Cash limits in Uzbekistan: customs and how much to bring

The 100 million som rule on entry and exit

One threshold covers both directions: 100 million som equivalent per crossing, with som and every foreign currency added together (Cabinet Resolution No. 66, paragraphs 2–5). At the Central Bank rates of 14 September 2026 that was US$8,499 or €7,332, so US$5,000 plus €3,000, worth 99,745,410 som, stayed just under it. The threshold is fixed in som: when the som weakens, its dollar value falls.

The rules cover cash only: banknotes and coins in som, dollars, euros, roubles or any other currency. Money on cards and in bank accounts is not cash and does not count. People with diplomatic immunity are outside these rules (paragraph 1).

The threshold applies to the cash each traveller carries, including money carried for someone else, and each passenger declaration is personal (paragraphs 1, 2 and 7). Residents and non-residents share the same threshold; they differ only in what they can take out above it (paragraph 6).

Bringing cash in: no ceiling, but a written declaration above 100 million

Paragraph 4 lets you bring in any amount, provided you follow customs procedure. Above 100 million som equivalent the passenger declaration is mandatory, and it states the total of all your cash, not just the part over the threshold (paragraph 2). Cash at or below the threshold is declared orally (Customs Code, Article 260), and paragraph 3 lets you file a written declaration anyway.

File the written declaration if you expect to leave with more than 100 million: without it, the most you can take out is 100 million, even of money you brought in yourself.

Unsure how to fill it in? Show the cash to an officer before the control starts: paragraph 8¹ obliges officers to explain the rules to a traveller who asks before declaring. Cash found undeclared above the threshold is seized, and customs opens an administrative or criminal case (Customs Code, Article 242).

Taking cash out: 100 million, or what you declared on arrival

Up to 100 million som equivalent leaves without documents (paragraph 5). Above it, only the cases in the table apply; for a tourist that is the arrival declaration, and a declaration written only on departure does not create the right.

An example at the 14 September 2026 rate: declare US$20,000 on arrival (235,315,200 som), spend US$4,000, and the other US$16,000 (188,252,160 som) can leave with you. Without the arrival form, the ceiling is 100 million som, about US$8,499.

The document is personal and works once (paragraph 7): a companion cannot carry cash out on your form, and after one exit it is used up. Keep receipts for exchanges and large payments with it, so the unspent balance adds up.

Cash you withdraw from an ATM or buy at a bank in Uzbekistan does not appear in the table, so it gives no extra exit allowance: above 100 million som equivalent, the arrival declaration is the tourist’s only route.

The allowance is the amount declared on arrival minus what you spent or exchanged in Uzbekistan under the rules (paragraph 6). Lose the arrival declaration and the allowance goes with it, so keep the form apart from the cash.

The passenger declaration: red channel or phone app

The same declaration lists goods above the duty-free allowance and restricted goods (Customs Code, Article 260), so declare those on it at the same time.

Accuracy is your responsibility (paragraph 8). A false detail that does not affect the customs decision costs 3 base amounts, 1,320,000 som; undeclared or falsely declared goods cost 5–10 base amounts, 2,200,000–4,400,000 som, with confiscation (Administrative Code, Article 227²²). Cash counts as goods under the Customs Code (Article 13).

The Tourism Committee announced the mobile declaration on 19 January 2026; its fields cover passport details, the countries of your trip, currency and goods.

1. 1

   Count

   Before the queue, write down each currency and amount, including cash in a second wallet or another bag.

2. 2

   Fill in the form

   Use the passenger customs declaration (Yo‘lovchi bojxona deklaratsiyasi). The customs web app ybdweb.customs.uz runs on a phone in English, Russian or Uzbek: foreign travellers choose ‘Chet el’ (abroad), enter their passport series and number and accept the terms.

3. 3

   Take the red channel

   The red channel is for written declarations, required or voluntary. The green channel is for travellers with nothing to declare in writing, and customs checks happen there too.

4. 4

   Keep the accepted form

   Keep the declaration customs accepted with your passport until you leave: above 100 million, it is your exit document.

