Are there legal requirements for transiting in Heathrow with €10,000 cash?

Posted by upupupdo@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 9 comments

Old schools in-laws will be passing €10,000 cash as gift to daughter who will be flying from Madrid with BA, via Heathrow, to North America. Are there any legal requirements on holding that amount of cash while transiting in Heathrow?

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9 Comments

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FatBloke4@reddit

It would be sensible to carry documentation that shows the source of the cash (for all of the airports they will be using /borders they will be crossing). And they should expect to be asked why they are carrying so much cash (instead of using bank transfer) and what the money is for.

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Imaginary__Bar@reddit

No. It has to be proactively declared. If it's not declared and is discovered then it can be seized. "If you do not declare cash that you should have, all the cash you are carrying can be seized by a Border Force officer. You may have to pay a penalty of up to £5,000 to get it back. This can be taken from the cash before the rest is returned."

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Coconutpieplates@reddit

You would have to declare 10,000 pounds but not 10,000 euros because that's less than the £10,000 limit. Do remember though it's £10,000 total across the currencies that you are carrying in cash all totaled together. There's no problem though, you just show the source of funds.

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mij8907@reddit

Amounts over £10,000 must be declared at the airport, amount of over £1,000 that come to the attention of customs maybe investigated Your in laws should be prepared to be able to explain where the money came from and carry proof of that, in case they are asked about as failure to be able to prove the funds are legitimate might mean the cash is confiscated

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treemonkey58@reddit

Used to work at an airport and I'm pretty sure you were able (at the time) to carry up to £10k cash and change it for other currencies at the bureau de exchange. Can't imagine it'll be an issue.

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IpromithiusI@reddit

Expect to be stopped and have relevant evenidence of source of funds - it's within the limit but any large cash amounts will draw attention - why not just bank transfer it?

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SirLoinThatSaysNi@reddit

https://www.gov.uk/bringing-cash-into-uk > If you’re travelling as a family or group with more than £10,000 in total (even if individuals are carrying less than that) you still need to make a declaration. Assuming you actually meant EURO then you'll be OK, that's about £9k so under the declaration limit.

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jeremyascot@reddit

10k GBP yes

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Imaginary__Bar@reddit

Generally the rules are that you have to declare any amount of 10,000 or more being exported or imported. And that 10,000 refers to EUR or USD or GBP, as appropriate to the location. (Eg, taking £9,000 out of the UK doesn't need to be reported but taking the same amount into the US does.) But... for your particular case it depends where the transfer is happening. If your daughter is entering the UK (passing through customs, meeting the in-laws, then re-entering departures) then yes, she has to declare it. If your in-laws are entering the airport (through security, etc) and then giving her the money then she (not they) will probably also have to declare it. (That bit is more hazy - imports are easier to determine who is liable...) Either way, she will also have to declare it when she enters the US. It's no problem to transport the cash (as long as it can be explained) so my advice would be for your daughter to declare it in London and also at her destination. https://www.gov.uk/bringing-cash-into-uk (FWIW I have had to do this once and it was no issue at all. Answer a few questions, "what's it for, where's it from, why can't you transfer electronically?" and you're on your way.) The danger is if it isn't declared... then it can be confiscated if it's found. So it's much better to declare it.