Can Bitcoin be used as proof of funds during visa application in your country?

[Z-tight]

No, I can understand why the embassy do not want to accept that as a proof of funds, because anyone can bring a wallet and show a balance and then transfer those funds back to their friends after they received approval for their VISA application.

The applicant could be asked to sign a BTC message, i know it still does not stop one from receiving funds into their address from their family or friends and signing a message, but they can start from there. They could also put the applicants address in a block explorer to check past and future tx's and see how long the person has held the funds for and how frequently they have made tx's, this can also help to prove if the applicant truly owns the funds.

However, i don't think BTC will ever be accepted as POF in this case, things like landed properties are also not accepted, as far as i know. They want to ensure that the applicant has enough liquid funds to take care of themselves and handle their business if their visa is approved, so they will always prefer a detailed bank statement or record.

[The Cryptovator]

My country doesn't allow to use cryptocurrency, so even if the embassy allows it, we can't submit my bitcoin holdings during my visa application. I am not sure yet if any embassy accepts crypto statements instead of bank statements. If they accept it, then it's very easy to verify the statement. No need to call the bank or verify manually. Yes, it's quite disappointing for those who are crypto investors. Even we have a lot of funds in crypto but can't submit it for a Visa application. So I am more disappointed that my country doesn't allow using Bitcoin. I hope someday they will understand Bitcoin and make it legal. 

[SatoPrincess]

Is your friend a first time traveler? Because this is what it looks like.

It doesn’t matter if you have a impressive travel history, proof of funds is necessary if you’re traveling to a foreign country. It’s a way for the government to know that you can afford to take care of your needs during your stay.

Proof of funds must be in your country's denomination which is the required standard and nothing else.

Not true. Proof of funds can include foreign currency in your domiciliary savings account. 
I know someone who was denied US visa because he mentioned crypto as his proof of funds during his visa interview. So no, crypto cannot be used as proof of funds in Nigeria.

[CoinFoxs]

No, as Bitcoin is not accepted as proper mode of payment or source of income here in my country, only sources of income from government or private jobs accepted for visa application. And the people doing physical business or own lands in country can use these funds for visa application for any country. Bitcoin is not legal in many countries so we can’t use it as source of income.

[serjent05]

I suspect that countries like El Salvador might accept Bitcoin for such proof. How is the situation in your own country? My country will not accept Bitcoin because the government is anti-crypto. 

Although Bitcoin is accepted as mode of payment in my country, I do not think it can be used as source of funds during visa application.  The possible main reason is that Bitcoin is highly volatile and  as far as I know Bitcoin is yet to be recognized as legal tender, so there is an issue with it in government regulation.  Aside from that, the institution are more concerned about the source or origin of the funds than the funds themselves, reason why Bitcoin is not accepted in most country as proof of funds.

There is really no other way for your friend but to sell his Bitcoins to have legitimate proof of funds.

[iBaba]

My country doesn't allow to use cryptocurrency, so even if the embassy allows it, we can't submit my bitcoin holdings during my visa application. I am not sure yet if any embassy accepts crypto statements instead of bank statements. If they accept it, then it's very easy to verify the statement. No need to call the bank or verify manually. Yes, it's quite disappointing for those who are crypto investors. Even we have a lot of funds in crypto but can't submit it for a Visa application. So I am more disappointed that my country doesn't allow using Bitcoin. I hope someday they will understand Bitcoin and make it legal. 

I don't think some embassies in my country will even agree with receipts from the conventional online or digital  banks talk more of Bitcoin which has not been embraced by the government of the day. I will be surprised if the embassies decide to take cryptocurrencies including bitcoin for their visa applications. Maybe countries like El-Salvador that have taken the bold step in adopting bitcoin which should also translate to what I'm saying here.

[Dzwaafu11]

This young man has invested heavily in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that he might not be able to present the minimum amount they want in his fiat account. But he can present ten times more than the amount the embassy is asking if they want it in cryptocurrency.

