Chile Forum

It's under the $10 000 limit so I wouldn't worry to much about the Chilean side.

Like EEUU suggested try converting them to gold to get the weight down and stuff them in your carry on. Then when you get off the plane put them in the pockets in you jeans and walk through customs.

If you want to keep the silver be prepared to explain it at the airport and perhaps even loose some because like some suggested they may not be considered currency but imported merchandise and could be taxes as such.

Would be good to get admin's common sense but follow the line and cross yer t's and dot yer i's when needed commentary on this.

Have never heard of a cash seizure at SCL customs (except for drugs obviously) in my nine years here. Stories anyone?

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:Have never heard of a cash seizure at SCL customs in my nine years here. Stories anyone?

I have been throught there a number of times and have only seen a pig leg seized when we came back from Argentina once. My frist time through I had a bag of pretzels that they guy checked because he thought they were chocolates but other than that it has always been smooth sailing.

Fill out the card, toss my bags on the coveyor for the xray machine pick them up on the other side and head out the door.

j. Ro wrote:... Then when you get off the plane put them in the pockets in you jeans and walk through customs. ...

Gold ozers have such a low X-ray profile that even that is not needed. And remember they are looking for your undeclared jar of commercially processed peanut butter not a couple of gold coins.

Silver on the other hand shows up very dense under X-ray but would probably only illicit a simple question at most as they are still primarily looking for undeclared organic stuff.

The excuse used to justify the confiscation is almost always "drugs", then the issue becomes proving your innocence. That requires a lawyer, and a lawyer requires a retainer and fees. If the amount of money is $5000 or less, hiring a lawyer to get it back is probably not worth it. The authorities know this.

Stories of theft by TSA employees are out there as well. A lady traveling through the Atlanta airport was asked about a sealed envelope in her purse. She admitted that it contained $3500 in cash. The screener asked if he could open it and she agreed. Foolishly, she allowed the screener to take the envelope to a room out of sight. He came back, handed it to her and they passed her through the checkpoint. She later found some of the cash was missing. Her word against his, poof the money is gone.

The only way I can see to avoid this kind of nightmare is to declare in writing the amount of cash, and in no way try to conceal it at the border crossings.

You are talking about the police state USA but the discussion is focussing on incoming into Chile.

Theoretical Musings

(1) If silver is merchandise, then it is like any product (jewelry, laptops, high-end tools, etc.) you bring into Chile. If Chile Customs thinks you need to pay a tax, they will say so. No harm done and 25% or less poorer which still may be avoided if you argue your personal use point well. Odds of this happening to personal stuff with personal sentimental value in your personal luggage AT SCL is extremely low.
(2) If silver is a monetary instrument, well it is below 10,000 so why all the irrelevant paranoia posts?

More Musings

If the #1 scenario occurs and these are legal tender coins (say Maples, Eagles) then the argument that they are monetary instruments not merchandise becomes even stronger.

All hypothetical musings as I doubt the discussion will even get that far.

Most likely outcomes

(1) Luggage goes through Chile Customs X-ray, nothing asked and you are on your way.
(2) Luggage goes through Chile Customs X-ray, question asked about those dense objects, you simply reply my personal silver medallion collection and the agent goes "Oh" and you are on your way.

Less likely

(3) Luggage goes through Chile Customs X-ray, question asked about those dense objects, you simply reply my personal silver medallion collection and the agent asks to open your luggage. He/she checks out your personal silver medallion collection and since they've seen it all before what these crazy gringos bring in, you are soon on your way.
(4) Luggage goes through Chile Customs X-ray, question asked about those dense objects, you simply reply my personal silver medallion collection and the agent asks to open your luggage. He/she checks out your personal silver medallion collection and says you need to pay tax. You politely argue your personal property, not for resale case and since they've seen it all before what these crazy gringos bring in, you are soon on your way.
(5) Luggage goes through Chile Customs X-ray, question asked about those dense objects, you simply reply my personal silver medallion collection and the agent asks to open your luggage. He/she checks out your personal silver medallion collection and says you need to pay tax. You politely argue your personal property, not for resale case but since the agent got up on the wrong side of the bed, you pay tax and are soon on your way.

