Abour Tunisian Dinar

[Nicola]

I dont know about changing dinar to pounds here i am afraid, i have only ever changed pounds to dinar.....

[jacqui0414]

i also got dinar the 1st time i went at Gatwick but the woman told me not to tell anyone as it is not allowed which got me scared she said if they ask me where i got it i was to claim to be a stupid tourist who didnt know last time i brought them back with me

[Nicola]

All they can really do is take it off you...and its unlikely that they will search you....they barely look at the bags going through the x-ray machine!!!

[issam]

it might be that essem put a stright no on changing the tunisian dinar,i go quiet often to france and i changed the tunisian dinar in to euro and and is legal, i bought dinars in a very good rate in paris couple of months ago from official bureau de change in the heart of paris,and who ever took my old reply to this thread,please try not to touch this because is crystal true that you can change the tunisian dinar in to euro or in to pounds in france,paris and just to let every body know i personelly done it,in many occasion when ever i go to paris,

[Nicola]

I think the point that some people are trying to make is that it is infact illegal to take it in and out of the country, regardless of whether or not we are able to obtain it!

Although its useful to be able to pick some dinar up before i go to tunisia, the rate is much lower than if i changed my pound over there, so normally i just change enough to tide me over....

[issam]

if the money are sold in genuine bureau de change in the heart of europe it means the trade is legal,because if it was illegal the bureau de change in france would ve been prosecuted for it

[Nicola]

Yes its legal in the country its happening in...

[Nicola]

wikpedia references the following...

Currency restrictions
It is a criminal offence in Tunisia to import or export dinar. No more than 1000 Tunisian dinar can be converted into foreign currency before departure from the North-African country.[2],[3] Therefore, prices at duty-free shops are in convertible currencies like euros, US dollars and British pounds. There are many converting ATMs in the country for tourists. It is necessary for anyone leaving Tunisia to declare any cash in their possession exceeding the equivalent of UK£500 beforehand

[issam]

hi Nicola,you allowed to take foreign currency form tunisia as much as you brought in to the country as long as there is proof of how much you braught in or you transfered,if you are a tunisian citizen residing abroad you got access to have a bank account in tunisia in foreign currency or with tunisian dinar convertable to any foreign currency,there is more restriction on peaple who live and reside in tunisia with terms of getting access to the foreign currency , when they travel abroad they are allowed only for changing a 1000 dinar, one of my british freinds bought a house in tunisia and when he wanted to move his capital abroad was stuck,because there is a procedure imposed by the goverment when you bring your capital to invest it has to be declared in the central bank where you get a certificate to allow you to move your capital and the profit in a foreign currency outside tunisia.

[Essem]

Hi.
I think we are now talking about two different things here.

If you bring foreign currency into Tunisia and declare it at customs at the airport, for which you pay 1 dinar for the stamp, and receive a declaration form - if you do not spend all of it (I wish!!) you can take it back with you - you have to keep the form.

You can also use this declaration form to open a bank account -it's far cheaper declaring money this way than transferring though the banks - or to put the declared money into your bank account as the banks will not accept undeclared money. I do this all the time.

Foreigners accounts are currency convertible accounts ie money brought into Tunisia in foreign currency and converted in dinars. (Foreigners are not allowed dinar accounts) It is also not possible, once you have taken the money out of your account in dinars to put it back in because it has been converted to dinars and you can only put foreign currency into these accounts.

You can easily transfer money backwards and forwards from your UK account to your Tunisian one but there are bank charges for doing this - a lot more expensive than 1 dinar. I suppose it depends on how often you are travelling backwards and forwards!

When you buy a property you should ask your bank for a 'Fiche D'Investissement' this certificate confirms that you have brought the declared money into your account and it was for purchasing property. If you have this and you then decide to sell you can do so and transfer the money back to the UK. Basically you have to have a paper trail. I have changed banks since I purchased my property but it makes no difference as this certificate is proof of bringing in the declared money and using it for buying property.