Advertisements
Our adoption agency is recommending that we DO NOT declare the $20K or so of cash that we need to bring to the country. Has anyone traveled recently that can comment on this? Is this considered "illegal" and if so, what are the consequences? Frankly, we'd rather not declare the cash and risk a shakedown by a corrupt customs agent, but also don't want to end up in prison! Please advise if you've been through the process. Thanks!
Like
Share
Advertisements
We didn't declare our cash for either of our adoptions. Our agency recommended that we did but I grew up overseas and have been through a lot of customs lines in my life and figured it was just as easy not to. One thing to remember if you're concerned about cash, the oil companies bring in loads of US cash to "do business" with so the relatively small amount you're bringing in isn't that big a deal to them.perkinbaby2 - I'm sorry you got scared but you did nothing wrong, $45 is WELL below the limit you have to declare.
We did not declare out cash. I think there was a limit and if each person was below that you did not need to decalre. We split the money up evenly and were under the limit. If your spouse returns home, make sure you don't have too much money and might be returning home with $$$ over the limit for 1 person.
Advertisements
The limit is $3000.00 to avoid declaring. If you are worried about it you can take less than $3000 and wire the rest to yourself. There are Western Union offices all over the place. If you are headed to a smaller region you can arrange to pick up the money in Almaty. Just make sure that you don't leave with more money than you arrived with.
When I went through Almaty in late November, we were given a declaration form on the plane, similar to one our agency had provided. However, the official who processed me did not even look at it and handed it right back to me; on my second trip in January, I was not provided a form, nor was one requested.