Vietnam sets a VND 400m declaration level for negotiable instruments

An individual entering or leaving Vietnam must declare negotiable instruments above VND 400 million, a level stated in State Bank Circular 27/2025; cash has its own line, USD 5,000 or VND 15 million. Declaring nothing, or the wrong sum, is fined up to VND 50 million under Decree 169/2026. Other texts penalise carrying money across the border contrary to law: confiscation under a banking decree and, from VND 100 million, a Penal Code offence.

The laws leave the levels to the State Bank

Article 9 of the Ordinance on Foreign Exchange, as replaced in 2013 and in force since 1 January 2014, requires an individual, resident or not, who enters with cash foreign currency, cash dong or gold above a State Bank level to declare it to the customs at the border gate. An individual who leaves above that level must also present the papers the State Bank prescribes.

The Customs Law says the same in Article 55 and adds negotiable instruments, precious metals and precious stones. Its consolidated text of 28 September 2026 is still Law 54/2014 as amended, most recently by Law 11/2026 (in force from 1 March 2027), and carries no amendment note on Article 55.

Where the lines sit

Circular 15/2011 covers an individual crossing an international border gate on a passport or equivalent document; crossing on a border pass falls under separate rules. Gold has its own line, covered in a separate article.

Payment instruments and valuable papers such as travellers’ cheques, bank cards, savings books and securities are outside the cash levels (Circular 15/2011, Article 2(3)). No separate rule for prepaid or other cards appeared in the texts read.

Circular 27, in force since 1 November 2025, sets the level for negotiable instruments. The Law on Negotiable Instruments lists bills of exchange, promissory notes and cheques among them and does not mention travellers’ cheques; the texts read do not say whether a travellers’ cheque is declarable at the VND 400 million level or not at all.

Leaving: what customs asks to see

Cash above the level can leave only with a licensed bank’s confirmation or the State Bank’s written approval (Circular 15/2011, Article 3(1)). The exception is cash that does not exceed the amount declared on the most recent entry: it may leave on the customs-confirmed entry declaration, for the next exit within 12 months of its date (Article 3(2)).

The bank sets its own list of documents and has 3 working days from a valid file to issue the confirmation or answer in writing. The State Bank rules on other cases according to their circumstances and necessity.

Since Circular 20/2022, banks issue the confirmation for the purposes in Article 7(1) to (3) of Decree 70/2014. Paragraph 1 covers resident organisations; paragraph 2, resident Vietnamese citizens, for listed purposes that include settlement abroad and inheritance transfers; paragraph 3, non-residents and resident foreigners who hold foreign currency or lawful foreign-currency income, or may buy foreign currency with lawful dong income.

For silver, platinum and stones, Circular 27 asks for a licensed dealer’s invoice or other proof of lawful origin, as originals or certified copies, translated and certified if foreign. Article 11(4) specifies no document for negotiable instruments.

Entering: the declaration is also a record

Cash above the level, and negotiable instruments, silver, platinum or gemstones above VND 400 million, must be declared on entry. A person with USD 5,000 or less who wants to pay cash into his own foreign-currency payment account must declare too, and the confirmed declaration is valid for that deposit for 60 days (Circular 15/2011, Articles 2(2) and 4).

What a breach costs

Decree 169/2026/NĐ-CP replaced the 2020 customs-penalty decree on 1 July 2026. Its Article 11 fines an individual by the value of the excess over what need not be declared (fines in million dong):

The top bands apply where the case is not prosecuted as a crime. The specific sum starts at the midpoint of the band and moves with mitigating or aggravating circumstances, and the limitation period is 2 years.

An entrant who declared more cash or gold than he carried is fined VND 2–5 million for a difference of 5 to under 20 million, 5–15 million for 20 to under 100 million, and 15–25 million from 100 million.

Article 14 separately fines unlawfully transporting goods, cash, gold, metals and stones across the border, with confiscation of the exhibit. Its organisation bands halve for an individual, from VND 2.5–5 million where the value is under 30 million to VND 30–40 million from 100 million.

No confiscation is named in Article 11, and the decree does not say whether an undeclared sum is dealt with under Article 11 or Article 14.

Decree 340/2025/NĐ-CP, a banking-penalty decree in force since 9 February 2026, fines carrying foreign currency or dong out of or into Vietnam contrary to law at VND 30–50 million for an individual, with confiscation of the currency (Article 27(4)(h) and (10)(a)).

Failing to declare is left to the customs decree (Article 27(9)), and Decree 340 gives no further definition of the conduct it fines.

The Penal Code punishes unlawfully transporting goods, Vietnamese dong, foreign currency, precious metals or gemstones across the border once the value reaches VND 100 million (Article 189). Negotiable instruments are not among the items it lists.

Below that value it applies where the person already has an administrative penalty for the same or a related offence, or a conviction not yet expunged. The penalty is a fine of VND 20–200 million, non-custodial reform of up to 2 years, or 3 months to 2 years in prison.

Higher tiers start at VND 300 million, or in other aggravated cases (a fine of VND 200 million to 1 billion, or 2 to 5 years in prison), and at VND 500 million (a fine of VND 1–3 billion, or 5 to 10 years).

Circular 15/2011 says a breach is handled administratively or criminally according to its nature and degree (Article 6). No text read says where an undeclared sum falls.

Who is touched

• For a Vietnamese citizen leaving to settle abroad with cash, the bank confirmation turns on the bank accepting the purpose and the amount; Decree 70/2014 lists settlement abroad as a purpose. How a settlement transfer is sized is covered in another article.
• Cheques and bills of exchange carried for a purchase abroad, or into Vietnam, are declarable above VND 400 million, and Circular 27 names no document to show on exit; whether the payment itself is allowed is a question for other rules.
• Foreign nationals leaving with money received in Vietnam may carry out foreign currency from accounts or lawful foreign-currency income, or buy it with lawful dong income (Decree 70/2014, Article 7(3)). Above the line the routes are the bank confirmation or, for cash brought in, the entry declaration.

Status at 5 November 2026

What this article has not established

Customs Law Article 55 and Decree 169 Article 11(5) apply to sums exceeding the State Bank level. Circular 27 states the level without saying whether the duty begins at or above it, and Thời báo Tài chính Việt Nam reported it as applying from VND 400 million.

Circular 09/2023, which Circular 27 replaced in full, was not read, so whether the VND 400 million level is new in 2025 was not established. Nor was it established whether the levels for instruments and for metals and stones are tested separately or added together. The Law on Negotiable Instruments was read for its list of instruments; later amendments were not checked.

No text read says whether an undeclared sum falls under Decree 169 Article 11, which fines failing to declare, or under Decree 169 Article 14 or Penal Code Article 189, which punish unlawful transport.

The Ministry of Justice’s national legal database lists Circular 27 as partly expired through Resolution 66.23/2026/NQ-CP, valid from 24 July 2026 to the end of February 2027. Its Official Gazette PDF is an image and could not be read in full; a summary by Tạp chí điện tử Luật sư Việt Nam describes changes to beneficial-owner and customer-identification rules and mentions no border rule.

Search results pointed to a State Bank workshop on 12 August 2026 about a draft amending Circular 27; the draft was not read.

No text was read on the passenger declaration form and procedure, the conversion of foreign-currency amounts at the gate, the Anti-Money-Laundering Law article behind Circular 27 Article 11, the Ordinance’s own status page or a 2026 draft amending the Penal Code.

Vietnam Customs’ guidance pages did not load, and nothing here rests on them. Public searches found no draft changing the cash levels; unpublished State Bank proposals cannot be excluded.