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How to bring all my money from America to Portugal?

Last activity 11 September 2018 by SimCityAT

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netdobeiras

What is the best way to bring all my money from America to Portugal? I talked to my bank and they said I need to be there to transfer all my money unless I use transfer wise. In case you are wondering the amount I am bringing is about 16k. I am scared of being hit with an insane amount of fees when transferring my money. Anyways, what is the best way? I am currently in America and have my cartao de cidadao (Portuguese citizen card).

SimCityAT

I would use Transferwise, the fees are minimal and far better than banks fees.

ljwaks

If yuou are bringing US dollars, you  have to ask why you want them in Portugal. You can open a US dollar bank account at any Portugal bank and transfer the money directly bank to bank. You US bank will charge about $30 for the transfer. If your $$ are in a brokerage account, the brokerage can transfer them to your Portugal bank - probably without any fee. 

But then you have dollars in Portugal. You cannot get them from an ATM. You can only get them from a bank cashier by going to the cashier window and paying a $12.80 E fee. You may also have to pay 40 E just to have the bank get the dollars for you to your branch bank. No one in Portugal is interested in getting paid in dollars. You can pay directly from your bank to any seller in the US right from your US bank.

In short, what are you oping to achieve by moving your dollars to Portugal. You will only be creating a pain in the tuchie for yourself.

ljwaks

I do not know about transferwise.  I would appreciate it if someone explained this service.

If you wish to transfer money to Portugal in the form of dollars to Euros,  your best bet may be to buy euros through an online FOREX broker. Many are available. I use OFX. They are good and the rates beat the banks by a lot.  https://www.ofx.com/en-gb/

Basically a currency broker gives you the spot price and you pay a small commission. Banks give you their own rate which includes a built in commission. The rate is much higher. Also, with a currency broker you can make limit orders. This means that you can name your own price and the broker will execute the trade as soon as the market spot price comes to you. This is a good way to control your prices. The broker will also look at many open markets and always get the best open spot price.

You then pay with your bank in the US (no charge for the transfer as it is in-country) and the broker will transfer the euros to your bank in Portugal - again no change as the brokers have offices in many countries so they can always transfer without an International fee.

SimCityAT

All the information can be found on their website > https://transferwise.com/

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