How to transfer cash from Abu Dhabi to UK?
Discussion
Fatboy said:
A friend of mine has got a job lined up in Abu Dhabi, and he will be paid in cash (is it Dirham?).
What is the easiest way for him to transfer it back to the UK - apparently a lot of the guys use Western Union, but is there another way he should be looking at?
Cheers,
Fatboy
Depends how often and how much. £20 or so for a bank transfer from the UK out, so probably similar the other way round.What is the easiest way for him to transfer it back to the UK - apparently a lot of the guys use Western Union, but is there another way he should be looking at?
Cheers,
Fatboy
Setting up a paypal account with links to your foreign and UK bank account would be pretty easy, but it won't be cheap to transfer and paying significant amounts of cash from it into your UK account may well have the tax man knocking on your door.
Edited by youngsyr on Thursday 2nd April 21:08
When I lived in the Gulf, I opened a bank account, which your friend is going to need anyway, and then aranged for the bank to transfer funds when required.
You might want to find out whether the UK bank your friend is with has a branch in the Gulf and just use that as a local branch.
Make sure of the current UK income tax laws before transferring money.
You might want to find out whether the UK bank your friend is with has a branch in the Gulf and just use that as a local branch.
Make sure of the current UK income tax laws before transferring money.
Cheers for the replies everyone.
He's going to talk to an accountant about handling the UK tax side of things (last thing he wants is to get grief from HMRC!), he had just asked me if I knew any better ways of transferring cash across than western union (apparently a lot of the guys out there use it)
I did suggest to him that he talk to his bank (LloydsTSB) and see if he can open a Dirham account and if they have a branch in Abu Dhabi, but I wasn't sure what to do about transferring money between the two countries, or if there was an obvious trick I had missed.
He's going to talk to an accountant about handling the UK tax side of things (last thing he wants is to get grief from HMRC!), he had just asked me if I knew any better ways of transferring cash across than western union (apparently a lot of the guys out there use it)
I did suggest to him that he talk to his bank (LloydsTSB) and see if he can open a Dirham account and if they have a branch in Abu Dhabi, but I wasn't sure what to do about transferring money between the two countries, or if there was an obvious trick I had missed.
Edited by Fatboy on Friday 3rd April 07:32
use a company like UK Forex or Hifx..the banks rape you on exchange
Set up a Dirhem account
Set up a Sterling account.
Transfer the money through Hifx or UK forex for virtually no commission exchanges.
I had a sum of euros to exchange recently....bank offered a by rate of 1.17 even thought he exchange rate wat 1.08 meaning nearly 10% commission on the deal (even though they call it 0% commission)
UK forex did the same deal for 1.081.
Set up a Dirhem account
Set up a Sterling account.
Transfer the money through Hifx or UK forex for virtually no commission exchanges.
I had a sum of euros to exchange recently....bank offered a by rate of 1.17 even thought he exchange rate wat 1.08 meaning nearly 10% commission on the deal (even though they call it 0% commission)
UK forex did the same deal for 1.081.
We currently live in Dubai and have experimented with different ways of getting cash back to the UK. We have found the best way to be via bank accounts. We have an HSBC accout here and simply send back what we need to every month. The cost is a minimum of 50Dhs (less than £10) but does vary bank to bank.
As for Lloyds TSB we used them for about 3 months and found the transfers to take a huge amount of time to clear, on occassions leaving us financially embarresed (sp?) in the UK.
At the moment the Dirham is very low against the GBP so would reccomend leaving as much as possible in Dirhams, until (hopefully WMFN is booted) the GBP picks up againsy the US$. We leave all my wife's salary in Dhs.
As for Lloyds TSB we used them for about 3 months and found the transfers to take a huge amount of time to clear, on occassions leaving us financially embarresed (sp?) in the UK.
At the moment the Dirham is very low against the GBP so would reccomend leaving as much as possible in Dirhams, until (hopefully WMFN is booted) the GBP picks up againsy the US$. We leave all my wife's salary in Dhs.
Eggle said:
Don't get involved with Paypal. After a couple of thousand, they will want to know you mothers, Brothers, little Jonnys inside leg measurement, and even then, they will gladly let you pay IN, but find it difficult to pay it OUT again.
Totally agree, it took me six months to close down an argument due to their so-called anti money laundering system, and during that time I had no access to £2.5k. Furthermore, their phone b
hes refused to escalate the calls to their management and I had to go via Companies House and directors, to get my gievence actioned. Fine for ebay and small transaction, but I wouldn't ever trust them with anything more than £500.crossle said:
I used to do it by money transfer at Thomas Cook in Abu Dhabi (Hamdan St).
Paid them UAE Dirhams cash, got Sterling transferred to UK account.
the problem is that you get raped by their buy rates.Paid them UAE Dirhams cash, got Sterling transferred to UK account.
it is an utter con. They say no commission but there "rate" batters you for 7-10 % on the spot.
Seriously for any decent amount of cash use UK forex or Hifx
peterpeter said:
use a company like UK Forex or Hifx..the banks rape you on exchange
Set up a Dirhem account
Set up a Sterling account.
Transfer the money through Hifx or UK forex for virtually no commission exchanges.
I had a sum of euros to exchange recently....bank offered a by rate of 1.17 even thought he exchange rate wat 1.08 meaning nearly 10% commission on the deal (even though they call it 0% commission)
UK forex did the same deal for 1.081.
what he said. Set up a Dirhem account
Set up a Sterling account.
Transfer the money through Hifx or UK forex for virtually no commission exchanges.
I had a sum of euros to exchange recently....bank offered a by rate of 1.17 even thought he exchange rate wat 1.08 meaning nearly 10% commission on the deal (even though they call it 0% commission)
UK forex did the same deal for 1.081.
Use an FX broker and ask about using forward or options contracts to limit your exposure to rate fluctuations
DubaiJohn said:
We currently live in Dubai and have experimented with different ways of getting cash back to the UK. We have found the best way to be via bank accounts. We have an HSBC accout here and simply send back what we need to every month. The cost is a minimum of 50Dhs (less than £10) but does vary bank to bank.
Totally agree with HSBC bank. They may not be the cheapest, but here in Dubai, have the best internet nabking facilities going.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff