I was curious to find out what other non-US citizens do to avoid paying currency conversion fees when a percentage of their salary is paid directly into a bank account of their choice.
I have accepted a job where a percentage of my salary is paid in local currency into a local bank account and the remaining percentage is transferred to a bank account of my choice in USD.
banking for non-US citizens
Re: banking for non-US citizens
There's two ways in the UK for this.
Firstly, you could set up a US$ account to accept it, either onshore or offshore. You'd still have the problem though of it being in USD so not much use for paying bills in the UK!
The easiest way is to just set it up to be paid to your normal bank account. I think you have to choose where the conversion is made - but unless the school is picking up the tab for it, it will probably be done at your home bank. Check with them that this is possible (it probably is) and what any charges will be. Downside is that the amount paid in to your account will change monthly depending on the exchange rate.
Firstly, you could set up a US$ account to accept it, either onshore or offshore. You'd still have the problem though of it being in USD so not much use for paying bills in the UK!
The easiest way is to just set it up to be paid to your normal bank account. I think you have to choose where the conversion is made - but unless the school is picking up the tab for it, it will probably be done at your home bank. Check with them that this is possible (it probably is) and what any charges will be. Downside is that the amount paid in to your account will change monthly depending on the exchange rate.
Response
I would concur with @expatscot, most major banks have USD accounts that you can open alongside your local currency account (though the local bank your IS uses may not be one of them). Even if you go offshore, lots of financial institutions offer accounts in USD that are outside the USA (though the costs of accessing those funds could be prohibitive). Citibank and HSBC seem to be just about everywhere though their accounts generally have higher maintenance costs.
The other option is to ask your IS to provide you a cash disbursement, where you go to the business office and pick up an envelope of USD notes and then you can do with them what you want.
While you can have the coin wired to your account anywhere and converted, there isnt really a way to avoid the conversion fees since the IS is doing the transfer.
The other option is to ask your IS to provide you a cash disbursement, where you go to the business office and pick up an envelope of USD notes and then you can do with them what you want.
While you can have the coin wired to your account anywhere and converted, there isnt really a way to avoid the conversion fees since the IS is doing the transfer.