Leaving Belgium as a Non EU
Posted by Gloomy_Bus_1369@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 16 comments
Hello Everyone
I have been living in Belgium for 4+ years. I have decided to leave Belgium. I plan to move to Australia. I am expecting the grant of my Australian PR very soon. The problem is I have substantial amount of savings 45K euros.
What happens to my bank account once I leave the country in 2 months ? I do not want to move the funds to India owing to the regulations and the weaker currency.
Any ideas or suggestions on where to hold this currency safely before I move to Australia ?
re-11111@reddit
Transfer to a Wise account. I'm migrating from Netherlands (i'm local), to a non EU country. As far I know, Belgium has the similar regulations as Netherlands. When you change your address to a address abroad, your bank will freeze your funds after 6 months to avoid money laundering.
Online banks like Wise are a good safe zone before opening a local bank account in Australia. I would still advise to never save all your saving on 1 bank account. I personally split my saving over 4 accounts. Always 1 local, and I have 3 other account (similar to Wise). Especially when traveling or in case of theft, this is a safe way to do damage control.
Important : Do not transfer the full amount in 1 transfer to your new Australian bank account. Especially because you are Indian, and a new client. The bank will flag these huge amounts and freeze your account, you'll have to contact them and then they will ask you questions (how did you get this money, blablabla).
Gloomy_Bus_1369@reddit (OP)
What are the 3 other accounts similar to wise ?
Capable-Mix-1034@reddit
turn in crypto like btc
re-11111@reddit
terrible advice.
Material-Wallaby-587@reddit
If you are moving to Australia, I would convert it to Australian dollars as the exchange rate against the Euro is pretty good right now.
mmoonbelly@reddit
Why not open a euro account in India?
flower-power-123@reddit
Is there any reason you can't simply keep the money in Belgium?
Gloomy_Bus_1369@reddit (OP)
I am completely moving out of the country. No residence card. How should I access it when I want ?
CoffeeInTheTropics@reddit
Oh shame you couldn’t hold out a little longer and acquire citizenship! Best of luck with your move to Oz, hope you will love it there.
Possible_Summer_3380@reddit
That kind of transition sounds exciting but also a little unsettling. As a woman I’d be thinking about the small things that make you feel secure, having access, having a backup, knowing you’re not locked out of something important. It’s not just logistics, it’s that sense of safety you carry with you.
Key_Description1985@reddit
Be aware that for over 10,000 AUD transferred you often will have to pay some tax. You might actually want to keep the Belgium bank open for a while and slowly transfer across to aud over a couple of years to avoid this... You should have no problems keeping the Belgian account open after leaving the country
Gloomy_Bus_1369@reddit (OP)
how do you know that the belgian account and it's access wont be affected ?
CoffeeInTheTropics@reddit
It will be if you don’t reside in Belgium anymore. Just transfer the amount to your Australian bank account using Wise or such, it’s not a big amount so won’t trigger any red flags as long as you can show it’s origin if asked.
Key_Description1985@reddit
Well that's what I've done multiple times in other EU countries so I can't imagine it is any different. Check with your bank though.
icecream1973@reddit
Dude, need professional advise......
Step 1 ask your bank & a tax advisor go from there.
Philip3197@reddit
advise your bank of your move. changing your adress will avoid that the savings are taxed.
transfer the money to your AU bank account once you have one.
close the account remotely.
note: there are a lot of other actions you need to take to correctly close your living here in Belgium. Do not forget any, as some might be difficult to do from abroad.