Dollars sent from the US reach Vietnam in three main ways: a dong deposit to the recipient's bank account, usually credited within seconds over the NAPAS network; cash in dong or US dollars from a licensed payout company; or cash brought to the door. Vietnamese rules also protect the recipient in ways worth knowing: licensed payout companies may not charge them a fee, the money is exempt from personal income tax, and they can choose dollars or dong. What follows covers payout options, the World Bank cost benchmark, the details that stop a transfer bouncing, the rules on both sides, the Tết calendar and the scams Vietnamese police warn about. For how international payments work in general, start at the money transfer hub.
How do families in Vietnam usually receive money from the US?
Most take it as a dong deposit to a bank account, as cash in dong or dollars from a licensed payout company, or as cash delivered to the home.
| Payout | How it works | Speed | Limits and conditions | Recipient needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank account in dong over NAPAS | The payout partner credits the account through NAPAS's 24/7 transfer service | Seconds, at any hour, weekends included | Under VND 500 million per transfer | An account in their own name at a NAPAS member bank |
| Cash pickup | Collected at a licensed payout company's counter or one of its agents | Depends on the company and branch hours | Company limits; paid in dollars or dong | Citizen identity card or passport, plus the transfer reference |
| Home delivery | The payout company brings cash to the address | Depends on the area | Company limits; paid in dollars or dong | ID at the door and someone at home |
| Bank wire to a dollar account | SWIFT transfer credited in US dollars | One to several business days | The receiving bank may charge a posted fee | A foreign-currency account and the bank's SWIFT code |
NAPAS, the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam, runs the switch that connects Vietnam's banks for instant transfers. Its FastFund 247 service links more than 60 members, including banks and telecom companies, moves money in real time at any hour, and accepts transfers of under VND 500 million each. Before money moves, the system checks the beneficiary's details online, so a payout partner can catch a mismatch before the credit is made.
Two kinds of firm pay out remittances in Vietnam: economic organizations licensed by the State Bank to receive and pay them directly, and banks. In Ho Chi Minh City, the country's largest receiving area, 71.8% of 2025 remittances came through those licensed companies and 28.2% through banks, so the companies, not banks, handle most of the money arriving there.
What does a US to Vietnam transfer cost?
A $200 transfer from the US to Vietnam cost 5.27% on average, or $10.53, in the World Bank's Q3 2025 survey, and a $500 transfer cost 3.18%, or $15.90.
| Amount sent | Average fee | Exchange-rate margin | Total cost (% of amount) | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $200 | $8.17 | 1.18% | 5.27% | $10.53 |
| $500 | $10.27 | 1.12% | 3.18% | $15.90 |
Vietnam sat near the middle of the US corridors, 19th most expensive of 42 at $200. Unlike on the China route, the exchange-rate margin matters here. At 1.18% on a $200 send it cost $2.36, about a fifth of the total, and it barely shrank on the larger amount: at 1.12% it took $5.60 of the $15.90 on a $500 send, more than a third. On bigger transfers, then, the rate deserves as much scrutiny as the fee.
To turn a quoted dong rate into a markup percentage, see exchange-rate markups. Check quotes against 1 USD = 25,786.75 VND (Nov 2, 2026); the table below shows what arrives at that rate and after markups of 1% and 2.5%.
| You send | At the mid-market rate | With a 1% markup | With a 2.5% markup |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200 | ₫5,157,349 | ₫5,105,776 | ₫5,028,415 |
| $500 | ₫12,893,373 | ₫12,764,439 | ₫12,571,039 |
| $1,000 | ₫25,786,746 | ₫25,528,879 | ₫25,142,077 |
Worked example: A $500 transfer credited to a bank account in Da Nang
A service charges a $5.99 fee and offers 26,000 dong per dollar when the mid-market rate is 26,300. Treat both rates as examples rather than today's market.
