Best way to bring money to US

[TheFoxxy 76]

My fiancee has saved up quite a bit of money to bring with her in a couple weeks. We had talked about using money gram to bring it over. We just wanted to see if anyone else had a better idea, the money grams fee isnt atrocious but if there is a way to avoid it then of course we would rather take that route.

Thanks in advance

[Pinkrlion 2,724]

There is only a certain amount you can carry on the airplane. What about bank to bank wire transfer?

Edited July 14, 2014 by Pinkrlion

[VFittipaldi 30]

My fiancee has saved up quite a bit of money to bring with her in a couple weeks. We had talked about using money gram to bring it over. We just wanted to see if anyone else had a better idea, the money grams fee isnt atrocious but if there is a way to avoid it then of course we would rather take that route.

Thanks in advance

I believe that money gram only allows you to send $7400 or so at a time( I might be wrong on that). If that is true than it makes no sens to pay the fee because over the border you can bring $9999 without even having to tell anyone at all. If she has more than that money gram could be a way to go.

[aaron2020 11,651]

There is only a certain amount you can carry on the airplane. What about bank to bank wire transfer?

Incorrect.

There is no limit for how much money can be brought in on a plane into the US.

The rule is that you must declare any amount over $10,000 being brought into the US.

Edited July 15, 2014 by aaron2020

[JIJourney 96]

Best way to bring money to the US is to put it in your wallet and into your pocket and walk onto the plane until it flies to the USA and walk off. That is the best way to bring money to the US.

[TheFoxxy 76]

Thanks guys, we will just be converting rubles to dollars and having her fly it over.

[CowBoE 429]

Thanks guys, we will just be converting rubles to dollars and having her fly it over.

Since this is money earned from overseas, I would assume there is no tax consequence on US side on this money?

[TheFoxxy 76]

Since this is money earned from overseas, I would assume there is no tax consequence on US side on this money?

I have no idea but i am going to assume no, since she isn't bringing more than 10k and she wont be declaring it.

Just going to have her convert to US dollars and bring it over on her person and then we will open a bank account once she has her SS#.

Edited July 15, 2014 by TheFoxxy

[aaron2020 11,651]

Since this is money earned from overseas, I would assume there is no tax consequence on US side on this money?

There is no US taxes on bringing money into the US. We like people bringing in money to help out our economy.

The $10,000 declaration is simply to prevent illegal activities such as money smuggling and laundering.

[Texasav8r 183]

There is no US taxes on bringing money into the US. We like people bringing in money to help out our economy.

The $10,000 declaration is simply to prevent illegal activities such as money smuggling and laundering.

You need to declare any amount over $3,000.00 when leaving Russia. There is no tax on the money in the US as it was earned by a non citizen in a foreign country. The tax burden is Russia's. There is a limit as to how much can leave Russia but it is much higher than what you stated she will be bringing so no worries.

Play it safe and declare the cash over 3000.00 (in writing) as you may run into a customs officer having a bad day and they can confiscate any amount over that if you failed to declare it.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Texasav8r

[TheFoxxy 76]

You need to declare any amount over $3,000.00 when leaving Russia. There is no tax on the money in the US as it was earned by a non citizen in a foreign country. The tax burden is Russia's. There is a limit as to how much can leave Russia but it is much higher than what you stated she will be bringing so no worries.

Play it safe and declare the cash over 3000.00 (in writing) as you may run into a customs officer having a bad day and they can confiscate any amount over that if you failed to declare it.

Thanks for the advice, she will be bringing about 7k over so we would hate to lose 4 for not declaring!

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

Thanks for the advice, she will be bringing about 7k over so we would hate to lose 4 for not declaring!

Have you considered travelers checks like American Express? There're also some fees to purchase but as I remember they're pretty small (I got some in Sberbank in Russia once), and she doesn't have to worry about money being accidentally lost or stolen. You can depost these checks to the US bank account with no fees. Remember that you have to treat Amex checks as cash, so they still need to be declared.

[BastillaShan 30]

I didn't realize my wife was doing it at the time, but she strapped $8500 into money belts and traveled from Barnaul with a day's stay over in Moscow. I would have been absolutely paranoid if I'd known it but she did good.

[TheFoxxy 76]

Have you considered travelers checks like American Express? There're also some fees to purchase but as I remember they're pretty small (I got some in Sberbank in Russia once), and she doesn't have to worry about money being accidentally lost or stolen. You can depost these checks to the US bank account with no fees. Remember that you have to treat Amex checks as cash, so they still need to be declared.

I will mention it to her, She will probably just get cash and bring it on her person. Seems like the easiest way really.