Transferring money to ireland

[navincal]

Few more questions still left to answer:

(1) how much money ( or if any required) do you think is needed to show immigration officials when you land in ireland?

(2) what is the best way that you have found to transfer money? Through banks like B of american, wells fargo or others OR online banking...

(3) Does anybody has any experiences with online banks like XE.com or others that I don't know of?

Anything would help.

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[leorl]

Few more questions still left to answer:

(1) how much money ( or if any required) do you think is needed to show immigration officials when you land in ireland?

(2) what is the best way that you have found to transfer money? Through banks like B of american, wells fargo or others OR online banking...

(3) Does anybody has any experiences with online banks like XE.com or others that I don't know of?

Anything would help.

Hmm, probably enough to show you have enough for tuition (unless you're paying by loan) and enough to live on ... say, a couple thousand. You don't really have to bring more than what you've already planned on bringing (I'm assuming it'll be in the thousands to last several months?) Immigration officials aren't going to really check when you land at the airport, but probably will check when you go to the aliens office, although I don't think it's a big point.

Wire transfers from your US bank. There's no specific bank that's better than another, I don't think. I do not believe at this point that there are banks which will do online transfers between countries. So wire transfers are the fastest. Whatever you do, do not bring checks as these will take up to 6+ weeks to clear. Don't know about online banks, but I don't think I would trust my money to go through something online that doesn't have a tangible branch near me.

 

[Sage880]

Hmm, probably enough to show you have enough for tuition (unless you're paying by loan) and enough to live on ... say, a couple thousand. You don't really have to bring more than what you've already planned on bringing (I'm assuming it'll be in the thousands to last several months?) Immigration officials aren't going to really check when you land at the airport, but probably will check when you go to the aliens office, although I don't think it's a big point.

Wire transfers from your US bank. There's no specific bank that's better than another, I don't think. I do not believe at this point that there are banks which will do online transfers between countries. So wire transfers are the fastest. Whatever you do, do not bring checks as these will take up to 6+ weeks to clear. Don't know about online banks, but I don't think I would trust my money to go through something online that doesn't have a tangible branch near me.

You don't need to show anything when you land. To register with the police here you need to show 15,000 euros (and this is after paying tuition).

The schools here have a deal worked out with the police so they'll accept 1/10th of that (1,500 Euros) but have the right to demand all 15,000 if you cause any problems, are impolite, ect.

From my experience, 1,500 doesn't make them too happy. You're better to have about 2,500 in your Irish bank account. It has to be an Irish account.

I don't like paying the wire transfer fees and I get free bank drafts at home so I just get one of those and bring it.

 

[deleted21609]

The biggest mistake you can make is to bring US dollars (cash, check, bank draft, wire transfer) to an Irish bank. They'll rob you blind. They claim to charge no fees which is true, but they take a sick amount of money from you with their false exchange rates. The actual exchange rate (Federal Reserve) right now is 1.2177. If you went to an Irish bank today they'd probably charge you about $1.26 per Euro. A 'no fees' exchange of $40,000 at that rate costs you $1692. Makes the $20 wire transfer fee seem like a pretty good deal...

I used a professional exchange bank that charged 0.5% for the exchange (ie they'd exchange today at 1.2227. If you exchange at your local bank they probably add 1-2% to the Fed exchange rate, but NO ONE rips you off like an Irish bank. Be warned!

 

[lsluke]

I am banking right now with Allied Irish Bank (AIB), service has been terrible and even a simple conversion of a few thousand US dollars has been a pain. took one week to check for counterfeit bills and it had to be sent to a central bank of AIB.

i was stuck finding an apartment, without a deposit or any euros.

Luke

 

[Sage880]

The biggest mistake you can make is to bring US dollars (cash, check, bank draft, wire transfer) to an Irish bank. They'll rob you blind. They claim to charge no fees which is true, but they take a sick amount of money from you with their false exchange rates. The actual exchange rate (Federal Reserve) right now is 1.2177. If you went to an Irish bank today they'd probably charge you about $1.26 per Euro. A 'no fees' exchange of $40,000 at that rate costs you $1692. Makes the $20 wire transfer fee seem like a pretty good deal...

I used a professional exchange bank that charged 0.5% for the exchange (ie they'd exchange today at 1.2227. If you exchange at your local bank they probably add 1-2% to the Fed exchange rate, but NO ONE rips you off like an Irish bank. Be warned!

Good advice,

I got my bank draft from home to be in Euros. I was happy with my Canadian bank's exchange rate.

 

[leorl]

Yeah, the wire transfer fee can be annoying, so if you do this option and have the means, transfer a lot of money in that will last you for several months, if not the whole year.

