I am headed to Vietnam in about a month to help a family member rebuild their home. I have read many thread that max I can bring back is $5k usd without having to declare. Some people said you can bring more but you have to declare so I am not sure if the government will tax you on the amount above $5k. Can someone who just traveled to Vietnam in 2014 comment on this?

Since I can only bring back $5k, I was thinking of using my ATM card to withdraw additional money if needed. Can someone who recently withdraw money comment on how much you can withdraw from a foreign ATM bank such as Citi bank or Commonwealth or AZN? I have read contradicting post that in previous year, Citi allow you to withdraw up to 8,000,000 per transaction, but since late 2013, they have limited the withdrawal amount to 2,000,000 per transaction.

The third option is to have a family member wire money to me from the states through some of the Asian market.

Which of these do you recommend? Thank you for your response.