Transferring US Dollars to Brazil

There are many other companies you can use, but I will defer to those in the know.
As to issues to the transfers. It happens to many. At first moving here I transferred what I needed per month. (BR regs were maxed $2,000.U$D per month. (Now $4000/mo) ) Each year for 2 years I was requested to bring bank and income statements. After 2 years they no longer asked for such.
BB back office and probably your bak's bank office can help. I say this because I went to BB to advise that I was buying a car and going to transfer the money to the dealer. (I had copies of bank and income statement with me) BB said no issue and even they were the ones to advise my bank I no longer needed to provide statements again.

Now, do you have a non-expiring RNM? Or a retirement visa? 
This may make a difference.

I tried xoom one time, you know they are an offshoot of the US technology monopolies, Paypal et al, right......they charged a fee of about 5% in plain sight but then they charged another fee of 20% hidden in the exchange rate that they offered.
But then because I was in rural Brazil I could not telephone them.....they were exceptionally rude to me about it and eventually cancelled the transfer and sent me my money back.
Everybody wants to talk about the high crime rate in Brazil and all the dangers here, but after 5 years of this struggle, the only people who have ever robbed me or attempted to rob me are USA bankers .....

Please tell what you know and/or give links about "retirement visa" as I cant find it on the Policia Federales website nor does anyone around know anything about it ....

https://www.gov.br/pt-br/servicos/obter … migratorio

(sounds like a life-saver .....)

Hi, Rick,

I use TransferWise every month, because they have good rates and no hassle.  After hitting a running total with them (I think $5000), they need to have your SSN to satisfy US  banking regulations; after that, it's smooth sailing.

At this end, my experience with Banco do Brasil mirrored Tex's exactly:  a lot of fairly routine documents upfront, then very little.  They do want my a copy of my Brazilian tax return every year, but it's pretty much a "when you can drop it by" sort of thing.  I comply pretty quickly, because I value the relationship, and want to keep it friendly.

chistletoe wrote:

Please tell what you know and/or give links about "retirement visa" as I cant find it on the Policia Federales website nor does anyone around know anything about it ....

https://www.gov.br/pt-br/servicos/obter … migratorio

(sounds like a life-saver .....)

Chistletoe,

Here's the Resolução Normativa (RN) on the subject; see Article 4  for people already in the country:

https://www.in.gov.br/web/dou/-/resoluc … -229901650

Since this is unfamiliar to many people at the Polícia Federal and they apparently have not issued their own guidance on the subject, it would be wise to print out a copy of the RN and have it with you if you try to take this route.  If you qualify for permanent residence on the basis of family reunion, that still seems preferable to me in every way.

chistletoe wrote:

Please tell what you know and/or give links about "retirement visa" as I cant find it on the Policia Federales website nor does anyone around know anything about it ....

https://www.gov.br/pt-br/servicos/obter … migratorio

(sounds like a life-saver .....)

Go to the Brazil forum and the first topic is the new retirement visa. Fairly new but straight forward.

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I received a lot of food for thought.
I knew there was a limit on how much you could send at one time, but I didn't know there was a monthly limit. That could be a reason for flagging my last transfer. Because of the exchange rate, and the fact we were remodeling our house, we have been trying to pad our bank account here. I usually transfer money directly to the contractor if possible, but most of the small businesses work on a cash basis only.
I do have a permanent resident visa.
I might have to talk to the bank about this situation, but I hate going to the bank. The customer service is terrible.
Since November starts today, maybe I will try to transfer some money this week and see what happens. kkkkk

I would go to a bank manager or above. The tellers and ATM helpers cannot help. It seems each bank has different ways of handling situations, Bank should have a Cambio rep who would know more about transfers.

Thanks for the info.
Since it is a weekend, and Monday is a holiday, I will try to go to the bank one day next week. This issue is not an emergency. I will follow up with the solution once I solve this issue.

After nine years in Brazil, you understand how much this country runs on interpersonal relationships.   Sitting down with the backoffice people at your bank to discuss your money moving needs will be well worth the time you invest.  Once they see you as "Sr. Rick" and not "aquele gringo que usa o caixa eletrônico de vez em quando", you'll be surprised at how easily once insoluble problems suddenly find solutions.

According to the email I received, the problem is not with my bank, it is with their disbursement partner (Remessa Expressa).

If that's the only problem, TransferWise is an easy solution.

I am sorry for being such a pain, but when I searched for [link moderated], Google says that the address does not exist.
The only other webwise bank I saw was the ATC Webwise bank(Adirondack Trust Company). Is the Webwise bank people are referring to?

TransWise is not a bank. It is like WesternUnion.
https://transferwise.com/br
There are many around, but stick with the major player. Compare fees.
Banks as Chase, BoA and other larger banks have sercies. Regional banks have Zelle (sp?) or use WU, and smaller fees, but still up there
Again use care there are mant internet scams.

Thanks for the info.
I had the bank name wrong.
I found the TransferWise web site.
I will post a message if or when I get some money successfully transferred.

MacaeRick wrote:

Thanks for the info.
I had the bank name wrong.
I found the TransferWise web site.
I will post a message if or when I get some money successfully transferred.

Good luck!  I think you'll be satisfied.

Well, this is more complicated than I thought.
I set up an account with Transferwise, using my Brazilian bank account.
I then tried to send dollars to my Brazilian bank account.
Transferwise gave me 3 choices... Bank Debit (ACH) which my bank said I cannot do,
a wire transfer or an international wire transfer, which my bank says I need to do in person.
Therefore I do not understand how people are transferring money from their USA accounts to their Brazilian accounts.
Do you have to set up a multi-currency account, or have two different accounts? One linked to the USA bank and one linked to the Brazilian bank account., then just do a bank to bank transfer.

MacaeRick wrote:

Well, this is more complicated than I thought.
I set up an account with Transferwise, using my Brazilian bank account.
I then tried to send dollars to my Brazilian bank account.
Transferwise gave me 3 choices... Bank Debit (ACH) which my bank said I cannot do,
a wire transfer or an international wire transfer, which my bank says I need to do in person.
Therefore I do not understand how people are transferring money from their USA accounts to their Brazilian accounts.
Do you have to set up a multi-currency account, or have two different accounts? One linked to the USA bank and one linked to the Brazilian bank account., then just do a bank to bank transfer.

First, who is my bank? US banks cannot forbid you not to wire to another bank. (For years most banks used WU and you completed the request.)
Here how mine works, my bank does wire transfers. I click the wire transfer button and I set up my BR bank. (you need  BR bank's IBAN and BIC numbers, their address and phone, and your acct #, (should be within the IBAN #). My second bank allows wire transfers but you have to use its wire company. (I do a bank to bank transfer then send via the bank I use). Transferwise needs the same info, in addition to your US bank info, (Others can help with this)
I still have to stay around the max monthly limit, unless I notify my BR bank of the need.
Most US banks will have a wire fee and BR bank will have wire and exchange fees.

I think that Tex is onto something in his first question:  your US bank owes you some explanations.   They should be making it easier, not harder, to access your money.  It's your money, after all. 

Before I switched to TransferWise, I had to provide my bank in the US with exactly the information that Tex did.  They kept it on file after the first time, and from then on, I just had to send them an email every month with the date and the amount that I wanted to transfer, and they made it happen.

With TransferWise, I gave them my US and Brazilian account information, and that was it.  I didn't even inform my US bank.  When I request a transfer, TransferWise does an ACH which shows up in my US account activity as a "Pre-approved Debit".  The funds are usually in my Brazilian account the day after I request the transfer, if I do it in the morning.