Warning - when bringing US cash through US Customs/Immigration

Conchman

Conchman

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There were two incidents last week, where people gave their family members or friends, money to carry through US customs and immigration, and were arrested even though nobody was carrying more than US$10,000 (the maximum allowed to carry without declarization).

In the first case, a Bahamian family of five that was travelling to Uruguay (via Miami) was carrying $50,000 between the five of them and US Customs 'determined' that the four family member were carrying the other monies 'on the father's behalf.' The head of the family was charged with failing to declare over US$10,000 and sat in a Bahamian jail for the weekend.

In the 2nd case, a group of 3 friends were leaving The Bahamas with $30,000 from a poker tournament and it was determined that two of the travelers were carrying money for the other traveler.

Now, both of these incidents took place in The Bahamas, were US customs has a pre-clearance facility, so this policy may be isolated to this particular US customs/immigration station, however, there is no reason to believe that this is a new policy and obvious over-reach, by US customs generally.

So be careful when traveling with cash and giving money to family members/friends.
 
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dropshort

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It is not isolated. It is the way the law reads!

Checks, travelers checks, cash in any currency all count and are counted.

I have check several times. Including asking the US Customs staff who are very helpful folks.

DS
 
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Chip

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I was sent to the "thorough" customs inspections line when I told the agent that I had 500 pesos. When I got to the other agent he asked me if I had a large amount of money and I told him I had 500 pesos and he started laughing. He sent me on my way only to be aggressively stopped by a Hispanic women agent. I told her the guy let me go but she wouldn't believe me. Then the TSA checked my bag for explosives and did it again when I came home. It wouldn't be so bad if maybe they weren't so serious and could crack a smile once in a while. I wonder if these people have never seen a professional seal before, they must all think it's a bomb I suppose.
 
Conchman

Conchman

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dropshort said:
It is not isolated. It is the way the law reads!

Checks, travelers checks, cash in any currency all count and are counted.

I have check several times. Including asking the US Customs staff who are very helpful folks.

DS
Click to expand...

None of the people were carrying more than US$10,000.....so they are applying the law differently than the 'law reads.'
 
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suarezn

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Conchman said:
None of the people were carrying more than US$10,000.....so they are applying the law differently than the 'law reads.'
Click to expand...

No you're NOT correct. The issue is that this is declared in the custom's form which you only fill one out per family. In addition it explicitly says that "If you have someone else carry the currency or monetary instrument you must also file a report. See pic...

sample-us-customs-declaration-form-back.jpg


IMO anyone stupid enough to try to take more than 10k out of the country on themselves and still not declare it deserves to lose that money.
 
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SKY

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My rule of thumb going through US Customs is always go alone, and try to get an older gentlemen. Never go near a lady agent or young guy if you can avoid it.

And I am not carrying more than 10K or taking anything in that I should not have, but I don't need to be subjected to the Nazi style agression they hand out.
 
Conchman

Conchman

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suarezn said:
No you're NOT correct. The issue is that this is declared in the custom's form which you only fill one out per family. In addition it explicitly says that "If you have someone else carry the currency or monetary instrument you must also file a report. See pic...

sample-us-customs-declaration-form-back.jpg



IMO anyone stupid enough to try to take more than 10k out of the country on themselves and still not declare it deserves to lose that money.
Click to expand...

So what you are saying is, everybody should have gone through customs separately and fill out a separate form, in order to comply with the law?
 
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suarezn

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Conchman said:
So what you are saying is, everybody should have gone through customs separately and fill out a separate form, in order to comply with the law?
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No they could have gone together as a family, but they needed to declare ALL the money the WHOLE family was carrying. Just fill out the form. Like they say it's not illegal to carry it, just illegal to carry the money and not declare it. Of course with that amount of cash you'll open yourself up to some serious scrutiny (i.e. How did you get all that cash? Did you pay the corresponding taxes, etc?)

