Cash at the border · European Commission and GOV.UK · checked on 7 November 2026
Do you have to declare cash between Romania and Great Britain?
A direct flight between Romania, a European Union member state, and Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) crosses two controls written differently. At the EU external border the threshold is EUR 10,000 for each person separately; at the British border it is GBP 10,000 for the whole family or group. The same family can therefore owe a declaration on one side only.
The two borders, kept apart
Example: a family of two carrying GBP 6,000 each
In the European Union no traveller reaches the threshold alone; in Great Britain the group reaches it together.
With at most a EUR 7,000 equivalent on one person, the European EUR 10,000 per-person threshold is not reached. With GBP 12,000 in the group total, the British GBP 10,000 threshold is reached, so the British declaration is made, at the earliest 72 hours before travelling.
Why are EUR 10,000 and GBP 10,000 not the same rule?#
The round number matches; the construction differs in three places: the threshold currency, the person it looks at, and the border where the declaration is filed. The European Commission states that, for people travelling in groups, the EUR 10,000 limit applies to each person separately. GOV.UK states the opposite for Great Britain: a family or group carrying £10,000 or more in total declares it even when each person carries less.
| The question | EU external border (Romania) | Great Britain border |
|---|---|---|
| Threshold | EUR 10,000 or more | GBP 10,000 or more |
| Measured on whom | Each traveller separately | The whole family or group, added together |
| When it applies | Entering and leaving the European Union | Travelling between Great Britain and a country outside the UK |
| When it can be declared | The form is filed with the customs authority; forms are also available at crossing points | At the earliest 72 hours before travelling |
| What can happen without a declaration | Detention of the cash and the member state’s penalties | Seizure of the cash and a penalty of up to GBP 5,000 to get it back, per GOV.UK |
The flight direction changes the order of the questions, not the thresholds: Bucharest–London meets the EU external border first and the British one second; London–Bucharest meets them the other way round. Both apply on every trip.
What counts towards the 10,000? More than banknotes#
The European definition, widened in 2021, covers notes and coins, bearer negotiable instruments (traveller’s cheques, and cheques, promissory notes and money orders only where they are in bearer form, endorsed without restriction, made out to a fictitious payee, or otherwise pass title on delivery, under Regulation (EU) 2018/1672, Annex I), gold coins with a gold content of at least 90%, and gold in bars, nuggets or clumps of at least 99.5% purity. The GOV.UK page for Great Britain lists notes and coins, bearer bonds, traveller’s cheques, and cheques (including traveller’s cheques) that are signed but not made out to a person or organisation. An ordinary cheque with a named payee is not on that list. Money orders, gold coins, bullion or nuggets, and prepaid cards appear on GOV.UK only among the Northern Ireland rules, not for Great Britain.
The practical consequence: the addition is done separately for each border, before the comparison with the threshold, using only the forms that border’s definition covers. For the European border, add the forms in the European definition carried by the same person; for the British one, add the forms on the GOV.UK list carried by the whole group. Eight thousand euro in notes plus a three-thousand-euro bearer instrument makes eleven thousand for the European border; a gold coin in the same bag does not count towards the Great Britain total. Cash sent by post, courier or freight has its own on-request disclosure and stays outside this checker.
The threshold is a duty to declare, not a limit on how much may be carried. The declaration asks for the economic origin and the intended use of the money; authorities may also examine smaller sums when there are indications of a link with criminal activity.
At what rate is “the equivalent” counted?#
Both rules speak of equivalents: EUR 10,000 or the equivalent in other currencies, and GBP 10,000 with its equivalents. This checker pulls no rate from the internet and converts nothing automatically, because a minute-old conversion can mislead exactly beside the threshold on the day of the control.
The prudent habit is simple: convert at the official rate on the travel day, and if the result lands near a threshold, treat the case as one to declare, or ask the authority at the crossing point, as the European Commission itself advises unsure travellers. A declaration filed without need costs a few minutes; cash detained for want of one costs much more time.
For a lone traveller, both fields describe the same money in two currencies. The exchange-rate gap can occasionally move the same bag over the line on one side only.
What stays outside these two bars#
The checker covers direct flights between Romania and England, Scotland or Wales, with cash carried by travellers. Northern Ireland has its own GOV.UK section, with the threshold expressed in euro and separate rules for arrivals from Great Britain and from outside the European Union; a route through Belfast cannot be read from the two bars above.
Stopovers can add borders: a route stopping outside the Union can mean leaving the EU somewhere other than Romania, on that state’s form. Member states may also run national rules for cash moving inside the Union, which the Commission advises checking in advance.
Amounts under a threshold are not invisible: both systems leave authorities the power to ask questions and detain cash where there are reasonable indications of a link with crime. The thresholds above describe the automatic duty to declare, not the whole customs control.
Frequently asked questions#
How much cash can I take from Romania to England without declaring?
Under a EUR 10,000 equivalent for each person at the Union border and, at the same time, under GBP 10,000 in the family or group total at the British border. Both conditions must hold together; the threshold is a duty to declare, not a ban on carrying more.
We are two people with GBP 6,000 each. Do we declare?
In Great Britain, yes, because the group total is GBP 12,000. At the Union border the threshold is measured per person, so it depends on the euro equivalent of each share; at usual values, GBP 6,000 per person stays under EUR 10,000.
Is the threshold at 10,000, or only above it?
Both texts say “10,000 or more”: at exactly EUR 10,000, and at exactly GBP 10,000, the declaration is already due.
Can I bring more than 10,000 from the UK into Romania?
Yes, with the declarations that attach in both directions: the rules apply entering and leaving the Union, and crossing out of and into Great Britain. The amount is not forbidden; failing to declare it is the problem.
When is the British declaration made?
At the earliest 72 hours before travelling, per GOV.UK. On the European side, the customs form of the state through which you leave or enter the Union is completed.
Do children count in the group total?
On the British side, the rule speaks of the family or group travelling together, with no age exception in the wording. On the European side, the duty also applies to minors through parents or guardians, measured at the per-person threshold.
Sources and how they were checked#
- European Commission, “EU Cash Controls” (Romanian edition read in full on 7 November 2026)
- GOV.UK, “Take cash in and out of the UK”, read in full on 7 November 2026
- Romanian Customs Authority, the cash-control page, for the Romanian forms
The thresholds, the group rule and the 72-hour point were re-read on 7 November 2026 on the official European Commission and UK government pages, both fetched directly. This checker converts no currency: the equivalents entered by the reader must use the rate on the travel day, and near a threshold the rate used by the authority decides. Review recommended whenever either page changes and by May 2027 at the latest.