Tranfering money from a VND account into an off-shore USD account

Friday, April 02, 2010 (GMT+7)

Question: Are there any banks in Hanoi that do allow people to transfer money from their VND account to a USD account in America, or the UK, or any foreign nation?

A person has a nickname MapleLeaf asks: I was in ANZ bank yesterday, and they told me that NO BANK in Vietnam will allow its customers to transfer money from a VND account into an overseas USD account.

The person I spoke with made some ridiculous claim that "banks lose money when they transfer USD to an overseas account." (Considering the fee they charge for processing a bank transfer, and then the excessively high rate they sell USD at, I can only assume what she meant to say was, "We make more money taking the USD that we buy from customers and selling it on the black market than we do selling it back to customers, so we just sell it on the black market).

So my question is: Are there any banks in Hanoi that do allow people to transfer money from their VND account to a USD account in America, or the UK, or any foreign nation?

Answer: The person you spoke with at ANZ is correct concerning transferring VND out of Vietnam. VND is a "non-convertable" currency outside of the borders of Vietnam (I.e. It is as worthless as monopoly money-nobody recognizes it as a "currency".

You may buy dollars as you leave--up to $5000-7000 depending on the regulations in force at the time of your departure, and you must show a plane ticket.

<NickinNam >

Answer: If you want to transfer money (in cash, less than USD7,000) to an overseas account, you should go to ACB bank ( Vietnamese bank ) and show them your passport, visa and ARRIVAL - DEPARTURE DECLARATION ( the white paper which you got at a Vietnamese airport / border ). If you have money in VND, you have to change it to USD at ACB bank, then have the amount tranfered. If you have USD in cash, that is fine, you only pay transfer fee. They will record the money you sent on the Arrival - Departure Declaration.

<Louis> 

Source: Newhanoian