Cash limit at Dhaka airport — when must I declare?
You may carry up to USD 10,000 or equivalent without declaring it. Above that you must declare on the FMJ form — declaring is free, not declaring is the offence.
Carrying cash into Bangladesh is legal. Not declaring cash above the threshold is the offence — and it is the one that most often turns a routine arrival into a long afternoon.
The short answer
- Up to USD 10,000 (or the equivalent in any currency): no declaration needed.
- Above USD 10,000: you must declare it, on the FMJ form.
- Declaring costs you nothing. There is no duty on declared cash. The form is a record, not a charge.
The threshold is a total, not a per-currency figure
The limit applies to the equivalent value of everything you are carrying, not to each currency separately. USD 6,000 plus GBP 4,000 is well over the threshold even though neither figure alone reaches it.
Convert everything to a USD equivalent before you decide. If you are close to the line, declare. Being slightly under and wrong is far more expensive than being over and declared.
What the FMJ form is
The FMJ is the currency declaration form used at arrival. You complete it at the airport, and it establishes on the record what you brought in.
That record matters on the way out as well: it is your evidence for the currency you are carrying if you are questioned when you leave. Travellers who declare on arrival and keep the paperwork have a much easier departure.
Common mistakes
- Splitting cash across the family to stay under the limit. This reads as structuring, and it is the single fastest way to escalate a green-channel arrival into a search.
- Counting only notes. Other bearer instruments can count toward the threshold. If you are carrying anything other than banknotes, ask.
- Assuming a card balance counts. It does not — this rule is about physical currency you are carrying.
Which channel do I use?
- Under the threshold, nothing else to declare: green channel.
- Over the threshold: red channel, and complete the FMJ form.
Related
What we could not verify
The exact list of bearer instruments that count toward the threshold alongside banknotes. Where you are carrying anything unusual, ask at the desk rather than relying on this page.
Sources
- Bangladesh Bank / NBR currency declaration rules — FMJ form
- Baggage (Import) Rules, NBR
Re-checked every June budget cycle.