People often keep foreign currency in their possession for several different reasons, and that can lead to wondering, “how long can I keep foreign currency?”. The answer, plain and simple, is – as long as you want or need to. There is little to no authority restricting the time frame behind owning any foreign currency in the United States, unlike in other countries of the world, such as India. That goes for individuals as much as businesses.
Travelling
One of the main reasons people tend to ask this question is that after travelling, both for work and leisure purposes, it’s common to return home with a foreign currency. When said individual returns home, it’s only natural to question what should be done with that currency and ensure they’re following any legal requirements that are in place.
While a few people may choose to hold onto their foreign currency after the traveling ends, most will quickly exchange it back into their native, local currency.
There are frequently multiple places an individual can exchange their foreign currency at any point during their travels, even after returning home. Most airports have multiple currency exchange counters, as do some large shopping malls, and hotels. Banks may also offer currency exchange, but which currencies are available is often different for each bank.
Some people do decide to hold onto their foreign currency and save it for later use. It can be a great way to save money for future trips since the foreign currency is almost never accepted as a means of payment domestically. Having this currency already set aside can be emotionally motivating to save up the additional funds needed for a future holiday.
Trading
On top of foreign currency being used as cash, others asking this question may be doing more so in relation to trading, specifically forex trading, as it is commonly called. Forex trading can take place both as real-time trades and as future trades, at which point people are essentially buying and selling currency in relation to how that currency is performing or is expected to perform, depending on that currency’s strength in relation to the rest of the world.
For context, when a country has a successful economic year, or the opposite, suffers an international disaster, especially politically (as can be seen with Brexit), the currency is often the first thing impacted. People buy and sell currency with such events in mind, and therefore need to understand how best to deal with the currency.
The way an individual does this depends on the trading account that is used to buy and sell the currency, as there are numerous ways to trade on the Forex market. However, from a legal perspective, the same point remains – individuals are entitled to hold onto their money for as long as they wish, be it foreign or domestic currency.
Summary
Within the USA, a citizen can freely keep a foreign currency for any length of time, at least from a legal standpoint. The real question one must ask themselves is what is the purpose for holding a foreign currency in the long term? It may be as a means of saving for a future holiday, due to being a cash-based trader, for investment purposes, or as a hedge against an unstable currency.If you want to learn about digital ways of holding a foreign currency safely, while earning a high yield return, click here.
Content Disclaimer:
As of the date of publication, the information contained on this page is deemed to be factually accurate for all terms of conditions, features, and fees. Changes made to Cashero’s terms of conditions, features, or fees after the publication of this content may not be accounted for.
App Disclaimer:
The Cashero App is now available for download in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, though not all features are currently functional. Cashero has not yet officially launched.
