1.) Monthly payment
2.) For a family investment
3.) Medical emergency
4.) For Tet New Year

Any other reasons?

Gosh, I hope I can get some retirement care for this in the year 2035?

why send money inless she lives where there is no bank machine get her a bank card and that way you have good control over what goes on. She can still get 300USD/ day out each day and thats alot of cash in VN. Plus it helps them get use to our system of finance.

If you can afford it give her a few grand in cash to hold and see how she uses it.l most people, all of us, go alittle crazy when we get flush and its a good experence for them to have before the get to the USA. If all goes well go over how much per month they want / need. Inless they have a great job a few hundred a month is more then they have ever made. She probable has loose ends she want to tie up also so keep that in mind. i.e. Dental work there is very reasonable as is laser eye surgury and all kinds of stuff they might want done.

We are most likely going to leave my Fiences Card with her sister so we can easy get them money if they need it when she makes it to the USA.

Hope this helps
Chris

In depth answer and comments:

I have never sent money to my Vo. She wouldn't accept it anyways. When I do go there...I give her 2000 or so to handle all my expenses while I am there so I don't have to deal with it. But whenever I come back she somehow manages to sneak 70% of the money back in my luggage.

Some VN familes will actually require you to provide certain things to the family in order for them to accept you. With Thanh, her family didn't want any of that. They just told me that they want both of us to be happy. In fact, the last time I went to Hanoi, her father told me before I left to the airport, that if I needed any money to ask mother for it and she will give it to me. I of course don't need it and told him thank you for the kind words and left it at that.

Thanh has a very good job in Hanoi. She is an HR manager at a company. She told me that the average person employed in VN will get around 60-100 a month. 150 is considered really good income.

The only time I have actually given Thanh any money is when be both purchased our wedding rings and suits and dresses. Thanh wouldn't accept me paying for it all and wanted to keep our relationship balanced by splitting it down the middle.

My fiance wont let me send her any money either.. and when I went there I snuck money to her without her knowing (or so I thought) and when I was home she told me to check my suitcase... What a punk! haha

When my wife was still in VN, I would usually send about 100 dollars per month....she never asked for it, I just sent it. She was always thankful. She used it to buy clothes, buy food...she got her lips permanently tattooed/colored red....(I really can't see the difference ). ....Since Yen has been here, she sends a good portion of the money SHE makes doing nails back home. I mostly stay out of her affairs. I knew a long time ago she wanted to help out mom and dad back home. ....And since she contributes to the bills etc here I don't mind much...but I do have a good idea that she has sent back in the nieghborhood of 20,000 in the past year.....it bothers me a little bit because I see that as a Big Screen that should be in my living room or a newer car for her...but she's a good woman and takes good care of things and works hard so again, I knew the deal going into it...Mom and Pops are glad to be getting the help as well as the brothers and sisters. I speciffically forbid her from sending anything back to her oldest brother. He is a drunken bastard. The rest of ther siblings are trying to go to school etc..and I am all for giving help to people who are trying to help themselves.

I've sent quite a bit for number 2.

wonder what he means by monthly payment?

My fiancee is here for about 10 days now and my family and I made it possible for her to earn some money already because she wouild refuse us giving her any. My grandmother as Alzhiemer's disease and needs someone with her 24/7 so Anh has spent maybe 15 hours since she got here caring for her and has loved it. She thinks grandma is "so cute". She tried to refuse this money, but I insisted she take it.

Why? because her brother back home cannot get a good job without paying a big fat bribe and he needs that job because the family cannot make ends meet for long now that their daughter is gone (she made as much as all of them combined). So the bribe must be paid.

Once she is working I expect my fiancee to send home a couple hundred a month. Fine. As long as she understands that she has to use a portion of her income for our household.

I must be very thanksful for this is not one of my concern. If anything, my wife's family wants to send money here for us to invest in some real estates. The picture I get from Vietnam is quite different from you guys: Vietnamese people have a LOT of money, but do not trust the Banking system nor do they trust the "PARTY" to invest their hard ern money, nor they can invest in anything that worth the ROI they want! So, sending money here for us to buy investment homes and rent them out, collecting monthly rents, split the rent with the family in VN, re-investing to buy more homes etc. That's how we deal with the money issue. Given the housing market in the Northeast is still hot!

Sending money back to VN, I haven't done that before... if anything, I would send some to the nephews and nieces during TET!!! Red envelopes for Li-Xi is expected for good luck!

I would def. hold off on the "investment offers" in vietnam. There are many folks actually pour money in real estate in Saigon, Hanoi and the suburbs, not sure if that makes sense unless you are there and watching your investment, otherwise, good luck to recoup if the "Party" decides to change the "rules" midway. I still can't trust them!

This is my opinion and hopes i didn't offend anyone.

Thanks

I opened up an account through "ANZ" international bank. There is a branch is HCM and you can wire money from any major bank in the U.S. You can even get an ATM card for the account if you are daring.

FYI:
Try HSBC, they have branches in the US, and ONLINE (www.hsbcdirect.com) which also give you an ATM card. There is a HSBC branch in Saigon (near Highland Cafe). Exchange rates is very good!

patricks,

Same considerations apply as for my own family members here in the USA.

Yodrak

This is a really good question for Viet kieu immigrants, if you know any here. I am sure they would have some good advice.

I know one Viet kieu that sends home about $ 3,000 annually. It is distributed to about eight households within the family. For a medical emergency $ 500 should certainly cover most situations.

I usually give my in-laws $ 100 for Tet, or an equivalent gift.

Dam tang(funeral) and dam gio(annual ceremony) are important events for the Vietnamese, and sometimes one or two hundred dollars goes a long way, if the family is in need.

You are smart to set a budget and stick to it so it does not lead to future arguments about money. Good luck!

Agreed. One must know that in VN culture the woman usually takes care of the finances as well as the everyday planning and organization of the family. So if you just let your significant other take care of the finances, there usually isn't any issues.

I send $200 per month to my fiancee and sent enough to pay for a new computer for her. Nearly 2 years now we chat and web cam daily. She would walk in heavy rain to chat with me at the net cafe. Once I was aware of this I got her a computer for her one room home. I think nothing of it to send money because I want her happy and keep her mind on other things rather then wait wait wait... I hope we get another interview real soon.