My in-laws sold their apartment in Sapporo earlier this year and the proceeds were deposited in my father-in-laws Japanese bank account. They’re in Japan now and have run into some trouble getting the money back to the US. Both my in-laws were Japanese citizens but my father-in-law renounced his Japanese citizenship when he became a US citizen. My mother-in-law is still technically a Japanese citizen (became a US citizen, but didn’t renounce her Japanese citizenship) but since she’s been out of the country for so long she doesn’t have residency. Or so she’s been told.
Father-in-law is being told by the bank if he wants to take the money out (or do anything with the money) he will need to close his account and the bank will give him the balance in cash.
I have no idea how much this is but I’m sure it more than they can transport back to the US.
Any ideas how they can transfer the money back to their accounts in the US? Thanks in advance for any suggestion. I have no idea how to advise them.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/16jfqe0/money_transfers_to_the_us/
3 comments
I would ask / argue for the bank to close the account and transfer the balance via wire.
Worst case there is no limit to how much cash you can bring to the US, you should advise them to have paperwork for the house sale / bank statements to avoid it being seized as meth money, although, even with documentation there is always a certain risk of civil forfeiture and a prolonged court case….
“$10k or equivalent” is the maximum cash per passenger per entry to the US (and leaving Japan with over ¥1M) before filing a declaration. Separate bookings and multiple visits may or may not be worth it.
There has to be an option to wire to an intermediary if his bank cannot offer a direct overseas transfer. Research services like Wise.
By the way your mother in law is not Japanese anymore. Whether she formally renounced or not, she automatically lost citizenship when she took another one after birth.
As far as sending the money back to the US, just have the bank wire it to a US account. Make sure to have the swift code. For small amounts Wise is ok, but I imagine selling a house means there is a substantial amount.
If they really want to, and have all the paperwork, they can carry it in cash as long as they declare it