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What BanColombia wants to see before accepting my $18,000 wire.....

My lawyer passed by BanColombia today and got this list of papers that BanColombia wants or they are supposely going to send my money back within 15 days.

1.- CARTA LABORA. APOSTILLADO.

I assume this is just a letter from my employeer stating where I work and for how long and what my salary is. I work for the government and doubt if the letter will even be signed and it would be next to imposible to get them to notorize it so that it could be apostillized.

But I can sign the letter myself in front of any notory and then go down to have it apositlized. I don't know is anyone at BanColombia realizes it but getting something apostilized only verifies that the notory is registered and that the signature is from the correct person. It in no way vouches for the authenticity of a document.

But I don't think I'll bother trying to explain that to them. hehehe !!
2.- FOTOCOPIA DE LA CEDULA DE EXTRANJERIA

Copy of my cedula

3,. EXTRACTOS DE SU CUENTA.

I imagine that all they want is a copy of my bank statements in the U.S.

4.- CERTIFICADO DEL DECLARANTE.

I have no idea what a Certificant of declarant is??????

5.- COPIA SOCIAL

Copy of my Social Security card??? Maybe?

6. COPIA DEL PASAPORTE.

Copy of my Passport

By calipro on Nov 5, 2008, 16:37 in Friendly Talkzone.

TheReceivingEnd says on Nov 5, 2008, 16:50:

accepting a wire for what?

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calipro says on Nov 5, 2008, 17:02:

gringoloid

The money was sent to my own bank account at BanColombia.

I remember reading something about waiting for money to be returned to you in the States but I didn't know that it was BanColomibia that had your money.

According to my Branch at BanColombia, I'm in a race against time. If I don't get the papers to them within the 15 day deadline that money will be set back and there is nothing that they can do about it.

According to them they can not even delay sending the money back so I don't understand how it could posibly take 2 months for you to get your money back.

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Paisa/Calena/Luver says on Nov 5, 2008, 17:04:

All of these Nightmare wire transfer issues Im thinking of just paying for a buddies ticket and bringing in cash $10k each at a time for the apartment im looking at..

"PAY ATTENTION! I wonder if that person knows that when we push the FUNNY button, its because we are reading something outrageous, trying to be cynical, derogatory, sarcastic and/or obnoxious!"

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davidslc46 says on Nov 5, 2008, 17:06:

Yep,

That all sounds about right.

Just get your lawyer communicating with bank manager and get the documentation in to them.

I think everyone who wants to send more than $4999 had better be aware of these policies.

David

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Paisa/Calena/Luver says on Nov 5, 2008, 17:11:

Isnt Citibank in Colombia a totally separate entity? Because if it wasnt I would just have the esposa open an account there and wire money to it from my Citibank account OR is it not that easy?

"PAY ATTENTION! I wonder if that person knows that when we push the FUNNY button, its because we are reading something outrageous, trying to be cynical, derogatory, sarcastic and/or obnoxious!"

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antiguru says on Nov 5, 2008, 17:13:

extractos are your bank statements....last 3 months
yes copia social must be a copy of your social security card
certificado del declarante is probably Formulario 4...that gets filled out at the bank

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calipro says on Nov 5, 2008, 17:23:

Gringoloid

I'm waiting for a letter from my employeer and they want it apostilized of all things so that would make it imposible to fax.

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Paisa/Calena/Luver says on Nov 5, 2008, 17:29:

Thanks Gringo,,, What kind of credentials do I need to open an account? Do I need a Colombian Cedula or be a resident? If not my Esposa can do it for me/together she obviously is a resident and has a cedula but has NOT been employed for a couple of years already, will that matter?. How much did they ask you to open an account. Sounds Like a lifesaver.. ALSO maybe HSBC might be ALL ONE BANK AND ONE NAME I might look into as well... Cheers! PCL

"PAY ATTENTION! I wonder if that person knows that when we push the FUNNY button, its because we are reading something outrageous, trying to be cynical, derogatory, sarcastic and/or obnoxious!"

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calipro says on Nov 5, 2008, 17:36:

gringoloid

Congratulations !!!

But who the hell is the defensor?

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TheReceivingEnd says on Nov 5, 2008, 17:38:

wire transfers in citibank are $10 dollars a transfer to another citibank account in colombia.

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calipro says on Nov 5, 2008, 17:45:

Frank

Thanks for the offer but I'm going to wait until the 18 grand is deposited in my
BanColombia account or returned to my states side account.... before I move head with anything else.

I don't think my lawyer has much pull so if you know of a good attorney that you can recommend in Cali....I'm all ears.

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pedro (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 5, 2008, 18:40:

I have been a client of HSBC and done international wire transfers with them.

I would not recommend for anyone who wants to transfer larger sums. They take a large % margin on the conversion from foreign currency to pesos. I negotiated hard but it was still way too high.

Their internet banking platform is not that great. The bill pay did not work immediately (I never bothered to find out why it didn't work, but I tried two different billers following the instructions, and no go either time).

On the plus side, their branches are usually moderately empty, none of the massive queues.

If I was doing this again, I would probably try Davivienda (PBHer Beachbros I think reported a very positive experience with them).

"this may seem a strange post but it is not...when in colombia men need to be aware that colombia women may try to be seductive and entice a travelling gringo to have sex with them..to be forewarned is to be forearmed..." -- pow wow

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coolcolombia says on Nov 5, 2008, 19:23:

ALL THIS IS TO VERIFY THE PROCEDENCE OF THE MONEY, TO AVOID LAUNDRY

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coolcolombia says on Nov 5, 2008, 19:24:

SUGGESTION : TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH DAVIVIENDA AND SEND PARTIAL WIRES OF USD$ 5000 ---- NO PAPEWORK REQUIRED ! I HAVE EXPERIMENTED THIS PROBLEM IN THE PAST

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august says on Nov 5, 2008, 21:03:

I'll take it down in a suitcase for free. PM me.

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papiChulo says on Nov 5, 2008, 21:26:

august... I can arrange somebody to pick you up at the airport... PM me... ;)

I'm givin'er... givin'er HARDCORE

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cali373 says on Nov 6, 2008, 07:20:

Citibank and HSBC has to abide by the same laws as other colombian banks. It is not the policies of the banks but laws. you can thank the drug trade and the US for the red tape.

Does it prevent Laundering, NO.

Smile if you are a thinker!

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bairespaisa says on Nov 6, 2008, 08:34:

I had my acct. with Citi Colombia for about 2 years and the one in the US also for about the same...the transfers are about $30 each plus whatever they decide to give you on the exchange rate. I opened my acct in colombia with my US passport but i heard that they dont do that anymore....sometimes they requiere proof of where the money is coming from and sometimes they dont. I sent over 10 wires to buy an apartment.....the bad part is that you have to go claim every one of those wires and deposit them into your own acct. or designate somebody to do that for you.

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viajero123 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 6, 2008, 12:56:

I am thinking that a good option is to open a stock brokerage account. They have much better service, and then you can have your money wired to their account in the US and they make the transfer to Colombia and help you file all the bank forms. You will also be able to know beforehand if they will receive your money or not. You don't even need to invest the money in stocks or bonds, but doing so can help you avoid 4 x mil when you want to do your payments in Colombia.

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