- Dong delivered: $500 × 26,000 = VND 13,000,000
- Dong at the mid-market rate: $500 × 26,300 = VND 13,150,000
- Gap from mid-market: VND 150,000, which is $5.70 at 26,300, a 1.14% markup
- Total cost: $5.99 + $5.70 = $11.69, or 2.34% of $500, below the survey's 3.18% average for that amount
- Onward check: VND 13,000,000 is above the VND 10 million line at which forwarding it online needs a face scan, explained below
Dong or dollars: what Vietnamese rules allow
Vietnam's rules give the recipient the choice. Under Article 6 of State Bank of Vietnam Circular 34/2015, a recipient can take a remittance in foreign currency or ask for dong, and a firm paying in dong must use an exchange rate consistent with the State Bank's decisions at the moment of conversion.
The same article also protects the recipient's pocket. Licensed payout companies, and banks that have a remittance contract with the sending service, may not charge the recipient anything, because their fee comes from the foreign partner. Only a bank receiving an ordinary wire outside such a contract may charge, and it must post that fee publicly.
Keeping the money in dollars has a cost of its own. Since 2015 the State Bank has capped interest on US dollar deposits at 0% for individuals, a cap restated in Decision 2410, effective November 20, 2024. Dollars in a Vietnamese account avoid a conversion until they're spent but earn nothing, while dong deposits do earn interest.
Which recipient details prevent a returned transfer?
Get the account holder's name in the exact form the bank stores it, plus the bank and account number, or for cash, the name and ID number.
| Payout | Details to collect | Format | Obviously fake example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank account over NAPAS | Account name, bank name, account number | Name in capitals, usually without diacritics; account length varies by bank | NGUYEN VAN AN · 0000 1234 5678 |
| Bank wire | Same as above, plus the receiving bank's SWIFT code | 8 or 11 characters; letters 5 and 6 read VN | XXXXVNVX |
| Cash pickup | Full name as on the citizen identity card, ID number, phone, province or city | 12-digit personal identification number | NGUYỄN VĂN AN · 000000000000 |
| Home delivery | Name, street address with ward or commune, province or city, phone | Mobile numbers have 10 digits starting with 0 | 1 Example Street, Ward 1, Hue City · 0900 000 000 |
Vietnamese names run family name first: in Nguyễn Văn An, Nguyễn is the family name and An is the given name the person is called by. Banks usually hold account names in capitals without diacritics, so the account shows NGUYEN VAN AN, while a payout counter checks the name against the citizen identity card, where the diacritics appear. Enter the name in the order printed on the card, not in Western given-name-first order.
The easiest way to get bank details right is a screenshot of the account page in the recipient's banking app, or of their personal VietQR code, the national QR standard for NAPAS transfers, which identifies the bank and account number. On July 1, 2025 Vietnam cut its provinces and centrally run cities from 63 to 34 and dissolved the district level, so delivery addresses now run from street to ward or commune to province. Ask for the address in its current form rather than copying one from an old envelope.
Is money from overseas taxed in Vietnam?
No: remittances are on the list of income exempt from Vietnam's personal income tax, and the rewritten tax law that took effect on July 1, 2026 kept them there.
Article 4 of the 2025 Personal Income Tax Law lists income from remittances as exempt, and Decree 253/2026, issued on June 30, 2026, spells out what qualifies. Money sent home by relatives who are Vietnamese living abroad, or who are working or studying abroad, is exempt. Money from foreign relatives is exempt too if it meets the State Bank's conditions for encouraging remittances. The proof is paperwork: documents showing the money came from abroad and, where there is one, the payout slip from the paying company. Recipients who receive large sums should keep both.
Face checks when your family moves the money on
Once dong is in a Vietnamese account, moving it onward can trigger a biometric check. Under State Bank Decision 2345, in force since July 1, 2024, an online transfer to someone else's account, to another bank or into an e-wallet needs face authentication if it exceeds VND 10 million, or if it takes the day's total past VND 20 million. The face is matched against the chip in the citizen identity card, the VNeID digital identity account or biometric data the bank already holds. The first transaction on a new phone triggers the same check.