US$100 in som: the reference rate and the counter rate

On 14 September 2026 the Central Bank’s reference rate made US$100 worth 1,176,576 som and €100 worth 1,363,887 som. Banks set their own buying and selling rates from supply and demand and change them during the day (Currency Operations Rules No. 3281, paragraph 34), so the som you receive at a counter differ from the reference figure.

The table converts common amounts at the same rates and shows which need a written declaration on arrival. The Central Bank’s archive gives the reference rate for any date, so the same sums can be redone for the day you travel.

How much cash to bring for 7, 10 or 14 days

Our worked example assumes hotels with breakfast, intercity trains, airport and station transfers, the main entry tickets and phone data are paid in advance. What is left is 300,000 som a day per adult: 200,000 for food and drinks, 50,000 for local transport and 50,000 for small purchases, plus a 20% reserve. A week comes to 2,520,000 som, about US$214; arriving with US$250 per adult rounds it up. The figures are per person, so two adults double them.

Two price checks: on 14 September 2026 the Kamolon Osh menu listed a plov portion at 53,000 som and an achichuk salad at 17,500, so two plovs and a shared salad came to 61,750 som per person; a Tashkent bus ride cost 1,700 som paid electronically or 3,000 with a QR ticket.

Add whatever is still unpaid: hotel balances, the tourist levy of 8,800–66,000 som per person per night, guides and larger purchases; the trip-cost worksheet lists them. In a hotel of 11–40 rooms the levy is 44,000 som per person per night, so two adults with 6 nights still to pay add 528,000 som. Bring the money as dollars or euros and change it in stages rather than turning the whole week into som on day one.

For 10 and 14 days the table only multiplies the daily figure; a longer trip usually has more nights paid on the spot, so add them from your bookings.

Cards and ATMs are on the money page. One point changes the cash plan: cards issued in Russia, Mir included, do not work in Uzbekistan, so travellers who depend on them bring the whole budget in cash.

Bring clean dollars or euros; banks must take lightly damaged notes

US dollars and euros are the currencies to bring: Hamkorbank’s exchange page, for example, lists USD, EUR and RUB (14 September 2026). Take clean, whole notes in 20s, 50s and 100s, so you exchange part of the reserve at a time.

A bank cannot refuse to exchange a note that is damaged but within the limits in the table, and cannot refuse to take an unusable one for collection (paragraph 35). Only notes withdrawn from circulation by their issuing bank, or stamped as cancelled, fake or specimen, are refused outright (paragraph 39).

Older designs stay exchangeable: paragraph 39 refuses only notes that the issuing bank has withdrawn from circulation after its announced date, not an earlier series that is still legal tender. Exchange rates, counters and fees are on the money page.

Taking som out: allowed within the same 100 million

Som are cash under the same rules: up to 100 million som equivalent, counted together with your foreign cash, leaves without documents (paragraph 5). There is no separate ban on exporting som, and som count toward the threshold at face value, since the threshold itself is set in som.

Change leftover som back before you fly: banks carry out all types of currency exchange for individuals, selling as well as buying (Rules No. 3281, paragraph 35). Keep enough for the last ride: licensed taxis at Tashkent airport charge from 50,000 som for a trip within the city (Uzbekistan Airports, 29 December 2025).

Watch out

• The threshold is fixed in som, so a dollar sum that was under it a year ago can be over it now: at 14 September 2026 rates the line was US$8,499.
• Undeclared cash above the threshold is seized, and customs opens an administrative or criminal case (Customs Code, Article 242).
• A declaration written only on departure does not let you take out more than 100 million: that right comes from the arrival form.
• The exit document is personal and single-use: a companion cannot carry cash out on your form, and it covers one exit.
• A note shrunk by 3 mm, faded or taped together from pieces is not exchanged on the spot; the bank only accepts it for collection.
• Cash from ATMs or bank counters in Uzbekistan gives no extra exit allowance: above 100 million som, only the paragraph 6 cases apply.

Common questions