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Let's say I need to bring over $10,000 into the US and decide to use cash to save on transfer fees. What would happen at the border when I declare all that cash? Would CBP briefly question me on the source of funds or require some proof to confirm that the funds are from a legal source?

Are there any official guidelines on this matter?

JonathanReez
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    One friend did and it was just a matter of filling out a form but since then has been stopped for question every single time he enters into the US. It's a one-point statistic, so think of it as you wish, but I would not be surprised if this happens often. – Itai Feb 18 '19 at 00:15
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    @R this is a purely hypothetical question, no worries – JonathanReez Feb 18 '19 at 01:57
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    @R.. The requirements on reporting specify "monetary instruments", not just cash. I once did a round the world trip in 1991 with over $USD10k in travelers cheques on me and as such would have had to declare it if I came thorough the US at the time. – Peter M Feb 18 '19 at 02:50
  • If you want to bring lots of cash and save on transfer fees, a cashier's check also works. Depending on whether or not you've endorsed it, you might even be told that you don't need to declare it. – Jay Feb 18 '19 at 04:26
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    This doesn't really directly answer the question, but is more of a frame challenge: Has the hypothetical person asking this question looked into whether their country has bank accounts available that refund ATM fees? This would be far safer than carrying $10,000+ USD by hand into the U.S. (or any other country, for that matter.) For USA residents, Charles Schwab offers free checking accounts that refund ATM fees worldwide, which is incredibly useful while traveling, but I'm not sure how common such accounts are outside of the US. Also, lots of US cards don't charge foreign transaction fees. – reirab Feb 18 '19 at 05:49
  • By the way, I have no relation to Schwab other than being a user of their aformentioned checking accounts. There are probably also other examples; that's just a particularly notable one which happens to be commonly used by frequent travelers. If you sign up through the right link, they will also pay you $100 to open said free account. – reirab Feb 18 '19 at 05:52
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    I haven't looked into it in a while, but some years ago you could purchase American Express traveler's checks, then record serial numbers and shred them. Upon arrival into your destination country, declare them as accidentally destroyed/lost/whatever. Amex (at the time) would simply issue replacement checks for whole amount (unless of course you used any of them). – Aleks G Feb 18 '19 at 12:48
  • @reirab often ATMs have an upper limit on how much you can take on each day which is a lot lower than 10000$. (At least in Europe, no idea how this is in the US.) – Paŭlo Ebermann Feb 18 '19 at 18:03
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    @PaŭloEbermann Yes, that's true. But then most tourists don't need to take out $10,000 cash in a day (or the entire trip for that matter) when visiting the US. Honestly, using a credit/charge card with no foreign transaction fees is the best plan for the vast majority of purposes in the U.S. But, when you do need cash, just getting the amount you need from an ATM is a much better plan than carrying $10,000+ cash around with you. – reirab Feb 18 '19 at 19:47
  • From my experience, even $3000 is "enough suspicious" if customs officers decide to pass you through the baggage inspection process. Be ready for the "carousel interview" where different officers would ask you almost same questions in different order to detect any lie. – Yury Schkatula Feb 19 '19 at 10:55
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    It's remarkable how many folks don't understand this question. JR is asking the interesting question, in practice what happens if you use the form procedure. It's a great question. – Fattie Feb 20 '19 at 14:52
  • Since the question has already been answered, I'd just like to add that it can be pretty tricky to travel with cash (albeit necessary for us frequent travelers). I frequently have a couple of 1000 USD worth in different currencies (the usual 10 to 15 currencies I need) in my bag due to my heavy traveling. Not so much fun if you come from Venezuela when currency spikes all of the sudden make your total worth be over 10k USD upon port of entry. Other than that, if transfering lump sums is your only concern, I highly recommend currencyfair.com. – ikaerom Aug 09 '20 at 15:57

4 Answers4

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I've done this once (doing all the right paperwork up front). They pulled us out for questioning: "where does the money come from" "why do you need this" "what are you planning do to with this", "why do you use cash", etc.

The amount of questioning will depend on how much you fit into any "suspicious" category otherwise. There is plenty of profiling going on there. Fortunately we were "mostly harmless" for everything else (white, middle class, small children it tow, from a "good" country).

