Before you start

Passport and carte de séjour or the receipt for it
Proof of address
Evidence of the origin of funds — currency exchange receipts and customs declarations
For a business: the company's status documents, and whether it qualifies as non-resident

Step-by-step

1
Declare foreign currency at the border when it is above the threshold
Tunisian customs require a currency declaration on entry above a set dinar-equivalent threshold, and that declaration is what allows you to take the currency out again. It is a two-minute form that decides a later question at departure. Check the current threshold with customs, since it has moved.
In personWho: YouOn arrival
2
Keep every bureau de change and bank exchange receipt
Receipts evidence that dinars in your hand came from declared foreign currency. Without them, an unspent balance is simply stuck — you cannot legally carry the notes out, and reconverting at departure without proof is not straightforward.
In personWho: You
3
Open the right account for your status
A resident foreigner employed by a Tunisian company holds a resident dinar account. Non-residents and non-resident entities may hold convertible dinar or foreign-currency accounts. Get this right at the outset — the account type follows a status determination, not a preference.
In personWho: You
4
If you serve clients abroad, structure the company before the bank
A non-resident, fully-exporting company — at least 66% of capital held by non-residents and funded by importing convertible currency, or by debiting a foreign account in convertible currency or convertible dinars in Tunisia — may hold foreign-currency accounts and settle justified foreign transactions without prior Central Bank authorisation. This is the mechanism, and it has to be built in at incorporation.
In personWho: You
5
If you are building a startup, check the Startup Act label
A company holding the Startup Act label may open a special foreign-currency account and use it to pay for cloud hosting, advertising and software licences abroad without prior Central Bank authorisation — which is the single most useful thing about the label for a technology business. It is granted by a labelling committee on the merits.
OnlineWho: You
6
Watch the new exchange code, but do not plan around it
A 91-article draft code replacing the 1976 law was tabled in October 2025 and was still before the Assembly's finance committee in mid-2026. It would liberalise foreign-currency accounts and foreign investment substantially. It is a bill. Until it passes, everything above is the law.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport and carte de séjour
Proof of address
Customs currency declaration from entry
Bureau de change and bank exchange receipts
Company statutes and non-resident status evidence, for a business account

Things most newcomers don’t know

It is illegal to take Tunisian banknotes out of the country, and this is a hard rule rather than a formality.

Import and export of dinars in notes or coin is prohibited outright. There is no legal way to carry an unspent balance home, no meaningful market in dinars abroad, and reconverting at the airport without exchange receipts is difficult. The practical discipline is to convert only what you will actually spend, keep every receipt, and treat leftover dinars as money you will need to use before you fly.

Source: Douane tunisienne; BCT

The customs currency declaration on entry is what lets your money leave again.

Above a threshold set in dinar equivalent, foreign currency must be declared to customs on entry, and that declaration is what supports taking it out later. It costs two minutes at the airport and is skipped constantly. Anyone bringing meaningful cash in — to buy a car, to fund a business, to pay a deposit — should treat the declaration as part of the transaction rather than a border formality.

Source: Douane tunisienne

For a business serving foreign clients, the non-resident fully-exporting regime is the whole solution.

It permits accounts in foreign currency or convertible dinars and the settlement of justified foreign transactions without prior Central Bank authorisation — which is precisely the friction that makes ordinary Tunisian companies painful to run internationally. It requires at least 66% non-resident capital funded by imported convertible currency, so it must be designed at incorporation. Retrofitting it is not realistic.

Source: loi n° 2016-71; TIA

The exchange code being 'reformed' is a bill, not law, and treating it as law would be a serious error.

Tunisia's exchange regime still rests on a 1976 code. A 91-article replacement was tabled in October 2025, was the subject of parliamentary committee hearings through mid-2026, and would substantially liberalise foreign-currency accounts. Advisers and articles have begun describing its provisions in the present tense. Until it is voted and promulgated, the old code governs — and structuring a business on the assumption it has passed is exactly the kind of mistake that is expensive to unwind.

Source: ARP proceedings; press reporting

Common mistakes to avoid

Converting more foreign currency than you will spend and being unable to take the balance out.
Skipping the customs currency declaration on entry.
Discarding bureau de change and bank exchange receipts.
Incorporating an ordinary resident company and then discovering every foreign payment needs authorisation.
Planning around the draft exchange code as though it were in force.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.