Technically, a 1-ounce American Eagle gold coin is a legal tender with face value of 50 US dollars. For historical purpose, the US government still guarantees $50 for each coin. People sell the coin for the gold value at around $1,200 per. If a coin was minted at certain year, its selling value can be higher. A good lawyer can easily argue that carrying 4 such coins with face value of $200 is still within legal limit
TP

Paranoia?

http://www.estandardsforum.org/chile/st ... g-standard
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr ... r05120.pdf (recommendations on page 12)

It seems that some large organizations are guiding Chile into "compliance" with policies and laws found in those "police states" up norte. I really love the part about sharing of the seized assets

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:Most likely outcomes

(1) Luggage goes through Chile Customs X-ray, nothing asked and you are on your way.
(2) Luggage goes through Chile Customs X-ray, question asked about those dense objects, you simply reply my personal silver medallion collection and the agent goes "Oh" and you are on your way.

Less likely

(3) Luggage goes through Chile Customs X-ray, question asked about those dense objects, you simply reply my personal silver medallion collection and the agent asks to open your luggage. He/she checks out your personal silver medallion collection and since they've seen it all before what these crazy gringos bring in, you are soon on your way.
(4) Luggage goes through Chile Customs X-ray, question asked about those dense objects, you simply reply my personal silver medallion collection and the agent asks to open your luggage. He/she checks out your personal silver medallion collection and says you need to pay tax. You politely argue your personal property, not for resale case and since they've seen it all before what these crazy gringos bring in, you are soon on your way.
(5) Luggage goes through Chile Customs X-ray, question asked about those dense objects, you simply reply my personal silver medallion collection and the agent asks to open your luggage. He/she checks out your personal silver medallion collection and says you need to pay tax. You politely argue your personal property, not for resale case but since the agent got up on the wrong side of the bed, you pay tax and are soon on your way.

The above is the general attitude that I have experienced in traveling through customs everywhere except the US and the most corrupt countries of the 3rd world. The US seems to be alone in its hiring of dickheads in law enforcement positions.

Scenarios for entering the US:
1) Luggage goes through US customs xray and they search all your bags and then send you on your way.
2) luggage goes through US customs xray and they search you and confiscate your silver for investigation.
3) Luggage goes through US customs xray and they confiscate your silver because of money laundering issues.
4) Luggage goes through US customs xray and they confiscate your silver and send you to Gitmo on suspicion of sponsoring terrorists.

Hey, no one is as paranoid as eeuunikkeiexpat as long-termers of the forum well know.

Granted with the way banking rules for USA citizens in Chile are tightening due to OECD and related org pressure, Chile can and does ignore or feign action on other issues. Copywrite laws for one and now independent action to preserve net freedom inside Chile.

I still don't see any grounds for paranoia bringing in $4000 worth of coins into Chile and the break-your-door-down shoot-first-ask-questions-later ninja tactics of USA LEO just does not happen in Chile and I do hope the memory of living under years of martial law has further impeded anything going in that direction inside Chile.

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself which jurisdiction you will feel safer in holding those shiny bits of metal five years down the line.

DYODD. TINSTAAFL. BCWYT.

Well, since I believed I have exhausted all of the options for storage in Chile and because I will not be able to open up a bank account there, it looks like I'm going to take the suggestion of converting the silver into gold so that it will be easier to ship or to take through customs. As far as taking it into customs is concerned, I'm wondering if there is any way to block it from showing up on the x-ray or if there is a good way to hide them if they do go through my stuff. I tried to research how gold would look under an x-ray without success. Do they just look like copper and alloy coins? Is there some clever way to obscure them while perhaps putting regular coins in the same area in case they try to search my bag? I'm also worried about getting through the baggage check in the States as I believe some of you can identify with.