Receive money in Colombia from outside

Your best bet is Western Union as believe me living and working in Colombia for 10 years in total sending money out is super complicated as well.

Paypal is in Colombia. It's through Davienda. You have to have an account with them.

Sure, but with Davivienda we need to wait 6 monthes before begining to receive the money....

I do my transfers with thsi link, it's easy, cheap and fast!
http://www.smallworldfs.com/small-world/nld/en-gb

moneygram is the best solution .

We are looking for a bank in Colombia that  is expat  friendly (if such exists).  We want to do a wire transfer from the USA to Colombia and can you recommend a bank that is easy to  work with?
Thanks,
Loren Pearce

I have used transfirewise.com. The best service ever to transfer money from Europe and North America. It's a legitimate service that gives you google live exchange rates with minimal fees- compared to westen union and moneygram. But in order to make a transfer through transfirewise- you need to have an account in the country where money is being transferred. Transferwise do ask you your personal bank information for regulatory and compliance issues.

I set up an an account with my Californian wellsfargo bank and my wife's Colombian Citibank account.  I can sent a few thousand at a time and it costs about 10$.  The first time I set up the account I had to go to my bank in CA and it took about a week for them to confirm.  I think they deposited two small amounts equalling 1 dollar and had me report the transaction.  Now it only takes a day to move money.

I load/transfer money to my 4 fairfx travel cards using my HSBC Bank account in England. You get the best rates and can withdraw  $1,800,000 Pesos per card per day. OK to live on but  not if you're purchasing a house or similar.

jubiliado wrote:

We are looking for a bank in Colombia that  is expat  friendly (if such exists).  We want to do a wire transfer from the USA to Colombia and can you recommend a bank that is easy to  work with?
Thanks,
Loren Pearce

Under the U.S. FATCA laws, opening a foreign bank account is very difficult. Nothing quite like your government making your life impossible, right? Home of the Free!!!

I just used my ATM card. The exchange rates are decent. I found that Bancolombia ATM machines worked the most often with my card.

What if you did not have a Colombian wife?

Can you open up your own bank account at the same bank that your wife has in Colombia even if you were a single Expat living there?

My wife and I have a business account with Citibank in the US and she has a Citibank account here.  However as she is Colombian, it was easy to make the account in Colombia, but setting up the account in the US took us 4 hours.  There are some advantages in this approach, but our interests are business related and not personal.  I assume they have Citibank in England.  Good Luck, doing business in Colombia is tricky and there are a lot of dishonest people down here.  I recommend getting legal advice before entering into agreements like buying a home.
Cheers

Understand. I get the impression that None Colombians are having problems obtaining bank accounts and even paying taxes on their foreign retirement income that's not from Colombia.

On paper Colombia seems to be a great place to retire but the more I look into the tax situation I'm being discouraged versus living in a place like Thailand or the Philippines where they don't tax you on your pension, Social Security and other retirement income that was derived from outside of Colombia.

BTW - I'm from the USA - San Francisco Bay Area

Thanks for this post, I am still paying US taxes on my retirement in California.  We run a non-profit and are currently not collecting personal income.  However, now I think I need to research this further.  I am applying for a Colombian Marriage Visa, Do you know if this will trigger, a tax audit by Colombia, or is it just when the funds enter the country?

Mark Leon wrote:

I am applying for a Colombian Marriage Visa, Do you know if this will trigger a tax audit by Colombia, or is it just when the funds enter the country?

A.  I wouldn't transfer a lot of funds into Colombia at the outset unless you need it for a specific purchase, such as a car.  When I bought a car in 2015 (Ecuador), I transferred the money directly from my USA bank into the dealership's account, avoiding FATCA complications.

B.  I'd be leery of guidance from anyone who claims he or she can tell you which of those events would trigger a potential audit by Colombia.  In my USA experience and research, the two likeliest scenarios for being audited are:  having a lot of income .. and getting most of it from a source or sources outside what the agency considers the norm.

cccmedia in La Zona Cafetera

Do not transfer your funds into Colombia. If you ever want to leave and take your money you will not be able to take it out of the bank or the country. Just do a monthly/bimonthly withdraw from your ATM or if you can trust someone in your country of origin to forward your money via a company like DOLLEX, Do that.

Well that's a first, but a good info. Can you please elaborate and be more descriptive about the situation?

Thank You,

Sincerely,

Sat