Traveling with Cash: Problem at Customs?
 

I know that if you want to enter (or exit) the US with cash it has to be declared if it's over $10,000. But my question is what about if you enter the country with a large amount of cash (8000-9000) that is under $10K. Is it at all advisable?

I ask because I've heard horror stories about US customs seizing cash on the flimsiest pretext. Thus even though this is my money, legally earned, and I like to keep it cash because it's more convenient for me to travel this way, I fear that US customs will invent some reason to seize it from me. I've heard they do this to people under civil forfeiture laws, and then it's very hard to get back.

I've also noticed that they're very aggressive every time you come into the country, asking all kinds of questions, and in particular asking about cash that you carry even under the declaration limit. Needless to say I am wary of this. I'm afraid from the things I've heard that they won't respect the law and will do whatever they have to in order to seize cash or valuables.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this or advice to give, and if it is indeed a bad idea to carry cash even under the 10K limit.

you are asking in the wrong section. This is western europe.

Where should I ask? I imagine people in this section have experience traveling...

If you're concerned about entering the USA with this (insane) amount of cash, ask on the USA Forum. This is the Europe Forum. And why wouldn't you use an ATM to withdraw cash like everyone else instead of exposing yourself to enormous risk (and not just at immigration, just in general).

yes, you should ask in the US forum. However, you are missing details -- what is your nationality? I suspect this might have something to do with it.

Call me a skeptic but it is very suspicious that anyone would need to carry that amount of cash on them. The only reason would be if they came from some country that didn't have credit cards that could be used in the US or something like that.

It cannot possibly be "more convenient" to carry around $9K on you in cash versus using bank cards and credit cards.

The US customs people are generally nice to me but occasionally I encounter a jerk, also (I am an American middle-aged white woman). I had one question me extensively a few years ago just because I traveled to Europe alone, as if women in the US weren't allowed to travel alone or something. I was questioned and held up at the border from Canada with my boyfriend about drugs, also, even though we had none, but that was when I was in my 20s. And yes, they lie to try to get you to "confess" something. They lied and claimed they found some marijuana seed on the floor of the car, for example, and we knew we had nothing so did not "confess." They finally had to let us go after going through our luggage, holding us separately so we couldn't talk to each other, etc. All based on the fact that we were young and alternative-looking. So yes, some of them let power go to their heads.

I've seen them questioning some foreigners and no, they are not usually "aggressive" which is why I'm sure this must have something to do with where you are from, your demeanor and demographics, etc.

I'm a US citizen. They're usually very aggressive, asking you if you have any cash at all, and also asking what your profession is, why you travel, and so on. I consider these questions aggressive. Furthermore I also know middle aged women (US citizens) who they've asked if they carry over $1000 (??) even though they looked very pleasant and well off. So I'm wary of this. Also I've heard stories of their abuse of civil forfeiture laws and your own stories of them essentially "planting" things on you are worrisome.

It is in fact more convenient to travel with cash, given the restrictions that banks place on me. In terms of withdrawals, conversion rates and fees (I can get better rates at changing bureaus) and the fact that they've often left me stranded abroad blocking my card even though I told them I was traveling. Aside from all this, we should all have the right to travel and work with cash without anyone finding it "suspicious." Your attitude is what allows governments to try to control our every move for no reason at all.

By the way, 8 or 9K isn't that much. And if you're trying to get a good deal on an apartment some place you're staying longer, you need to give them dollars up front. Regardless, I want to know if I will have any problems even though it's under the limit for declaration.

I have passed through US customs at least 40 times in the last 10 years and my husband has probably passed through 120 times in the same number of years. We are US citizens and neither of have ever been asked how much money we have on us. Of course, we have not had anywhere close to $1,000 (much less $10,000) in cash on us. I have not noticed Customs officials asking anyone about cash and I think I would notice because I have seen relatively aggressive questioning of people returning to the US from their country of birth about food items that might be in their luggage. You say oticed that they're very aggressive every time you come into the country, asking all kinds of questions, and in particular asking about cash that you carry even under the declaration limit." Something is going on that is triggering this if it happens every time you come to the country regardless of the officer on duty. As another responder says, either your appearance is causing the questioning which could be some kind of racial profiling or it could be how you act or it could be both or it could be either where you left from or other places that are showing up on your passport. So naturally, if I were aggressively questioned every time I arrived in the USA and had $9,000 in cash with me, I would just answer truthfully and say it is for the expenses of my trip though that makes no sense to me because that is what bank accounts and debit cards are for. If I find that suspicious, I bet a Customs Officer will as well. As to random civil forfeiture, to paraphrase Marvin Gaye, believe very little of what you hear.