There are many investments that cannot be used as proof of funds, so it will be no surprise if they do not accept bitcoin. You know that not only because bitcoin is legal and accepted in a country, the embassy may have their own regulations that they follow, or maybe they only need the fiat currency that such countries use to proof this.

However, your friend made a mistake by investing everything in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Regardless of your investment, make sure you have money to spend on emergency things like this. Crypto investment is for a long time, and this kind of situation can make someone sell out their investment in a loss of care they are not taking.  

[Questat]

Nope, even stock, gold, real estate didn't qualify as proof of funds, so I'm not surprising to see Bitcoin didn't qualify too. However, I'm shocked that your friends didn't have emergency funds, no matter how big your trust in investment, you need emergency funds in order to prevent you to sell your investment at loss.

The proof of funds isn't big because your friend only apply for tourist visa, not working or skill visa.

Yeah this would be different for El Salvador since they treat Bitcoin is same to fiat.

Of course, El Salvador has been accepting bitcoin like fiat, so most likely it's already considered proof of funds knowing bitcoin is already a legal tender on their country.

However, with my own country, bitcoin is still not accepted as a real currency so definitely, it won't be considered as a proof of funds as well. And when it will be accepted, that's still uncertain for now.

[Onyeeze]

Bitcoin is a decentralized currency and since it is a decentralized currency worldwide government have not accepted the Bitcoin as a legal tender so I believe that that will make a Bitcoin when you purchase it or when you want to use it to make a payment it will be a proper agreement between you and your client or the business person that you want to make a payment with Bitcoin so if the person agree or accepted your payment you can make a payment with the Bitcoin but the process whereby the person or the company do not embrace bitcoin transaction I think that you make your payment with the Fiat currency

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

The proof of fund during visa application is not acceptable in cryptocurrency, it is usually required to be in your bank account and according to the two process that I have witnessed, that money is supposed to be dormant in your account for a period of one to two months without you touching the money. It has been like that for years now and if there was any change to that, one person in this crypto community will definitely share the news.

[Smartvirus]

The embassy is insisting that although Bitcoin is legal in the country, they cannot accept it as proof of funds. The guy is a little bit frustrated because he is been forced to sell his coin prematurely in other to present the amount they are requesting. The visit is for an important business where he needs to test run and evaluate some equipment he wants to acquire. Taking a loan might not be appropriate since the embassy wants to see the flow of cash and not just a lump sum.

You can’t eat your cake and still have it they say.

You wouldn’t expect the embassy to deal a currency other than there’s. They would always seek an acceptable currency within its jurisdiction to serve this purpose of a proof.
It’s left for your friend to determine what is of the most importance. If it’s entirely necessary that he goes and not have a third party test run the equipments for him or perhaps he has to sell just what is need and after the whole trip, reinvest them coins.

If possible, he could try out some Bitcoin collateral loans and repay once the deal is done.

[Ale88]

A friend wants to visit a country and they were enquiring for proof of funds for him to be issued a Visa. This young man has invested heavily in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that he might not be able to present the minimum amount they want in his fiat account. But he can present ten times more than the amount the embassy is asking if they want it in cryptocurrency.

The embassy is insisting that although Bitcoin is legal in the country, they cannot accept it as proof of funds. The guy is a little bit frustrated because he is been forced to sell his coin prematurely in other to present the amount they are requesting. The visit is for an important business where he needs to test run and evaluate some equipment he wants to acquire. Taking a loan might not be appropriate since the embassy wants to see the flow of cash and not just a lump sum.

I suspect that countries like El Salvador might accept Bitcoin for such proof. How is the situation in your own country? My country will not accept Bitcoin because the government is anti-crypto. 

I don't think this case has anything to do with a government which is pro or anti cryptocurrencies, it's more about the fact that they want to see fiat money that you can use immediately in case of necessity. You could own hundreds or thousand of stocks worth millions but that is not want they want to see as proof because you can't use them directly, before you need to sell them. Bitcoin is the same case.