 

[navincal]

most major banks on west coast are charging 1.26 or more for a euro. if you don't mind telling me can you please the name the bank you went through which offered 1.22 +0.5% rate?

thanks for your input guys.
navinca

 

[Badkarma25]

i never pay attention to how much cash i have in the bank when i get my statement to register iwth the garda...i think the MOST i've had is 400 or 500 euro when i register and no one bats an eyelash....i wouldn't be overly concerned with it.

 

[roo]

Send a bank draft from home.
Gets rid of the wire fees on both ends, and the financial punishment of converting in cash, and the insecurity/wait time of cheques.
If you have someone at home with enough dough to be helping you with money in Ireland, most likely they don't have to pay any fee to send a draft.
Send drafts monthly or bimonthly from home, so don't have money sitting in your bank account getting little/no interest.

 

[deleted21609]

Send a bank draft from home.
Gets rid of the wire fees on both ends, and the financial punishment of converting in cash, and the insecurity/wait time of cheques...

Unfortunately, the financial punishment occurs at Irish banks whether you bring cash, check, or wire transfer (unless the cash, check, or wire is already in Euro).

 

[Sage880]

Unfortunately, the financial punishment occurs at Irish banks whether you bring cash, check, or wire transfer (unless the cash, check, or wire is already in Euro).

They don't charge to deposit bank drafts that are in Euros. On my receipt from BOI it says "FEE: 0.3%" but then says "100% discount" underneath that and "total fee: 0".

Stick with bank drafts from home. That's the way I've found around the Irish fees.

 

[deleted21609]

They don't charge to deposit bank drafts that are in Euros. On my receipt from BOI it says "FEE: 0.3%" but then says "100% discount" underneath that and "total fee: 0".

Stick with bank drafts from home. That's the way I've found around the Irish fees.

Unfortunately, the financial punishment occurs at Irish banks whether you bring cash, check, or wire transfer (unless the cash, check, or wire is already in Euro).

.

 

[eastofnorth]

.

Pardon my ignorance, but how do you get your money in Euro to do a bank draft, without getting smacked with exchange fees here in the US?

Is this something that your bank does before sending the draft over? Change it to Euros for no fee?

 

[roo]

Way to minimize fees in more detail (significant if running up a bill of 5 years of living costs and tuition).

(1) Have your backer in US/Canada: Parents, lending instituitions, etc. Even if a lending instituition, probably have someone in family back at north american base minding the store.

(2) Anyways, pot of money in US/Canada. Ideally this is actually small pots of money that become available every 1-2 months, so that not just sitting in a US/Canada bank getting no interest.

(3) You as medical student are too busy studying. Get someone in family (eg parent) to shop the best "check rate" currency exchange to Euros at the different banks in US/Canada, noting that the exchange rate sometimes gets more favorable at certain levels of an exchange. Eg: $1000, $2000 or so.

(4) Parent writes cheque to buy a draft in Euros from the bank with the best exchange rate.

(5) Mail draft in Euros to student in Ireland.

(6) Irish student recieves draft, goes to local branch and deposits at no costs.

This way reduces the amount of fussing around on the student's end, especially helpful for later years when have to do up applications for residency, study for exams, etc. On the same time, it maximizes the amount of money that stays in the family/with the student instead of just forking it over to the bank.

Best wishes,
roo

 

[eastofnorth]

Way to minimize fees in more detail (significant if running up a bill of 5 years of living costs and tuition).

(1) Have your backer in US/Canada: Parents, lending instituitions, etc. Even if a lending instituition, probably have someone in family back at north american base minding the store.

(2) Anyways, pot of money in US/Canada. Ideally this is actually small pots of money that become available every 1-2 months, so that not just sitting in a US/Canada bank getting no interest.

(3) You as medical student are too busy studying. Get someone in family (eg parent) to shop the best "check rate" currency exchange to Euros at the different banks in US/Canada, noting that the exchange rate sometimes gets more favorable at certain levels of an exchange. Eg: $1000, $2000 or so.

(4) Parent writes cheque to buy a draft in Euros from the bank with the best exchange rate.

(5) Mail draft in Euros to student in Ireland.

(6) Irish student recieves draft, goes to local branch and deposits at no costs.

This way reduces the amount of fussing around on the student's end, especially helpful for later years when have to do up applications for residency, study for exams, etc. On the same time, it maximizes the amount of money that stays in the family/with the student instead of just forking it over to the bank.

Best wishes,
roo

Thanks a whole bunch, Roo. This made it very clear.