mattyearle

Hi,

My wife and I are emigrating to Australia next month and I am looking at transferring some pounds from UK->Aus. Its not loads of cash, maybe about £5k, but I want some advice from people who have done this before.

I got my VISA from Visa Bureau and they have recommended HiFX to transfer money and National Australia bank to set up an account. Has anybody else used HiFX to transfer funds, and does National Australia Bank have a good reputation?

Or does anybody else recommend another company/bank?

-Merlin

Russ_Sarah

good question....i am looking forward to reading peoples thoughts on this one.

chris1386

I set up an account with ANZ while reccie'ing in Melbourne and now back in the UK have transferred funds a couple of times with Ozforex without problems, but as with all things shop around and check out the charges and rates, there can be a HUGE difference!

Russ_Sarah

incidentally...how much cash can you bring into oz?

and would banks be ok with accepting cash deposits in sterling?

chris1386

I believe you can physically carry 10000AUD (or equivalent) without declaration, carry more and declare with a reasonable 'excuse' (ie sold my car just before i left')and im told its generally ok, but I havent tried, so im only repeating what my expat mate told me he did! My ANZ branch had a foreign exchange within, but BEWARE because the rate was rubbish compared to the foreign exchange specialists, when I go i will transfer as much as poss prior to going, far better rate , hence more dollars for you to enjoy in Oz.It seems tempting to carry lots of cash in with you, perhaps from undeclared earnings in the UK????? But think about it, if you transfer just before going, the taxman is unlikely to be too interested and it much safer than carrying a huge wadge of dosh around an airport.Why take the risk? Just my opinion, hope it helped.

Russ_Sarah

fair point..i am just concerned about reciprocal arrangements between oz and the uk regarding tax issues.
think i will chance my arm with a moneybelt full of £!

Chelle66

We used HiFX to transfer our funds. They were ok but you can only transfer £5000 at a time. And they don't charge but as with anything, the exchange rates vary from day to day.

Windsor2

Chelle,

Apologies if you have been mislead, but there is no limit on how much you cans end through HiFX.

We can now accept a credit or debit card payment for anything up to £10k, with no chargesm and any amount above that via a bank to bank transfer, again with no charges.

Some banks have daily limits on internet transfers, so for larger sums you may have to visit the branch itself to organise this. Worth double checking this before you leave if you plan to move money once you have left the UK, because it can be a bit of a pain instructing your bank over the phone (often impossible!).

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

22B

We used TTTMoneycorp and Westpac and had no problems at all.

As regards limit - I don't think there are any (we transferred £350k without any issues).

Blossom

I am using commonwealth bank in uk and au - it just costs £15 if transferring less than £30000 and the account can stay open for 2 years. I'm waiting for some backpay which wont arrive for a few months yet so will be handy as i can just transfer via internet.

Chelle66

Thanks but I'm already in Oz but when we were transferring our funds, we were told that we could only transfer £5000 at a time, which annoyed us a bit, because it meant that we had to do more than one transfer. We ended up using our own bank as well, which, of course, incurred costs. :curse:

Chelle

Windsor2

Chelle,

Unfortunately you have been subject to our wondeful banking system here in the UK, and your internet transfers obviously have a daily limit.

For those of you who haven't left as yet, and are planning on moving funds once you have migrated, then speak to your bank beforehand and arrange the easiest way of moving your funds across other than actually visiting the branch.

If you're using a broker then they will have a client trust account which you will need to ask your bank to transfer the funds to, and then the broker will simply move it to the account overseas for you.

Cheers,

Richard.

paul30

I have an account with NAB set up online activated on a reccie found the service I have received outstanding so far but I am still in the uk at the mo