If you have those sorts of problems with your bank, change banks. You are obviously naive if you think exchange bureaus will give you a better deal than banks. That isn't normal. I'm an American citizen, too, and I have never been subjected to any sort of "aggressive" behavior at all upon entering or leaving the country, but I would never in a million years carry that sort of cash with me. That's just crazy. I've been in and out of the country at least 200+ times and never encountered anything like that.

You sound paranoid. That alone, if you display your paranoid tendencies, could prompt US authorities to question you more than they would the average person. Yes, you could have problems, but they will be of your own making.

And get a grip on how to handle paying for things in Europe. No one in their right mind carries 8 or 9K in cash around Europe, even if they have to pay cash for apartments up front (in which case you are probably renting an illegal apartment, by the way). Are you going to whine to your bank when your stash is pickpocketed or you leave your wallet at a café?

Join a credit union that charges no fees and get an ATM card. Problem solved. You're way off base here.

Racial profiling: I'm pretty much a blond haired blue eyed guy lol. But I guess that's how profiling works now. And yes I've heard from everyone coming in lately that they ask you how much money you're carrying. They do this to very pleasant-looking middle aged ladies. So either you haven't traveled lately, you are very special, or you're not telling the truth.

I'd like some practical advice from people who've had to deal with this. It sounds like instead there are a lot of responders who are more interested in justifying the abusive and intrusive character of US customs officials, which are well documented, and the experience of pretty much everyone who travels now.

Again I'd like some practical advice from people who've carried cash into or out of the US, either over the 10K limit, or somewhat under. Do they give you trouble even if it's under? Will they seize it on a pretext even if I can show images of paychecks/etc.

I doubt you'll get many answers, because normal people don't travel with that kind of cash, for very good reasons. And I'm almost certain that no one here would have exceeded the 10K limit, because...duh...that's illegal.

You might not get stopped for racial profiling, but psychological...entirely possible.

I don't think anyone here "hasn't been traveling lately," and many of us are pleasant-looking middle-aged ladies. I doubt any of us has had the problems you anticipate or been asked how much money any of us is carrying. Never once happened to me in hundreds of trips.

It's not illegal to carry money over the 10K limit either within or outside the US. It's an administrative process whereby you have to simply declare it and fill out a form at customs. Educate yourself, please! If that were illegal, the US would be an authoritarian country like North Korea. In fact not even authoritarian countries have those kinds of laws restricting currency flows like that.

StCirq honestly if you don't know you need to at least not be so aggressive or dismissive. From the things you say it's not clear to me whether you've ever lived abroad or been on trips outside tour groups or package deals in resorts. I'm really not here to get into arguments over this though. Normal people--whatever your definition of that is--certainly do travel with large amounts of cash because in many situations and countries it's the easiest way to deal with things. No they don't carry it in their wallets. And many of them are very rich people, if this matters to you.

I'm a college professor at a university ranked in the top ten on US News rankings. I don't appreciate being called "suspicious" because I choose to deal in cash for convenience rather than have to beg banks and others to use my own money. I'm here to ask for practical advice.

I'm not here to argue. Please speak for yourself and if you don't know, which you obviously don't, consider posting in another thread.

I live in Europe. I've never been on a group tour or bought a package. I don't go to resorts. I have, as I have said, traveled between the USA and myriad other countries hundreds of times. I don't feel any further need to justify myself to you. You are nuts.


If you're a college professor at a prestigious U.S. university you should at least have been able to find the right forum to post your question in. YOU are in the wrong thread. Educate yourself about the basics of posting in the right forums. And educate yourself about banking practices that don't require you to turn over a percentage of your own money just to use it abroad. I don't care how your university ranks; it obviously hasn't taught you a thing about being wise about using money abroad.

Please no more lectures from other posters, I'm here to ask practical advice from people who travel and who know if US customs is as abusive as people are saying. Will I have a problem entering with somewhat under the 10K limit, or not? Anyone have experience with this and what I should expect?

I'm a US citizen who's returned to the US three times this year and no one at Customs has ever asked me about carrying money. Or ever in the decades I've been traveling overseas. If you're getting a better rate at an exchange bureau than from your bank, you really ought to change banks.

No one can predict what will happen when you return home and clear Customs so I doubt you'll be happy with anyone's answers. Good luck to you.

