card, or straight from the checking account.

There is a limit of $1200 per month which should more than work for most people.

There is a $2 fee to transfer money to it and a small fee $25 to set it up. No monthly or annual fees.

I got one of these for my step-daughter and it seems to work fine.

Just a thought

I used a credit union and my wire transfer was fairly cheap (if also went through Citibank).

Jim

I think an ATM works fine for large amounts also, it just requires a little planning in advance.  In ten days a person could withdrawl $3000.  If this is wedding expense cash a few extra days won't be a problem as the expenses won't come due on any one day.  Even in the event that the money is needed sooner rather than later, you can bet the parties will wait a few extra days for a 3K windfall.

Transferring large amounts of money into a foreign account may take a week or so anyway and who knows what Murphy's Law may have in store.  An ATM card is simple, cost efficient and by far and away the best way to go in my opinion.

El Diablo

My wedding there cost about 5K and my wife was able to withdraw all of it in pesos over about 15 days as she needed it.

I also looked at other ways and giving them an ATM card (NOT TIED TO YOUR MAIN ACCOUNT - I suggest setting up a new account especially for this and transfer money to it)

I used this method for my wife after we got married and now use it each month to send money to her family and it is the safest, cheapest way to go.

As far as being illegal who knows. It is my money and I have been doing it for 6 months with no interference from my bank or others so until that changes IT WORKS FOR ME!

Later,
Mike

www.sparhard.com/colombia.htm

I asked what the financial arrangements were before we got married and the house was hers, so I agree to pay the mortgage payment US180 per month.  

After we had been married about 6 weeks I came to find out they were also dependent on her for everything. I did not feel right to pull the rug out but I also did not feel that it was reasonable that we should support her mother and brother for the rest of their lives.

I agree to take care of them for 6 months to allow them to find jobs. That 6 months is up in December.  

They do not have full time jobs (to my knowledge) so it will be difficult but if we continue supporting them they have no incentive to work and they are both health and capable of working.

Age discrimination is rampant in Colombia.  Unskilled labor is more or less reserved for the young.  A 50 year old woman, unless she's a professional with recent job experience, is going to have an incredibly difficult time getting even the most menial of jobs.  I think it's unrealistic to think that she'll find employment anytime soon.  

The situation with her brother is different however.  The best thing for him is to get an education at one of the public universities.  Tuition for a year won't be cheap by Colombian standards.  I think you're looking a minumum of 1,000,000 pesos per semester or roughly $1000 (minumum) per year.  If you and your wife can afford helping him with the expense, it might be a good investment for the future of her family back home.

El Diablo

H2-Oh

Pete

H2-Oh

Pete

H2-Oh

Howdy H2-OH,

I tend to agree in general although I imagine every case is unique and somewhat dependent on the given circumstances.  In the case of Pete, he's just a very generous and easy going guy and I don't see it as a red flag in his case at all.

If and when I finally get married to a Colombiana, I personally am not prepared to support my new family in Colombia beyond what is reasonable.  For instance the lost income of her leaving.

I think it is important for a new wife to begin seeing her U.S. family as her primary responsibility however.  I think this transition is easier for women in their 20's than women who are perhaps 30 or 35.

El Diablo

Pete

Pete

The concern in my mind is that she will have more concern about sending money south than working and trying to make a better life for us up here. Helping out the in-laws is OK to a point, but I don't want to take on a whole group of dependents because I find a bride in Colombia.

Is there a middle ground here?

   1. She needs a code to get the money. Annoying detail which I've resolved.
   2. They won't pay out in cash if there's more than $1100USD involved. Ouch! So,. I just spent more money than I want to think about to send her a check that she needs to deposit and wait three days to clear. Arggghhhh!!!!

The ATM thing works nicely once it's set up and alternative services to send money to Colombia might have the same problems I ran into in terms of how much money they can walk away with in cash.

Sol

I have never had a problem with the quantity of money withdrawn...When I needed to send her bigger somes of money, for her trip to Bogota for instance, she simply had to hit the ATM a few times (maybe over 2 days) to get the cash.  

Mike

If you are uncomfortable with this method. What you can do is go to one of the hundreds of Mexican groceries stores and ask them if they wire money to Colombia (what cities?). I used to use RIA envia to send money to Peru. The fee for 300 bucks was 16 dollars. Which I considered very cheap. My mother was able to pick up the money the next day and I never had any problem with them but the ATM works better for me since I just do all the transactions online.

Pete

Pete

On my trips to Bolivia, the dollar was accepted as payment at many places and it seemed the dollar was very much in demand.  In Colombia, dollars aren't used unless we're talking about very pricey items like homes and such. I can't think of a reason to send unconverted dollars to Colombia unless I was laundering drug money or something.  (-:  I haven't been to Peru yet but my guess is that the dollar might be used as it is in neighboring Bolivia.

El Diablo

My personal experience with the 2 wire companies I have used have been good. Of course, you should be careful. The thing is that since you are the one sending the money from the United States where the laws and rules are enforced. It would be stupid for them to try to cheat on you (gr?). I mean get your money and then don't send it to the person you want it to be sent.

It sounds really weard not to let nationals to exchange money. I guess the banks make money from it and if they are not accepting dollars from nationals they would be loosing tons of money. Well, I don't know too much how it is going in Colombia anyway.

Pete

Pete