Hi all,
I am travelling to Nepal this month. I want to take some money home like around 8000 dollars. Do you guys know if we are allowed to take that much money with us?

if your atm says.. visa or mastercard discover or amex.. most banks in nepal will accept with a fee less than international money transfer fee from the US. my dad has been doing that for quite sometime.. you can even cash from your cc.

Mamata- yes, you are allowed to take up to 9999 cash legally out of US without any problem. 10K and above you have show them earning source if they ask you before you board. Not sure about in Nepal though, how much is will allowed to bring in. Like Dalli said, I would take most of them as traveler's checks. It is safer and you get better rate in exchange than cash or use money transfer service.

Tauke- I believe Mamta's question is how much cash she is allowed to take not money transfer service...

Do people even read question properly before posting answers here in Sajha? LOL......

In jest...

thanks guys for all your suggestion

I think i might try munch.com this time

i greatly appreciate your suggestions

Thanks
mamta

Good decision by mamta. Though we're allowed to carry upto $9999.00 at USA, I heard that we are allowed to carry only upto US$2000 via plane in Nepal. They can create lots of trouble.

yeah make it safe..

be careful and have a nice journey..

buh bye...

hope so

8000 dollars? woooooooooooo ? are u single mamta? plichhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

There's a sign at Tribhuvan International Airport that amount up to $2000 USD is permitted to be brought in (maybe out too) without any declaration. I hope this helps.

You can open a dollar account in Nepal. You have to show your income (source of the money) and can write a check to deposit. It will take about 5 weeks for the check to clear, than the money is yours to take.
Hope this helps.
-Shiv

Mamata, Hummmmmmmmmmm, gime money here, I will give you my land there, if you have to buy a pice of land.

Here is my understanding:

If you bring more than $2000 with you (cash or TC) you are supposed to declare it at customs. That might be as simple as listing on the back of your arrivals customs form.... i'm not 100% sure.

You are searched much more thoroughly at DEPARTURE than at arrival... if they find more than $2000 on you when you are leaving, and you neither declared it when you arrived, nor have paperwork to show that you changed rupees into dollars at a bank in Kathmandu for your outbound travel... THEN you're in trouble.

I've seen tourists get in trouble at departure security check when the person screening their carry-on found more than $2000 on them (and yes, the security personnel usually do open wallets and document bags), and I've heard of people having their money confiscated at departure!

So... here's my advice:

Choice 1) DO NOT take more than $500 or so in cash. Take the rest in travellers checks. Carry some documentation with you showing your US income source (you may need it at the bank to cash the TC). Carry the TC in some non-obvious place in your carry-on. It won't show up on the arrivals x-ray machine the way smuggled gold would. Most likely no one will find it. If they do, ask where and how to declare it (you're just arriving so you can get away with acting naive etc).

Once you're in KTM... don't cash more than $2000 at any one bank!

$8000 in TC will cost you $8-16 in fees at the bank in the US, and again similar amounts in Nepal.

Choice 2) Use your ATM card in Nepal. That's what I usually do nowadays. Keep in mind the following:
(a) You can withdraw at most $500 at a time, and it will cost you $1-2 in transaction fees... so a total of $16-32 for $8000. I've not been charged fees by the bank in Kathmandu and my bank in the US only charges $1 per transaction.
(b) You can usually only access your primary checking account from the machines in Nepal, so make sure your money is in that account, and not in some linked savings account or something.
(c) Visit Kathmandu ATMs at a safe time and place, taking someone with you, and having a car/taxi waiting to take you home with the cash. You don't want to risk having a pickpocket follow you from the ATM into a crowded bazaar.

Choice 3) Before you leave the US, go talk to your bank's branch manager, and fill out a form permitting the bank to initiate a wire transfer upon receiving a faxed request from you.
Take $2000 with you in TC, along with a letter from your employer describing the nature and amount of your income. Go to a bank in KTM, and open a dollar account. Ask them what info is needed for a wire transfer (swift code etc.). Then fax your bank in the US to send you the remaining money. The wiretransfer from the bank in the US might cost around $35 per time (independent of the amount of the transfer); usually it takes only 1-3 days to arrive in KTM. Also keep in mind that you will need to maintain a minimum balance on that account, so you may need to get $8500 or even $9000 from the US to Nepal to have $8000 available right away.

So, choice 3 is costlier, and more hassle, but you'll have an account in Nepal set and ready to receive future wiretransfers.

If you have more specific questions feel free to e-mail me through sajha.

Araniko, What do you suggest to people who want to open rupees account in Citi Bank?
I heard it is pretty easy........ Is there any bank in Nepal so we can open account and use ATM world wide?

Hi Thaha. Unfortunately I don't know the answer to your questions.

Arnico!
do you travel to nepal a lot? have you tried all these methods that you are talking about?

No account? no problem... You can wire the money to my account... It's safe and I'm guaranteed to receive it... ;-)

wow!!!!!!!! good idea echoessssssssssssssssssssss..

I think sending money through www.money.muncha.com would much practical and safer way to bring money to nepal

The best is to take Mastercard..
Works in any ATM Machine. Nabil, Himalaya, Chartered

If you have a Mastercard from RBS it costs you 10$ as service charge for 5000$.
This is the cheapest, I found.

Cash is risky. They look through your pocket in KTM airport.
If you have bad luck half of the money will be gone.
Because you have to declare it before they check.
Anything they find later is illegel.

Do you get $ or Rs. while using Check card, Master card or Visa in ATM back in Nepal?

Just out of curiosity.

They give you NRS.My bank charges $ 3.50 each time I use my credit/debit card here and the limit in Standard Chartered Bank is 50,000 NRS.

its better to go to WALMART and ask them for the money gram, if u send through money gram within 1 hr ur family can take out the money from the agent in nepal. Only the thing is ur family back there in nepal have to show the ID while withdrawing money