Guyanantigua, I have never been asked how much money I have with me upon entering the US. I travel to Asia and Europe at least four times a year. I find the agents to be kind and helpful not aggressive at all. It is your business to carry a lot of cash. I hope the place you are staying has a safe.

I have a Capital one account and have had no problems using it and they do not charge a fee for withdrawing money. One of the most valuable information I learned in Fodor is to use my ATM card to get cash. I used to exchange my money locally, the exchange rate is not as good as using your ATM card aboard.

Have a good trip, relax, the border agents are not what you heard. Greet them with a friendly hello and answer their questions politely.

Some questions they have asked in the past:

What did you buy while traveling? You have to list the items you bought.
How long were you traveling?
Did you bring any meat?

See, nothing to it al all.

Sorry, never happened to me.

If the OP's attitude is as argumentative with customs agents as it is here, the experience might not be good.

My suspicion is that from the first time you entered the country with a very large sum of money (and I know it's not my business why you do this but it's close to madness) your name has gone onto a list. Each further time you enter with huge sums of money your name will go further up the list of people to be questioned when entering the country.

If you do something suspicious and insist on continuing to do it (no matter how blond and blue eyed you are or whatever university you went to - all of these are immaterial) you will get more and more attention from Customs. Because they can;t figure out - just like most people here - why you would want to haul this money around, esp in $20 bills - unless you are laundering it or it is the result of illegal activities or is being used for terrorist activities.

So yes, you will continue to be questioned and at some point they may decide that it is so suspicious that someone will be put on to investigate whatever business you are doing.

Why not simply get a normal bank like Capital One with no fees and stop paying 10% of your funds to change cash, besides carrying around a gym bag full of money?

And sorry but I have done more than 100 trips back to JFK and no one has ever asked me about money I was carrying - and usually no questions at all from either Immigration or Customs.

I'd like practical advice from people who do travel with cash and can tell me what to expect. Have you ever had problems carrying under 10K? When you do have over 10K and declare it, do they give you problems?

Here are the rules, straight from U.S. Customs and Border Protection:

help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/195/kw/DECLARING%20CURRENCY%20WHEN%20LEAVING%20US/session/L3RpbWUvMTQ3MTIyNDk0NS9zaWQvZVdudHQ1WW0%3D/suggested/

There is no limit on the amount, as long as you properly report over $10,000 per traveling group. Amounts over $10,000 that are not reported are subject to forfeiture.

Happy now?

I'm reminded of the proverb, ' A fool and his money are soon parted,' and it is foolish to carry that much cash. Good Luck.

BTW, if you are a professor at a top ten university in the U.S., why are you bringing money into the country? I don't for a moment believe that line.

Troll?

Well, it is apparent you are not going to get answers either here or on the U.S. forum. You keep asking if any of us travel with large amounts of cash, but I very much doubt you will get responses from any of us because none of us considers this a normal or sensible practice.

The last time I traveled with a large amount of cash was in 1973, when such activity did make a little sense. Today, it makes none at all.

If you insist on doing this you must be prepared to take whatever consequences; from theft by muggers to confiscation by customs.

I find it funny people are talking about exchange bureaus and "10%" commission or whatever. We must travel on different planets.

Here's the story on ATM's vs cash. If you travel, as I suspect many of you do, for a week or two in France or Germany, then indeed it is more convenient to use an ATM. If you travel for longer, for periods of months like I do, and often in countries that are not as developed, then locals welcome dollars. You pay in dollars for apartments that you rent by the month, and there's no 10% or any commission for exchanging to a local currency. In fact you will often get commercial rate or better because locals want dollars, so they're willing to give you an excellent rate (they even take a loss to be able to receive dollars).

The downsides of using ATM's are too many to count, but I listed some of them already. First, your cards do get cloned, and this happend to me twice. It's then a pain to get your money back from the bank. Second, your bank, small or large, may at times block your account even if they know you're abroad. That's happened to me too many times to count. Third, you may get a good exchange rate, but there are often very high fees for each withdrawal: at least $5/withdrawal, and often higher. Given that foreign ATM's often have withdrawal limits that are very strict, you may end up losing quite a bit of money because you have to make multiple withdrawals. There are some banks like Charles Schwab that offer no foreign fees, but the local ATM's often do, and it also happens that the bank itself doesn't honor the no-fee policy. Then you have to fight them. There are many other problems as well--on top of not having the convenience of using cash for the reasons I stated above.