You also need to be careful how this looks against your visa status. If you have a non-immigrant Visa or an ESTA, carrying lots of cash can be interpreted as "intent to immigrate", in which case they can turn you around and send you back.

Unfortunately customs and immigration officers in the US have a lot of leeway and discretion and not a lot of rules to keep them grounded. Could be harmless, could be lots of trouble, hard to predict.

Hanky Panky
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Hilmar
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    With regard to your third paragraph: were you entering as a visitor when you declared your cash? – phoog Feb 17 '19 at 21:22
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    Yes. I think I had a B2 at the time. – Hilmar Feb 17 '19 at 23:18
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    This sounds like a fun way to spend my time when I'm rich to be honest. – ESR Feb 19 '19 at 15:53
  • @ESR: no. Not fun at all and I wouldn't do it again. At the time we had our reasons, but "being rich" was not one of them :-) – Hilmar Feb 20 '19 at 13:56
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    This is a dangerous answer because it fails to stress the very real risk that the cash is confiscated without recourse. Anyone in the US is at risk of having larges sums of cash confiscated by the authorities without any of the normal protections of law that citizens of other countries might expect. I wouldn't carry large sums of cash in the US for any reason whatsoever, not just because it might be stolen by thieves, but because it might also be stolen by the police. They need no reason and no evidence of wrongdoing to do this legally. – J... Feb 20 '19 at 14:07
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    @J... I wouldn't say there is no recourse. Assuming you are speaking of civil forfeiture you can fight it. It's just hard costly and there seems to be a decent chance you will lose even if you are in the right. Oh and of course they seize first and you fight later without the benefit of the property. Also they do need "a reason" it can just be really really flimsy. "You know what, that white flake on your carpet looks like it could be cocaine. I'm taking all your money, since it's obviously from drug sales." – DRF Feb 20 '19 at 14:34
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    Just one point, regarding the final sentence. In fact, "customs and immigration officers .. in every country have utterly unlimited and total, completely arbitrary, entirely discressionary, decision power." – Fattie Feb 20 '19 at 14:48
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    @DRF Your own inbuilt disclaimers in that comment only further the point that, while it is true "on paper" that you can contest CAF and that there should be some "reason", in practice, neither of those statements hold true. With CAF it's not just the border agents where your worries end - once you've entered the US with (large sums of) cash you continue to be at peril of it being confiscated, even from something as routine as a traffic stop. In a rented car, your odds of kissing the cash goodbye are even higher. – J... Feb 20 '19 at 16:39
  • $10K is not a lot of cash, it is just a formality. Being humble and honest is important. If they take my Chopard by claiming it is fake I would not be happy, but walking around money is replaceable. ATM's can fail and have withdrawal limits. – mckenzm Feb 21 '19 at 03:43
  • Should also perhaps mention that the police in many U.S states has the right to confiscate your cash. Then YOU have to prove that the cash you held came from legitimate income (in a court of law). Failure to do so will lead to the police department that confiscated it to keep it and to spend it on things they see fit. – dan-klasson Feb 21 '19 at 12:12
  • @mckenzm $10K is a lot of cash if you get thug cops confiscating it for trumped up reasons. – dan-klasson Feb 21 '19 at 12:20
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    Fortunately, the Supreme Court strongly ruled yesterday against civil forfeiture. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/us/politics/civil-asset-forfeiture-supreme-court.html – Ian Feb 21 '19 at 13:50
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You simply fill out a form at the border. See the official CBP page Currency / Monetary Instruments - Duty on money, checks, etc.

Travelers leaving or entering the U.S. are required to report negotiable monetary instruments (i.e. currency or endorsed checks) valued more than $10,000 on a "Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments" FinCEN Form 105. The requirement to report currency on a FinCEN 105 does not apply to imports of gold bullion. You can obtain the form at www.fincen.gov or request one from the CBP Officer if required.

Failure to declare currency in amounts more than $10,000 can result in its seizure.

