First I want to say that I really appreciate gox. They've done a lot for bitcoin and they've taken a lot of abuse whether it be from hackers, the banking system, angry traders etc. I enjoy trading on gox and hope they make it through their current troubles. They're really facing a massive challenge though. Look what happened to a fully accredited financial institution that philosophically supports bitcoin:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/30/4675908/internet-archive-credit-union-dumps-bitcoin-accounts-citing-regulatory-issues1. Do they do international wires of USD?They used to. The most recent normal wire received was sent some time in June. Manual wires seemed to last a bit longer than that.
2. Is there a minimum amount?Don't know.
3. What other qualifications must you have to do it?The same as for a normal wire transfer. Be verified, have bank details.
4. Is the 5% fee the total fee or does it go on top of the normal 1.5% fee?Don't know
5. How long does it take?They told me 7 business days. After 9 business days went by they said a couple weeks. This was after a couple months of waiting for a standard wire. I gave up.
6. How many people can vouch that this is working and that theyve done it recently?No one apparently.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=179586.msg3170114#msg3170114https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=179586.msg3244954#msg32449547. How do you start the process?Open a request at support.mtgox.com
8. Is it less risky to simply transfer to bit stamp, eat the 10% loss, and withdraw there?Yes, 100x at this point.
