Importing cash currency: consequences of non-compliance with the rules

How to pass customs control

Customs control is carried out when crossing state borders. This is done twice: when leaving one country and when entering another.

Choose between the green or red corridor. At customs you will see two corridors. If things need to be declared or you decide to do it at your own discretion, go to the red corridor. If there is nothing to declare, go to green. By choosing the green corridor, you automatically confirm that you do not have things that must be declared: this can be checked.

Take what you need. Customs of any country will not find fault with an adequate amount of personal belongings: you can absolutely legally import a suitcase of clothes, a smartphone, a tablet, skis, a guitar or a portable speaker. The main thing is that everything is in volumes for personal use: one phone - no questions asked, for a second brand new iPhone you may have to pay a fee.

Declare your valuables right away. If you take expensive items on vacation, declare them when leaving Russia and entering another country: then on the way back, customs officers will not think that you bought them on a trip and will not impose a duty.

Check your medications before traveling. Carry as much medicine as you need for your trip. In theory, customs may ask for recipes, but in practice this rarely happens. If the medications contain psychotropic, narcotic or potent substances, be sure to take a prescription or a doctor’s certificate confirming that you were actually prescribed them in such quantities. Some medicines may require an import permit. Please note: lists of controlled substances and requirements for their import differ in different countries, so customs officers may be interested in medications and even dietary supplements that we think are completely ordinary.

Find out about restrictions in advance. Art and antiques, weapons, plants and animals are restricted from import and export, meaning you will need additional documents and sometimes permits. Some things are completely prohibited from being transported across borders, for example, certain types of weapons and medicines, fake brands. Before traveling, check what you can and cannot carry with official sources from the country you want to travel with.

How to fill out a customs declaration correctly

If a citizen has not exceeded the norm for exporting currency from Russia, at the airport he passes through the “green corridor” and does not waste time filling out documents or talking with customs officers.

For citizens carrying cash in excess of the limit, there is a “red corridor”. Passengers traveling along it are required to fill out a customs declaration. You can pick up the form at the counter at the passenger check-in point or print it out yourself from the customs service website. If the required papers are not at the counter, contact a customs representative for assistance.

Important! Customs officers may interpret an erroneous passage through the “green” corridor instead of the “red” as a desire to avoid declaration, which will entail the imposition of penalties.

The general requirements for filling out the declaration are as follows:

• information in the document is entered by hand or printed on a computer;
• To fill out the form, Russian or English is used, and with the permission of the customs officer, any other language;
• crossed out boxes in the declaration are taken as a positive answer, uncrossed boxes – as a negative answer;
• for goods, the document is drawn up in two copies, for cash - in one;
• The declaration must be filled out by travelers who have reached the age of 16.

The passenger sequentially fills out the following fields of the declaration form:

• Type of document: a check mark indicates whether the form is filled out when entering or leaving the Russian Federation.
• Information about the declarant. His full name, citizenship, date and place of birth, passport details, visa number are indicated. Citizens of the Customs Union indicate their registration address on its territory, foreigners indicate their future place of stay in the Russian Federation (hotel, hostel, rented apartment, etc.).
• Data on transported cash. Information about all money and traveler's checks that the declarant has with him is indicated here. The total amount and type of currency are indicated.
• Information about the securities being transported: write down the type, number (if any) and date of issue, name of the issuer, quantity, cost.
• Indication whether the declarant is the owner of securities and cash. If not, information about the owner is recorded.
• Information about the source of money from the declarant, for example, salary, dividends, proceeds from the sale of property, social benefits, etc.
• Information about the intended uses of money (current spending, investments, gratuitous assistance to individuals or legal entities, etc.).
• Country of arrival of the declarant and his method of travel (by air, by train, etc.).

The information specified in the document is certified by the handwritten signature of the person filling it out, and the date of submission of the information must be indicated.

Entered information about the travel document:

• In column 1 you will need to indicate whether the traveler is accompanied by minor children. If yes, you need to indicate their number.
• 2 columns: information regarding the method of travel, finances.
• 3 columns: amount and currency of imported money in numbers and words. For example, a person carries 20,000 USD, in this case the currency is the US dollar. Amount in words: twenty thousand; amount in figures: 20,000.
• 4 columns: goods and products subject to declaration, as well as their value in EUR or USD. It is prohibited to indicate prices in other currencies.

Filling out the main form ends with the person’s confirmation that the information in the document is correct. After this, the date of completion and the signature of the traveler are put.

The full procedure for filling out the document is set out on the official website of the customs service. Despite the long instructions, in practice filling out the form takes no more than five minutes, half of which is spent finding a ballpoint pen. The latter, by the way, is recommended to have with you so as not to wait until the customs officer’s writing device is free, and not to spend money on an overpriced purchase in duty-free.

Important! Transit passengers do not fill out the declaration because they do not go through customs control.

Responsibility for refusal to declare

When a citizen walks along the “green corridor”, by his action he confirms that he does not have cash or checks in an amount exceeding the current limits. If it later turns out that this is not the case, administrative liability will be imposed on the passenger.

Penalty measures for violators are provided for in Art. 16.4 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. It states that there are two types of liability possible:

• a fine from one to one and a half times the amount of the undeclared amount;
• confiscation of the object of the administrative violation.

In both cases, legislators mean the amount exceeding the limit of 10 thousand dollars indicated in the customs rules.

If it is revealed that a citizen tried to withdraw an especially large amount of money without declaring it, his actions are regarded by customs officers as smuggling. The crime is punishable under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum preventive measure is imprisonment for a five-year term.

Russian customs regulations

If you live in Russia, you cannot do without knowledge of the customs rules of your country. Check how much you must declare when leaving and how much jamon you can grab on the way home.