Need some advice

[ilovethebeach310 8]

Hey

My fiancé is moving to the states this Friday and has just sold his car for cash. Now it is under the £10,000 declaration figure that you need to make customs aware. But what would you suggest he do? Exchange the money before he goes or bring it with him and exchange it in the states? Do you have any other suggestions? He obviously doesn't have an American bank account and it would cost him money to send it via paypal or through his bank to me.

The exchange rate is poor at the moment as a few weeks ago it was 1.8 and now it's lowered to 1.5

What you do?

[TBoneTX 46,195]

*** Thread moved from K-1 Process forum to the "Moving to the US & Your New Life" forum, as a better place for this query. ***

[JohnR! 5,495]

He must declare if he brings more than USD 10K in cash of financial instruments, not more than GBP 10K...

As to what he should do, he'll get jipped in the exchange rate, no matter if he does it in the UK or stateside. One option, is that he leave the money in his UK bank account and use it to pay off credit card charges made to his UK card while in the US. The exchange rate used by c/c is oftentimes better than those offered by the banks so he could go through the money slowly. He may also inquire and find out if his UK bank has any agreements with US banks which would allow his to use his ATM card in the US without having to pay usage fees, thereby affording him the option to withdraw money as he needs it.

Good luck!

Hey

My fiancé is moving to the states this Friday and has just sold his car for cash. Now it is under the £10,000 declaration figure that you need to make customs aware. But what would you suggest he do? Exchange the money before he goes or bring it with him and exchange it in the states? Do you have any other suggestions? He obviously doesn't have an American bank account and it would cost him money to send it via paypal or through his bank to me.

The exchange rate is poor at the moment as a few weeks ago it was 1.8 and now it's lowered to 1.5

What you do?

[Owen_London 65]

A few things:

- The limit is $10,000, not 10,000 pounds

- It only refers to cash being carried. Banking transfers are automatically reported by the bank or foreign exchange company.

- It's just a simple declaration, and doesn't cost you anything

- Carrying more than $10,000 on your person in a public place, for hours, is, however, a crazy idea

He should just put it in his UK bank account and transfer the money, using an online foreign exchange company (xe.com / transferwise.com etc.) if/when the exhange rate improves.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I agree with everything Owen London said.

[Pheebs1201 269]

I would recommend transferwise, western union or loading it onto a UK post office travel money card (think the max is something like £7,500).

I find the post office card very useful and it's easy to get one.

[agnesb 47]

Barclays and Bank of America have a no withdrawal fee agreement.