From Form 105

Travelers carrying currency or other monetary instruments with them shall file FinCEN Form 105 at the time of entry into the United States or at the time of departure from the United States with the Customs officer in charge at any Customs port of entry or departure.

and

PENALTIES: Civil and criminal penalties, including under certain circumstances a fine of not more than $500,000 and Imprisonment of not more than ten years, are provided for failure to file a report, filing a report containing a material omission or misstatement, or filing a false or fraudulent report. In addition, the currency or monetary instrument may be subject to seizure and forfeiture. See 31 U.S.C.5321 and 31 CFR 1010.820; 31 U.S.C. 5322 and 31 CFR 1010.840; 31 U.S.C. 5317 and 31 CFR 1010.830, and U.S.C. 5332.

NOTE that the form itself contains no fields requiring you to justify where the funds were obtained from. However I would expect that declaring the money would trigger some sort of process that flags you as having carried the money across the border. I also expect that whether or not you are questioned more throughly would depend on a lot of things from who you are to where you are coming from.

NOTE also that simply carrying a large sum of currency in the US puts you at risk of Civil Forfeiture by local police departments. There have been many cases of people carrying legitimately obtained funds being stopped by police (for example traffic stop) and having those funds confiscated. You do not even have to be convicted of a crime for this to happen. As such I don't recommend traveling with large sums of cash in the US.

Peter M
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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. – JonathanReez Feb 21 '19 at 00:21
  • "Gold Bullion is not a monetary instrument for purposes of this requirement, but still must be declared upon entry." This is on the CBP website. While the answer here isn't incorrect, I would still emphasize that gold bullion does have to be declared (even if duty isn't required to be paid and it doesn't go on the FinCEN form.) See https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-332?language=en_US – jmort253 Dec 22 '20 at 04:02
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To add onto Peter M's answer (where Civil Asset Forfeiture is mentioned in passing), it should be noted that you have far fewer rights with CBP than you would with police. An Albanian man attempted to fly with $58,100 that wound up seized.

It all began last October, when CBP agents at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport seized $58,100 from Rustem Kazazi, a U.S. citizen, while he was headed to a layover in Newark during a trip back to his native Albania. Rustem, a former Albanian police officer, had worked hard to save up the money with help from his wife, Lejla, and son, Erald, over a dozen years after the family immigrated to Ohio in 2005. Before Rustem could board the plane, CBP agents strip-searched him, interrogated him without a translator and then took his family’s entire life savings, even though they never found anything illegal. They have held the family’s savings for more than seven months, despite never charging anybody with a crime.

Oh, and CBP counted less money than he had on him

Compounding insult and injury, the receipt CBP agents gave Rustem at the time did not note the amount of the seized “U.S. Currency.” CBP later claimed to have taken only $57,330—$770 less than he was actually carrying.

Why did they seize the money? They claim he was involved in drug trafficking

“This is to notify you that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized the property described below at Cleveland, OH on October 24, 2017: $57,330 in U.S. Currency,” the notice states. “Enforcement activity indicates that the currency was involved in a smuggling/drug trafficking/money laundering operation.”

They also accused him of a money laundering crime: structuring. That's where you move money in increments designed to avoid Federal reporting requirements.

In a statement, CBP said that “pursuant to an administrative search of Mr. Kazazi and his bags, TSA agents discovered artfully concealed U.S. currency. Mr. Kazazi provided inconsistent statements regarding the currency, had no verifiable source of income and possessed evidence of structuring activity,” that is, making cash withdrawals of less than $10,000 to avoid reporting requirements.

If I were you, I would not travel with that much cash across the border, declared or otherwise. CBP has immense search power.

Machavity
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  • Did Mr. Kazazi end up with a criminal record though? – JonathanReez Feb 19 '19 at 18:07
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    @JonathanReez I took that part out, but there have been other cases where someone is merely accused of a crime and deported or denied entry. If CBP enters that they seized money from you that they suspect you were laundering, you may be subject to more extensive searches or denied entry (cash or not) – Machavity Feb 19 '19 at 18:11
  • Of course, Mr. Kazazi can't be deported or denied entry, but if he were liable to deportation or denial of entry I suppose he probably would have been subjected to it. – phoog Feb 19 '19 at 18:18
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As a semi pro poker player I travel in and out of the US with cash over 10k frequently over the years, I have never had any issues when declaring the cash.

I have had my papers in order of course where is the money from etc, where in Vegas or AC will I be staying and for how long.

If leaving the US then receipts etc from casinos and so on.

As long as your papers are in order I would say the chance of anything going wrong is minimal.

Matt Douhan
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