Sending/receiving money from your loved ones

So should your family want to send you money from your home country (for me it is India/INR) to the place you are currently living (for me it is the USA/USD/$) how would they have to go about it? The general norm/websites that I could find always go the opposite (from the USA (USD/$) to India(INR/₹), but should you need to do India to the USA this post should help you.

I personally use Transferwise to do the transaction. The minimum/maximum amount that one can transfer will be based on which country you are sending the money from. The money generally gets transferred in 3-4 business days and you can get the best rate possible, which means more money to you. The setup process is simple but you will need some sort of identification (driver license/passport), to make sure you are a legit person and not a computer bot. So one can create an account for his/her family and himself/herself and get money with not a lot of hassle.

The entire process (from the person sending money) in short is as follows. 

1. You need to open an account with Transferwise. You can use my referral link here and get up to 600USD for free with no transaction fees.
2. You have to confirm that you are a human being and they ask you for either driver's license/passport for identity verification purposes
3. How much money you want to send. You will get to know at this step HOW much the receiving person will get along with the transaction fees that they will charge 
4. Who do you want to send the money to- You will need information on the receiving person (their bank account details like account number and routing number)
5. How would you like to pay: They give options for bank transfer/card transfer (depends on the country you are sending the money from)

Now should you choose bank transfer in the above step, the way that I understand it is that you have to make a transfer to THEIR (transferwise) bank in your home country and then they transfer the money to THEIR (transferwise) bank in the recipient country and then to YOUR bank account finally. In all, this is the reason for the lag period of 3-4 days, given the multiple middle players. OR you can watch this video where he explains the process. 

The other reason I like transferwise is that they will give you a debit card, in which you can open an account in any country in the world and it will function as a traveling card! So instead of getting a cashier's check for my trip to Europe or use my credit card with no transaction fee, I can just open an account in the local currency, and then I can transfer my money to that account. The exact details can be read about over here or watch the video here

What are the ways you transfer money to or from your home country? Let me know in your comments and I can update the post should it be useful.

Guide to Global Entry by an Indian citizen

I used to always feel jealous when I saw the TSA-precheck customers zip through the TSA line and I have always wanted to do that. As I am an Indian citizen, I do not qualify for TSA as only American citizens and LPRs qualify for the same. However, there is something that is called Global entry which includes the TSA precheck which I applied and got approved for. This post is regarding the same.

First off a brief overview of what is Global Entry: 

Global Entry allows expedited processing for pre-approved, low-risk travelers when they arrive in the US at select airports. Instead of standing in line, program members proceed to Global Entry kiosks, present their machine-readable passport or U.S. permanent resident card, place their fingerprints on the scanner for fingerprint verification and complete a customs declaration. The kiosk issues a transaction receipt and directs the traveler to baggage claim and the exit. Aside from avoiding processing lines and paperwork, another benefit of the program is TSA Precheck eligibility.

People who can apply for Global Entry: U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, and citizens of Colombia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Panama, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, and Mexico. (Depending on the country, visas may be required.) Canadian citizens and residents are also eligible for Global Entry benefits through membership in the NEXUS partnership (the agreement that allows members expedited processing when entering the United States and Canada).

 My application process is as follows. 

1. Create a trusted traveler profile here. https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov/ 
2. Select Global entry and then create an account and then fill in the details as asked. One will be asked to pay a $100 non0refundable application fee (many credit cards will refund the same) In addition to personal information—name, email address, gender, eye color, height, language preference—it requires you to fill in your employment, travel, and address history over the past five years. It also asks if you've violated any customs or immigration laws or been convicted of a crime. Fill out the application and submit a $100 fee, which covers your five-year membership if approved, but is non-refundable if your application is rejected. You can pay by credit card or electronic bank transfer.
3. Once you have submitted the application, within 1-2 hours you should get an email from passport.admin@passportindia.gov.in with instructions on how to set up an appointment in India vs USA (the USA part is new and has just started in the last couple of months. The earlier rule was to make an appointment when going/planning to go to India). You will have to pay ₹500 in the Passport Seva Portal,  for their background check in India. Once the payment is made and appt is confirmed, the page will tell you the things to take to the appointment (E.g. Proof of address (Passport, aadhar card), application confirmation page or SMS confirming the appointment). During the interview, your fingerprints and photo will be captured and there will be some other formalities
4. Once this interview is done, one has to wait for the police clearance which can take anywhere from 1 day to a week. My dad and I went to our nearest police station to ask if this could be expedited and they obliged. They will need 2 neighbor Aadhar card photocopies with signatures to attest that you live at the home address that you have in your Aadhar card.
5. After this, it is all sitting back and wait for the conditional approval to be granted. (takes anywhere from 6months to a year). A good place to look for is FlyerTalk, where one can see what is the current status.
6. Once you are conditionally approved, you have to go to a nearby airport/GE location to attend an interview where they will ask why you want GE, show your documents. Do take your visa documents in addition to passport and driver's license.  Please note that scheduling an interview is painful as there are no dates for most cities. However, keep checking the list and you might pounce on a date should someone cancel 

My personal experience

• Passport appt 04/29/2019
• Police verification 04/30/2019
• Conditional approval 12/19/2019
• Interview 1/12/2020

A few sites that I found useful

• https://indianewengland.com/2019/10/indian-citizens-are-now-eligible-for-global-entry-program-in-the-us-here-is-how-to-apply/
• https://passport.in.ckgs.us/gep
• Application centers in the USA https://passport.in.ckgs.us/application-centers
• https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/global-entry/international-arrangements/global-entry-indian-citizens