The housing market in Yokosuka is tight and prices are high due to the demand for housing in the nearby Tokyo/Yokohama housing market. The Navy provides housing allowances and a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) to help offset the high costs. All newly arriving personnel assigned to Yokosuka must attend the Housing Welcome Center's Newcomer's Brief. This briefing is required before Housing Welcome Center personnel can assist people in finding off case housing or signing up for military family housing. The briefing is held Monday through Friday at 0800 at the Yokosuka Housing Welcome Center Conference Room. The Housing Welcome Center provides interpreters who will assist you in finding a private rental and will, by appointment, take you to see an off base house or arrange for an agent to pick you up or meet you at a predetermined location.

For eligible military members, Overseas Housing Allowances (OHA) is provided which is combination of Basic Housing Allowance and an amount set by the Per Diem Committee. There is a ceiling set for each rank based on with or without family members. OHA is provided to help offset the cost of rent in Japan. Military members receive a utility allowance to help offset the cost of utilities.

Civilian employees may be authorized Living Quarters Allowance (LQA) when adequate government quarters are not available. The utility allowance is part of the LQA.

A critical factor to settling here is the Navy's sponsorship program. A good sponsor can make the difference between a smooth transition or a painful ordeal. Write your new Command and request a sponsor be assigned. Make contact with that person early in planning your move. A sponsor's first hand knowledge will help you determine what to bring or what to put in storage.

COLA, OHA and LQA RATES

 

I tried searching the forum for an answer, and this appears to be the closest topic, even though it hasn't been commented on before. My question is not necessarily how much OHA and COLA is, but how it is paid.

For example, I see that the OHA is a set amount of yen each month. Can you set up separate bank accounts to accept the regular pay in an American bank in dollars and a Japanese account to accept the OHA and utility pay in yen? Does the OHA get converted to dollars, and then you have to convert it back to yen to pay rent? Or would the OHA be paid directly to your landlord since the base has to approve the contract?

I guess my biggest concern is if we get paid in dollars, are we going to be liable for the currency conversion fee to pay rent (which I guess could be around $200 per month if you're paying a 1% fee)?

Thanks for the help.

When I was AD in Italy my COLA and OHA was paid lumped in with my normal paycheck. It all gets paid in US dollars and you had to do the money conversion yourself to pay the landlord and other bills.

As for Japan I'm not sure if you can set up an allotment to be sent to a japanese bank account for the conversion to yen for the rent and bills. However, even then you'll be stuck with the conversion fee. I used to do like Thaiguy does and hit an ATM and max out the amount you can take out. Thus only getting hit with the fee once instead of being nickled and dimed from the cash machine. For other big amounts you can just go to the bank/credit union and get it in a lump sum. Again, they'll charge you the conversion fee, or so I think.

Hope this helps some.

Posted By utralcorn on 05-27-2011 6:56 AM
I tried searching the forum for an answer, and this appears to be the closest topic, even though it hasn't been commented on before. My question is not necessarily how much OHA and COLA is, but how it is paid.

For example, I see that the OHA is a set amount of yen each month. Can you set up separate bank accounts to accept the regular pay in an American bank in dollars and a Japanese account to accept the OHA and utility pay in yen? Does the OHA get converted to dollars, and then you have to convert it back to yen to pay rent? Or would the OHA be paid directly to your landlord since the base has to approve the contract?

I guess my biggest concern is if we get paid in dollars, are we going to be liable for the currency conversion fee to pay rent (which I guess could be around $200 per month if you're paying a 1% fee)?

Thanks for the help.

Dave pretty much has it correct.  You get paid in dollars.  And YOU get paid, not your landlord.  It's your responsibility to pay your bills.

As to the rest, you can set up a Japanese bank account, but for whatever reason the US Gov will NOT direct deposit to a Japanese bank (have a co-worker who complains about this at least once every 3 months), so you would have to withdraw money (via ATM) and deposit it into the Japanese bank.

As for paying rent, I personally use the Nex, simple easy, write a check once a month.  They do the math (rent amount in yen/current yen rate=dollar amount due).  They don't charge either, in fact I get a $10. NEX card every month for doing this.

Another really popular option is GI Bill pay.  As I understand it they pull money for your rent and utilities directly from your bank account. Not in one big lump, but over the course of the month/paychecks.  I don't know how the charges for that work, but I'm sure someone on here can tell you.

Other than that... I think one of my coworkers deposits his rent into an account at Bank of Yokohama that his land lord set up (physically walks it over and deposits it).

FWIW, I've only had to deal with a conversion fee when changing large amounts of money. You wont be dealing  with the airport exchange place that is trying to make money off you. (unless of course you go off base to one of the currency exchange places) :o) 

Thanks for the responses. Amy, I guess when you say no charge, you pay rent without them charging you a 1% currency exchange fee? I guess that would definitely work. Hopefully I can get all my finances set to go before heading over. Less than 3 months now!

Amy, I guess when you say no charge, you pay rent without them charging you a 1% currency exchange fee?

Exactly.