Money, cards and ATMs in Uganda

Cards are the exception, not the rule

• Credit cards are accepted only by major hotels, airlines and some car hire firms, on Global Affairs Canada's reading. Everything else is cash or mobile money.
• Forex bureaux and ATMs at Entebbe arrivals run 24 hours, and the banks and bureaux there handle most convertible currencies. Change enough at the airport to get to town and through the first day.
• Keep the receipt. The airport's own advice is that hard currency bought from money dealers should be accompanied by an official receipt.
• Mobile money is the local everyday payment method. A tourist SIM activates a wallet on *165# and any agent will load shillings into it.

The cash you have to declare

• Cash or bearer instruments worth 1,500 currency points or more must be declared: that is 30,000,000 shillings, roughly 9,000 US dollars. It applies on the way in and on the way out.
• Arriving passengers fill in Form D, the yellow one, hand it to a customs officer with a copy of the passport, and go through the red channel.
• No tax is charged on declared money. The declaration takes 15 to 20 minutes and goes to the Financial Intelligence Authority afterwards. The penalty for getting this wrong is out of proportion to the paperwork: up to 3 years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 10,000 dollars.

Customs, briefly

• Red channel if you have anything to declare, green if you do not.
• A visitor on a stay of up to three months may bring in non-consumable goods for personal use, provided they leave with them.
• Duty free is 1 litre of spirits or 2 litres of wine, 250 ml of perfume and 500 ml of toilet water, and 250 g of tobacco products in total.

Paying for things at the border

• The visa fee is in US dollars and paid online by card, with a 3 per cent surcharge, so it is not a reason to carry cash. The yellow fever vaccination at the airport is 40 dollars or 120,000 shillings if you need it, which is.