Under Circular 20/2022/TT-NHNN, a resident Vietnamese citizen may buy or transfer foreign currency abroad for the one-way purposes listed in Decree 70/2014, and the amount is fixed purpose by purpose. For support to a relative abroad, the amount for one recipient in a year may not exceed the per-capita income of the relative's country, on World Bank data.
If a family in Vietnam is supporting you in Australia, what they can send is decided before it leaves, and the ceiling is a rule rather than a number. A resident Vietnamese citizen's one-way transfer abroad is made for a purpose on a published list. The amount is fixed purpose by purpose. For support to a relative living abroad, the amount for one person in a year may not exceed the income per head of the country that relative lives in. For a relative in Australia, the ceiling is Australia's own figure.
Key Takeaways
- Article 9 of Circular 20/2022/TT-NHNN permits a resident Vietnamese citizen to buy, transfer and carry foreign currency abroad for the one-way purposes in clause 2 of article 7 of Decree 70/2014/ND-CP.
- Those purposes cover study and medical treatment, work trips, tourism and visits, fees owed abroad, support to a relative abroad, an inheritance to an heir abroad, money taken on emigration, and other lawful one-way purposes.
- Article 13 sets how the amount is fixed for each purpose, and for support to a relative abroad caps it, per recipient per year, at the per-capita income at current prices of the country where the relative lives.
- Banks are required to update that ceiling each year from the World Bank's most recently published data.
- The circular took effect on 15 February 2023.
Money leaves Vietnam for a reason on a list
Vietnam regulates what its residents send abroad. The instrument that governs one-way transfers by individuals is Circular 20/2022/TT-NHNN, issued by the State Bank of Vietnam on 30 December 2022 to guide one-way money transfers from Vietnam abroad and payments for other current transactions by residents, whether organisations or individuals. It took effect, under its article 18, on 15 February 2023.
The circular does not write its own list of purposes. Article 9 provides that a resident who is a Vietnamese citizen may buy, transfer and carry foreign currency abroad for the one-way transfer purposes set out in clause 2 of article 7 of Decree 70/2014/ND-CP. The Government's own summary of the circular sets those purposes out:
- study and medical treatment abroad
- work trips, tourism and visits abroad
- paying fees and charges to a foreign party
- supporting a relative who is living abroad
- transferring an inheritance to an heir abroad
- transferring money on emigration
- other lawful one-way transfer purposes
Several of those end with a person in Australia receiving money for a stated reason. The one this page is about is the fourth, support to a relative living abroad, because it is the purpose a family supporting a relative uses and the one the circular caps.
The amount is fixed purpose by purpose
The list decides what a one-way transfer may be for. Article 13 decides how much, and it does so differently for each purpose rather than with one ceiling.
| Purpose | How the amount is fixed |
|---|---|
| study, medical treatment | the costs in the notice from the foreign institution |
| work trips, tourism, visits abroad | the reasonable needs of the individual |
| fees and charges owed to a foreign party | the foreign party's notice |
| support to a relative living abroad | an annual ceiling indexed to the per-capita income of the recipient's country of residence |
| inheritance, emigration | the value of the assets under the rules governing those transfers |
Two of those rows fix the figure by a document from outside the bank. A student's costs are what the institution's notice of costs says they are (for a course in Australia, the university's notice). A fee is what the foreign party's notice says it is.
The row for work trips, tourism and visits is different. There the circular uses the phrase reasonable needs of the individual. The row for family support is different again: it carries a ceiling, and the ceiling is the part that affects a relative in Australia.
The ceiling follows the relative, not the sender
In translation, article 13's provision on family support provides that the amount of foreign currency bought or transferred for one person receiving support abroad in a year may not exceed the per-capita income at current prices of the country where the person receiving support is living. It then says where the number comes from. Banks must update the per-capita income data at current prices for each country from the figures most recently published on the World Bank's website.
Three features of that rule are easy to miss. It is per recipient, so a family supporting two relatives in two countries has two ceilings. It is per year. And it is indexed to the recipient's country rather than to Vietnam's, so the same family can send more to a relative in a high-income country than to one in a low-income country.
For a relative in Australia the ceiling is Australia's per-capita income at current prices, whatever the World Bank's latest figure for that is when the bank checks. This page does not quote the number. The figure is the World Bank's, and the bank in Vietnam looks it up at the time.