What US rules apply before you send?
Two federal rules matter on the sending side: the 1% tax on cash-funded transfers, and the disclosure, cancellation and error rights of the Remittance Rule.
The tax is 1% of the amount sent, on transfers paid with cash, a money order, a cashier's check or a similar physical instrument. It covers transfers sent on or after January 1, 2026, and the sending service adds it to your bill. You avoid it entirely with any of these: Transfers funded from a bank or other financial-institution account, or with a US-issued debit or credit card (IRS, as of Nov 1, 2026). The regulations proposed on April 13, 2026 remained in proposed form as of November 2026; the remittance tax guide covers the details.
Your receipt must state the dong or dollars to be delivered and when. Cancellation is allowed up to 30 minutes after paying, for a full refund, and errors can be reported within 180 days from the date the receipt said the money would be available, as remittance transfer rights explains.
A large sum, such as help building a house in Vietnam, can take your gifts to one person past $19,000 per recipient in 2026. For most people the result is a Form 709 filing rather than any tax, and gift tax on money sent abroad has the details.
When do remittances to Vietnam peak?
Remittances peak in the weeks before Tết, the Lunar New Year, which falls on Saturday, February 6, 2027. Families pay for food, gifts, lucky money and travel home, and in 2027 that run-up falls in January.
Public offices will close for seven days, from Thursday, February 4 to Wednesday, February 10, 2027, under the Ministry of Home Affairs' notice of October 9, 2026. Private employers pick one of three five-day options around the holiday and must tell staff at least 30 days ahead, so payout company branches and couriers may close on different days. NAPAS's 24/7 service keeps running, so a bank credit can still land during the break if the payout partner processes it; cash pickup and home delivery are the options most likely to pause. Sending by late January avoids both the queues and the closures.
Other holidays slow cash payouts too. Vietnam Culture Day, a new paid holiday on November 24 each year, falls on a Tuesday in 2026. Reunification Day and Labor Day, April 30 and May 1, close offices each spring, and National Day gives public offices a four-day break from September 2 to 5, 2027. Weekend and holiday gaps at either end are covered in the guide to delivery times.
Gift and customs-fee scams to warn relatives about
Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security keeps warning about one script in particular. A stranger met on social media, often posing as a foreigner, announces a valuable gift sent from abroad, then demands money for tax, customs clearance or a fee to receive it. There is no gift; the fees are the scam. In a case the ministry reported in August 2026, staff at a bank branch in Phú Thọ province grew suspicious as a woman tried to send VND 25 million for customs clearance and called the commune police, who helped her see the scam before the money left. Police advise checking any parcel notice with the shipping company, the authorities or the bank before paying anything.
Two more things belong in the family conversation:
- Requests for codes, links or apps. Scammers ask for a one-time password, a banking password or ID card details, or send a link, QR code or app to install. Police advise never sharing these with someone whose identity hasn't been verified.
- Wrong-format details. A Western-order name, a missing ward in a delivery address or a mistyped account number. The NAPAS beneficiary check catches some errors before money moves, but not a wrong payout city.
For red flags that show up on any route, read money transfer scams.
How much do overseas Vietnamese send home?
Ho Chi Minh City alone received more than $10.34 billion in 2025, up 8.3% from $9.55 billion, according to the State Bank's regional branch there.
The Americas sent more than $3.3 billion of that, 31.9% of the city's total and 12% more than in 2024, second only to Asia at nearly $5.06 billion. Europe sent $921.46 million and Oceania $893.62 million, while Africa, only 1.7% of the total, grew fastest, up 39.3%. Ho Chi Minh City takes in nearly 60% of the country's remittances, according to the state news agency's English service.
Other corridor guides cover the US to the Philippines, the US to China and the UAE to the Philippines. For dollar rates against other major currencies, use the currency converter.