[charliemom]

Hi,
I'm waiting on my loi for kaz and my agency just told me that I have to take about $15 grand (US) taped to my body. They say that they don't accept credit cards, wires are unsafe and they don't take certified checks. I'm travelling alone and feel very insecure travelling with that much cash taped to me. I was wondering how many others have experienced this issue. My agency acts like I'm just being a baby cuz hundreds of others have had to do it. She also says the bills have to be uncirculated, straight from the mint. Any suggestions or recommendations would be fantastic!! This process has taken over 2.5 yrs cuz my first agency was indicted for fraud and child trafficing and I lost 12,000 from that. I know I'm a little hypersensitive now so I just wanted some positive information from people. Thanks!!

[mlb]

We did take $13,000 with us in cash and it is not the most comfortable feeling. Unfortunately they are a cash society, and clean $100 bills are necessary. We bought a neck strap money belt as well as one for our midsection. That way we put our passports in the neck strap and only as much money as we would need daily so we wouldn't show off the rest of it. It is nerve wracking, but I never felt unsafe. Good luck!

[amyfk]

HI,

I didnt adopt from Kaz, I adopted from Russia. And same thing, my agency didnt wire money over there.
The only good thing was that I traveled with my husband, so we split the cash down the middle to wear on both of us. We knew another couple on our flight was going to be traveling with us, but we didnt want to make ourselves known, we hung to ourselves in the airport and on the plane. We also didnt take a stroller with us so folks wouldnt know we were adoptive parents.
If you can go with a family member, it would be good. You can also split that big amount of cash between two of you(unfortunately now its' so costly to fly, but I felt more secure going with my dh in those circumstances).
Best to you,
Amy K, NJ

[1999kazmom]

It is more like thousands have done it. You will be surprised at how little room crisp new $100 bills take up. As others have said, use some version of a money belt to put most of the money in, keeping only a little bit of spending cash handy. I highly recommend buying and trying out different versions - neck pouch, hand on belt, etc. - to see what is more comfortable. You can find them at Target, Walmart, department stores and many places online.

Another thing that I did was to get bill envelopes like they give out at the bank. I separated out the money based upon purpose and when I was going to need it, wrote the amount on the envelope, and sealed it. You can then put these in a snack-sized zip lock bag to keep them dry before putting them in the money belt.

To get new money, go talk to someone at your bank now. People have varying degrees of luck getting new bills, and you may need to look at other banks to get them. Banks are supposed to be able to order new bills especially for adoptive parents, but they do not always know this or are willing to do it. And yes, they do need to be new (big heads) with no folds or marks of any kind. The people in Kazakhstan, and pretty much anywhere, are paranoid about counterfeit money.

[JenniferKaz]

Everything 1999KazMommy said was good advice....especially about the snack bags. We have wait belts, and that kept the moeny free from sweat.

We talk to our bank months before we travelled to find out the process for fresh money. They said we could request new money in their weekly delivery from the Fed, which turned out perfect. The bills very freash, crisp and no question about if they woudl be accepted.

We took mostly $100's, and maybe $200 in a mix of $20's and $10s. We paid our translator and driver weekly in USD and it was never an even $100.

[hml1976]

Don't worry about it On our second adoption trip we became friends with an American oil guy who often works in Kaz. He was opening a new office and said he and his coworkers took hundreds of thousands in cash over...its just the way the system works.

[abjbadopt]

We had to do it too. It is how it works over there. We had to call dozens of banks 2 days before we left to find new bills -our agency never told us they had to be new we found out on this forum! It is better to have all new than just good looking bills, they take up less space and won't be a problem for payment/exchange.

We took out our cash and counted it in the airport right before going through customs!! There were about 50 people around us, talk about nerve racking! We thought we had to have an exact amount for customs but they didn't even ask us how much money we were bringing in to the country. Just to be safe I would count the money (in plane bathroom)before getting to Kaz just to be safe.

We had no problems at all though and spent much less than the 11,000 we brought over. We also used money belts/pouches from an online travel store.

[charliemom]

Thank you everyone for your advice! It makes me feel much better about the whole situation. Knowing you all came back alive is very comforting. Thanks for taking the time to help me out!!

[DET62]

I see you've gotten lots of good advice. Remember, once you get there, most or all of it gets turned over to your coordinator, so it's just the journey over where it's really uncomfortable. t's a cash socity, though.

My hotel allowed me to pay with a credit card. Also some souvenir shops allow it, and places that cater to Americans in the larger cities. There are also places where you can give them your passport and a credit card and get a cash advance. Take a credit card just in case. Call the card company before you travel, so they won't freak out when they see it used in Kaz.

Good luck!
Dee