The practical effect for the person in Australia is that support arrives under a published ceiling, sent for a given purpose, rather than as whatever the family could spare. A relative who wants more than the ceiling in a year is asking for more than article 13 allows.
The purpose given in Vietnam decided the amount
What lands in an Australian account is the foreign currency the Vietnamese bank sold or transferred, for the purpose given, in the amount fixed for that purpose. The route from a Vietnamese bank to an Australian one is the ordinary correspondent chain described in how international transfers work, and the deductions it can take in transit are the subject of understanding transfer fees.
The purpose was given to the bank in Vietnam and it decided the amount. A transfer described as support for a relative was sized under the relative-support ceiling; one described as study was sized on the institution's notice. Which purpose the family chose is therefore not a formality.
None of this is a rule about the dong. The currency the family buys is the foreign one, and the wider setting is the one the AUD to VND convert page describes: a currency with no offshore market.
Where to look next
- Receiving money from Vietnam - the live rate page for this corridor.
- Sending money to Vietnam from Australia - the opposite direction, and the Tet calendar.
- Why a transfer corridor exists at all - the story of the community that keeps this one busy.
- How international transfers work - the sequence a payment moves through once the Vietnamese bank releases it.
- AUD to VND - the convert page for the pair on its own.
Sources
- Circular 20/2022/TT-NHNN, State Bank of Vietnam, 30 December 2022, Government of Vietnam legal document portal - the circular guiding one-way transfers from Vietnam abroad and payments for other current transactions by residents, with its issue date and effective date; the portal carries the instrument as a scanned file, and the article text quoted here was read in the VCCI copy below.
- Hướng dẫn mới nhất về chuyển tiền một chiều từ Việt Nam ra nước ngoài, Báo Điện tử Chính phủ, 9 January 2023 - the Government newspaper's summary of the circular, listing the one-way purposes for individuals as set out in clause 2 of article 7 of Decree 70/2014/ND-CP, the basis for the amount under each purpose, and the effective date. The decree's own text was not consulted directly; its list is taken from this summary.
- Circular 20/2022/TT-NHNN, full text, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry legal document library - the text of article 9 on the purposes for which a resident citizen may buy, transfer and carry foreign currency abroad, article 13 on how the amount is determined for each purpose including the per-capita income ceiling for support to a relative abroad and the annual update from World Bank data, and article 18 on the effective date, as quoted.
General information about Vietnam's rules on one-way transfers abroad by residents, as they affect a person receiving money in Australia. Not financial advice, and not a recommendation of any product or institution. Reviewed by the Tradergy editorial team, September 2026.
Common questions
For what purposes can a person in Vietnam send money to me in Australia?
Article 9 of Circular 20/2022/TT-NHNN provides that a resident who is a Vietnamese citizen may buy, transfer and carry foreign currency abroad for the one-way transfer purposes set out in clause 2 of article 7 of Decree 70/2014/ND-CP. The Government's own summary lists them as study and medical treatment abroad, work trips, tourism and visits abroad, paying fees and charges to a foreign party, supporting a relative living abroad, transferring an inheritance to an heir abroad, transferring money on emigration, and other lawful one-way purposes.
Is there a limit on support sent to a relative abroad?
Yes, and it is indexed to where the relative lives. Article 13 of the circular provides that the amount of foreign currency bought or transferred for one person receiving support abroad in a year may not exceed the per-capita income at current prices of the country where that person is living, and requires banks to update that figure each year from the most recent data published on the World Bank's website.
How is the amount decided?
Purpose by purpose, under article 13. For study and medical treatment the amount is based on the costs in the foreign institution's notice; for work trips, tourism and visits it is based on the reasonable needs of the individual; for support to a relative it is subject to the annual ceiling; and for inheritance and emigration it is based on the value of the assets under the rules for those transfers.
Does the ceiling change if I move to a different country?
The ceiling is measured against the per-capita income of the country where the person receiving support is living, so it follows the recipient rather than the sender. A relative who has moved from Australia to another country is measured against the new country's figure.
When did these rules take effect?
Article 18 of the circular provides that it took effect from 15 February 2023. It was issued by the State Bank of Vietnam on 30 December 2022 to guide one-way transfers from Vietnam abroad and payments for other current transactions by residents.