Why not just put it in a bank account and do wire transfers as needed? If you do this be aware you also should NOT have more than 10,000 of pending wire transfers at a time or the same rules apply. I learned that lesson once when I did two wire transfers and my first one had not cleared yet when the second one arrived. Individually they both were less than 10k USD, but together added up to more than 10k USD. Banco Popular withheld my money until I could show proof of how I got that money.
 
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waytogo

waytogo

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suarezn said:
As they both added up to more than 10k USD Banco Popular held my money until I could show proof of how I got that money.
Click to expand...

It's a shame Banco Popular doesn't show us how they get all THEIR money...........

B in Santiago
 
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kimbjorkland

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Good post and good warning that it's important to be able to demonstrate that the cash is yours and not just 'yours'.
 
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william webster

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As stated previously, there is no regulatory objection to carrying the cash - BUT you MUST declare it if it exceeds $10K.
As in wire transfers, they want confirm the origin of the funds.

Anyone who has passed the NEXUS test knows this. They explain the rules VERY clearly in that interview.

BTW, If you are NEXUS , try moving up to GLOBAL TRAVELER.
Iris scans at EWR, PHL YYZ (many more).... jump the line at Immigration:pirate:
 
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suarezn

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william webster said:
BTW, If you are NEXUS , try moving up to GLOBAL TRAVELER.
Iris scans at EWR, PHL YYZ (many more).... jump the line at Immigration:pirate:
Click to expand...

The best 100 USD I've ever spent. Last two times I got into Miami there were huge lines...I just went to the kiosk scanned my info and in about a couple of minutes I was done and gone.
 
SantiagoDR

SantiagoDR

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Another point to take note of:

If you deposit and/or withdraw from a Dominican bank pesos that is equivalent to more than 10,000 U.S. dollars, the teller must fill out a special form advising the government of the action. (The form goes to The Central Bank I believe)


Don
 
Conchman

Conchman

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From my original post:

"In the 2nd case, a group of 3 friends were leaving The Bahamas with $30,000 from a poker tournament and it was determined that two of the travelers were carrying money for the other traveler."

How was the law applied correctly here?
 
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suarezn

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Conchman said:
From my original post:

"In the 2nd case, a group of 3 friends were leaving The Bahamas with $30,000 from a poker tournament and it was determined that two of the travelers were carrying money for the other traveler."

How was the law applied correctly here?
Click to expand...

Did each person fill out their own form?

Again read the form (pic posted above). It clearly states that if anyone is carrying money for another person that money needs to be declared (included) in the total. Either way they would have had it confiscated if they didn't declare it. If each one had exactly 10k and didn't declare it...It would have been confiscated from each one. In addition it would have been pretty obvious someone is carrying money for someone else. The only person who wouldn't have had it taken away is if one of them had less than 10k which means at least one of the other two had more than 10k. It's just plain stupidity if you ask me.
 
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ExtremeR

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10K per family, you cannot give money to family members, it still counts to the total. Now a group of friends that's different carrying split money is different, each one is entitled to US$10,000 on it's own.
 
keepcoming

keepcoming

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I had the experience once and NEVER again. The worst part is once you are detained for questioning for this they will more than likely " red flag " you and I guarantee you that is a big headache. You are subject to questioning every single time you travel in and out of country.
 
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tomas2

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Malibook said:
Just declare the money.
If you are a criminal, tax evader, money smuggler, or just a stupid idiot, I have zero sympathy for you.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. And this type of activity (secretly carrying around wads of cash) is going to continue to get harder and harder to do. Who carries around more than $10k anyway (or 5 members of a family just happen to be carrying just under $10k each)? I know there will be a bunch of posts about legitimate reasons to do this (like poker players, businessmen, etc), but I suspect these are not typical cases. The more likely reason is clearly something else, and that is what they are trying to stop.

And if it is the case, just to be on the safe side (as well as legal), why not declare the money?
 
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