This is my advice for those who do want to travel and have been taken in by the "use ATM" nonsense. In many parts of the world, like Hong Kong, people rely on cash, even for very large transactions. In the USA and West Europe, governments that are broke and also increasingly controlling, want to spread suspicion about cash. (An attitude unfortunately that has been internalized by some posters on this thread. These are the same people who are OK with govt. monitoring your every move as long as "you have nothing to hide." Sorry, but I'm not a sheep.)

It's also possible the posters here are short-term travelers or business travelers and don't understand or care about the advantages I'm talking about, which apply to longer-term travelers. I'd like advice from people who do know and can give practical pointers and tell me what to expect.

I'm also interested in advice from people who are aware of, and don't deny, the abusive nature of US customs. It's not believable that anyone who's returned to the US from abroad hasn't experienced this abuse, no matter how well-off or respectable you look. What I'm doing is perfectly legal, this is my money, legally earned and already taxed. What I don't want is an unprofessional customs agent abusing the law and his authority. There are many examples of their doing this, and I want to know what the risks are.

Jean--no I'm not happy because there is often a discrepancy between the law as it is on paper, and the law as interpreted by an official. I am concerned about abuse of the law by customs officials. You must not be aware of the many examples in the news where they abused their authority.

historytraveler--I left the country with cash and am returning with cash. It's my money that I'm "bringing into the country"; because I left with it.

nukesafe--Your post, again, is just another lecture trying to justify what is essentially legalized theft by customs authorities. Are you unaware of the abuse of "civil forfeiture" laws in America, both by customs and other law enforcement? There are stories of Canadian tourists who are essentially robbed of money under this pretext. It's appalling that you think "confiscation" is justified because someone prefers to use cash. Maybe you would be comfortable living in North Korea, but I consider myself a free citizen.

It really is very simple, guys. If you don't like to travel with cash, fine. But why are you here arguing and yelling at me that I must do the same as you do, and that the government loves me? This is a bit creepy.

Either give practical advice, or consider posting in another thread.

Do they have a psychiatry department at that impressive academic institution? Sounds like time for a dosage adjustment.

Oh, and best to doff your tin foil hat on the CBP queue

There is a duplicate post in the U.S. forum. I am beginning to suspect a troll.

The OP was advised to post in the US Forum, since he/she is asking about US customs.

Please note,
http://ij.org/over-100-editorials-ca...eiture-reform/
This is a serious problem in the US. Over 150 publications have come out against it. Sen. Paul introduced a law against it. Any one of us can be targeted, and not just by customs.

The rules are to stop money laundering. We have the same restrictions about bringing cash into Europe.

WHY ARE YOU FEEDING THIS TROLL?

In fairness to OP if he travels a lot to third world countries then he probably does need to have cash rather than using an ATM. Dollars are welcome in most third world countries after all, and ATMs are thin on the ground.

He posted on the wrong forum. Doesn't make him a troll.

As a European who has visited the US several times I have never been asked about the amount of money I have on me, nor about my ability to pay for my stay in the US.

i>It is in fact more convenient to travel with cash, given the restrictions that banks place on me. In terms of withdrawals, conversion rates and fees <b>(I can get better rates at changing bureaus)</b> and the fact that they've often left me stranded abroad blocking my card even though I told them I was traveling. </i>

LOL

In these days of heightened security you should be questioned. If you flew into or out of Australia with that much cash you would likely be pulled out of the customs line and question for a prolonged length of time. So count yourself lucky that you have only been questioned aggressively. I would have suspicion about somebody allegedly as educated as you say you are doing something so crazy. It has been good for a laugh though.

Cheka15 your second sentence is incorrect . You can bring more than $10k in cash into Australia as long as you declare it.

>>Doesn't make him a troll.<<

He does sound a bit goofy, however.

This sounds very trolly to me. He travels for months on end having taken 10k out of the US, then returns with a similar amount if money. Where does the cost of accommodation and food, every day costs of living get taken from? And therefore where does the extra cash in US dollars come from?

No wonder he gets grilled at customs.

I would think the OP is on a "list" and so will be stopped every time.

Why he wants to travel with so much cash, is up to him, but I have friends who were robbed on a plane so he needs to take great care.

Please note,
http://ij.org/over-100-editorials-ca...eiture-reform/
This is a serious problem in the US. Over 150 publications have come out against it. Sen. Paul introduced a law against it. Any one of us can be targeted, and not just by customs

Watch for the black helicopters.

I ask because I've heard horror stories about US customs seizing cash on the flimsiest pretext

What conspiracy theorists have told you this or is it just "voices".

Very paranoid troll!!!

bil: >>I would think the OP is on a "list"<<

If he isn't, he should be.