DXB Airport Forex limits
 

Hi there,

not really EK, more DXB-related. Is there a limit to the amount of foreign currency one can sell/buy airside in DXB during transit?

I may find myself in a position of having a very large amount of cash INR next month and exchanging them in India appears to be complicated and limited to a certain amount. I'm interested to know about if I could carry the cash to Dubai and exchange there? We're talking several thousand USD worth. Flying onwards to South Africa where it won't be a problems in terms of customs as the duty-free limit is 10k USD.

Yes, I'm sure bank transfer, etc. are better options, and I'm looking into all of that, for now I'd appreciate an on-topic answer as to whether there are limits or restrictions on the quantities one can exchange airside in DXB.

I generally avoid cash currency exchange as it's pretty bad value, so not sure of limitations, the most I've exchange landside in DXB is about 800EUR worth. Thanks for any advice!

EDIT: Looking to buy EUR or USD, and I realise I'll have to exchange INR > AED > USD/EUR and lose twice on the rate that way.

Officially the limit is 100,000 AED in a single cash exchange transaction. Anything higher should be done through a bank. However, most exchange houses will simply structure the transaction to do multiples of 100k to get around this.

cool thanks.. that's fine then, as I'll only be carrying max 25k AED

I think the practical limit will be the availability of USD on demand (assuming I've read your post correctly). 25K AED isn't a great deal of cash ... less than two day's ATM withdrawal limit on my office manager's company card.

A lot of countries restrict foreign currency transactions (such as India, which is why I'm asking this question to begin with). And for anti money laundering purposes etc there may be limits in place, hence why I ask. Especially airside where generally forex carries fewer checks Passport + BP usually) they may wish to restrict transactions to say the equivalent of 1000 or 2000 USD.

I was thinking more about them having 10K USD in the drawer. Sorry I wasn't clearer.

No you were clear, perhaps my response wasn't :D

I understand your point and agree it's a factor, but my concern was less the limitation of them having cash on hand but whether there is a regulatory limit to the transaction size overall (which appears to be 100k AED based on B747)

Most of the airport exchanges are local companies so it may be worth a phone call. There's a list on the airport website: http://www.dubaiairports.ae/while-yo...Money-Exchange . Then find their websites for contact details.

thanks, good idea!

Called Travelex, they said no problem for 6k USD, just need my passport... so question answered. Thanks sharp5flat9 for the suggestion to call, don't know why I hadn't though of that :D

I did wonder whether you'd get a sensible answer on the phone ... ;) But pleased it worked out.