Korean Job Discussion Forums

[azzwell]

so what is this about the ten thousand dollar rule? I went to KB bank, where I have an account to wire cash home and was told that I cannot exceed ten grand US per year, without documentation. As I get paid in cash, the only documentation is my ARC and my Visa, which I showed. I do not get check stubs. What is the rule with this? Am I being jerked? Also, say for example I wire home ten grand and have the stamps in my passport to prove it and as I am leaving through Incheon, I have my severance in my pocket, and extra two grand, will that be confiscated, as it is over the ten grand limit? How strict are out going customs at Incheon, do they activly search or what? Any help on this, I would appreciate.

[snufalufagus]

You can take out as much money as you want leaving Korea, it's the entry into the US (if that's where you are going) that matters. You can take $10,000 US ... you can take MORE than that, but you must DECLARE it to customs. Whatever is stamped isn't used for that limit, it simply must be declared in your passport and why it's stamped in there ... whatever you've wired has nothing to do with your cash-in-hand limit

[VanIslander]

(1) on the plane
I found out by checking the customs and immigration websites before coming to Korea that I could travel back to Canada with a maximum of 10,000 U.S. without declaring it. If you carry more in cash then you have to declare it and perhaps pay taxes or something.

(2) through a bank
I had heard through the less reliable source of word-of-mouth that there's a ten thousand dollars American limit on bank transfers/remittances.

The two restrictions are entirely separate: send $10,000 U.S. through the bank and carry another $10,000 U.S. cash on the plane and you'll still be okay, and won't have been expected to declare or document anything.

It sounds like you'll be fine.

[prosodic]

I've been out of the business for a while (thinking about getting back in), but I know that in the late 90s there was a similar law restricting the exchange of won for dollars. The purpose was to prevent people from taking illegally earned money (i.e., private tutoring money) out of the country. If you have a pay statement from the school, or better yet a record of the earned income that was reported to the tax office, you are allowed to exchange that full amount. My guess is that's the kind of documentation they were talking about. I thought I had heard that this law had been changed.