Bringing over 5000usd into Vietnam

VTD back in the early 90's we were doing the same thing. I brought 34K in, declared it, and the only question from customs at TSN was they wanted me to count it out in front of them to make sure the amount was correct before they stamped my card. Did the same thing 4 months later, same procedure, no problems. That was about 20 years ago though.

why do you want to carry so much money, just transfer it, open a USD account here and transfer from the usa, lot easier and safer.

The best way to bring money here by transferring funds by bank to bank. You must have a bank account in Vietnam and transfer money direct from your US bank account. The other way to bring money by western Union or MoneyGram, but it will cost you higher service/commission than a bank.

You can still bring in Budman's cash if you are comfortable, provided that you declare it to custom.  But the fellas are right, bank-to-bank transfer is far safer.  The Vietnamese banking system is far better than when Budman went through it.

Make sure with the Vietnamese bank that you will be allowed to receive your fund in dollars, though.  You don't want to get all of that in VNDs, at their low-ball rate.  Double check this, if you have to.  This happened to me a while back; it was not cool, even in small amount.

I think, the threshold for declaration is 6000 or 7000 USD, there where some changes last year. 5000 is well within limits.
Better make it Bank transfer - pick pockets are a very serious issue. Better safe than sorry.

VungTauDon,

Your best bet is to leave it in the US until you need it and then do a wire transfer from bank to bank like Wild_1 said. With that amount of money you could possibly get hassled on both ends. Here in Vietnam and by Homeland Security in the US.

VungTauDon,

Another thing to remember is if you do a bank to bank transfer over 10K it will get reported to the IRS and by law you have to report any foreign bank account over 10k.

hi Don. I'm interested to know how you got the money over to pay for a house. Looks like my fiance's little house will be seized by the government to make way for new condo/highrise development.

So I might be in the market for buying a house too. Not too confident bringing over a load of cash considering last time at the airport they bluntly told me to bribe them. Heard HSBC is the best way for foreign bank transfers. Can anyone confirm this?

According to the link below, there is no limit and no fee if you declare, but as all things in Vietnamese, one never knows .
Link in Vietnamese
baohaiquan.vn/faq/pages/mang-ngoai-te-khi-nhap-canh.aspx

Be aware that as a rule, bringing in is relatively easy, taking cash out of Vietnam is hell of a job!!!!

Also, you should be aware that bringing 10,000+ USD out of the US requires you declaring it to the US government as well, as mentioned by others above.

cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/august_2009/08142009_3.xml

If you lose that much amount while traveling, forget about travel insurance claim. They will never accept it.

I use HSBC to move money back and forth. You can move money between your accounts in your home country and your accounts in Vietnam free of charge.

If you need to pay for a house you can transfer directly to the sellers acct also. 

If you bring in thru the airport I guess the limit would be whatever your home country allows you to carry. I would declare all money brought into Vietnam so you may have a way to move it out if you want.

Yes, I agree about keeping the funds usd. I made the mistake of transfering my $10,000 to vnd when I transfered it from my HSBC usa account to HSBC vietnam and LOST $200 in only 6months when it came time to use the money for a housing project.

Hi, I wired money to her bank account in Vietnam. It has to be set up to accept USD$, or your national currency where ever you are. Normal bank accounts are set up for Vietnamese people in their own currency, VN Dong.

We bought a small house in the country, and fixed it up. As I understand, foreigners cannot own a property, but maybe there is an exemption if you are married to a Vietnamese. Our house is in Dong Nai, on the road to Vung Tau about 30 minutes from the big Circle turn in Bien Hoa. I currently live in California near San Francisco, but only visit the house about once per year. I will eventually retire there, living in USA and VN throughout the year.

Email me directly if you like: pslemmons@yahoo.com

Good luck,

Paul

khanh44 wrote:

hi Don. I'm interested to know how you got the money over to pay for a house. Looks like my fiance's little house will be seized by the government to make way for new condo/highrise development.

So I might be in the market for buying a house too. Not too confident bringing over a load of cash considering last time at the airport they bluntly told me to bribe them. Heard HSBC is the best way for foreign bank transfers. Can anyone confirm this?

HSBC has a nice network in banking system globally, but they will 'cut' our jugular!

Ken Charma

Hi,

I sent my money via my bank account at Citibank no problem to my wife's USD$ set up account in Vietnam. I do not know why everyone is saying HSBC is the "go to" bank.

Rgds,

Paul

[Moderated: Please post advert in Housing in Vietnam.]

UPDATE
I transferred $20,000 usd from my bank in the US to my wife's account at Vietcombank yesterday with no issues at all. She opened up a usd account and the money was transferred directly dollar for dollar so there were no funky exchange issues. Total cost was $31 ($20 at sending bank and $11 at receiving bank)