[davis196]

This young man has invested heavily in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that he might not be able to present the minimum amount they want in his fiat account. But he can present ten times more than the amount the embassy is asking if they want it in cryptocurrency.

If he owns ten times more in crypto than the required fiat amount, then why is it such a big deal for him to sell 10% of his crypto holdings for fiat? Selling 10% of your crypto most likely wouldn't destroy his crypto portfolio and I don't think that he is going to miss any big crypto profits, since the crypto market seems kinda stagnant right now.
I live in country, that is a member of the European Union, so I can travel in all EU countries without a visa. I don't know the procedure of issuing a visa for a country in another continent, but I'm sure that no country would accept crypto as a proof of funds.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

The embassy is insisting that although Bitcoin is legal in the country, they cannot accept it as proof of funds. The guy is a little bit frustrated because he is been forced to sell his coin prematurely in other to present the amount they are requesting. The visit is for an important business where he needs to test run and evaluate some equipment he wants to acquire. Taking a loan might not be appropriate since the embassy wants to see the flow of cash and not just a lump sum.

In that case, for me I think generating your address transaction via the Blockchair explorer would have been a better idea while using your Bitcoin wallet address, because it is exactly a typical example of a statement which shows an inflow and outflow of steady income, because he could tell those people that he works in an online firm, whereby he is been paid weekly through Bitcoin, as could be shown in this statement below which I was able to generate via using Blockchair explorer.

[Pokapoka124]

In that case, for me I think generating your address transaction via the Blockchair explorer would have been a better idea while using your Bitcoin wallet address, because it is exactly a typical example of a statement which shows an inflow and outflow of steady income, because he could tell those people that he works in an online firm, whereby he is been paid weekly through Bitcoin, as could be shown in this statement below which I was able to generate via using Blockchair explorer.

All they can see is just ones and zeroes on a digital screen. Do they even understand Bitcoin? The visa officials will not accept bitcoin as “real money”. Even if you show them records of your bitcoin transactions as wage information, they cannot accept it as pay stubs. How can they be sure you own the address? How can they know if it’s not a watch-only wallet? There are just too many unknowns and visa officers do not like having to deal with unknowns in their paperwork. What they are looking for is fiat. All this could be been avoided if the OP’s friend had done his homework before making the visa application.

[Wiwo]

A friend wants to visit a country and they were enquiring for proof of funds for him to be issued a Visa. This young man has invested heavily in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that he might not be able to present the minimum amount they want in his fiat account. But he can present ten times more than the amount the embassy is asking if they want it in cryptocurrency.

The embassy is insisting that although Bitcoin is legal in the country, they cannot accept it as proof of funds. The guy is a little bit frustrated because he is been forced to sell his coin prematurely in other to present the amount they are requesting. The visit is for an important business where he needs to test run and evaluate some equipment he wants to acquire. Taking a loan might not be appropriate since the embassy wants to see the flow of cash and not just a lump sum.

I suspect that countries like El Salvador might accept Bitcoin for such proof. How is the situation in your own country? My country will not accept Bitcoin because the government is anti-crypto. 

one of the reason why we hold bitcoin some time for for such emergency and one good thing with bitcoin is that it always give you the opportunity to buy back at even a probably cheaper price, so instead of the dude to be sad about the whole thing he has taken the decision to liquate his asset to cover up for his traveling demand, most of the countries around the world probably prefer visitors prove of funds to be in local currency, some go as far as checking the banking history of the applicant.

if you want a country where your bitcoin asset can be used as a prove of funds, you should be looking at countries like El Salvador whose law allowed for automatic citizen to visitors who have certain amount of bitcoin in they wallet.

[Zlantann]

Yeah, a lot of places are still pretty strict about accepting only traditional fiat as proof of funds, even if crypto is legal. El Salvador is an exception since they've embraced Bitcoin, but most countries stick with traditional currencies. And Dubai too, I heard they can use it as proof.

I checked the UAE Visa Information on the Emerate website and the information that Dubai accepts cryptocurrencies as proof of funds is not available there. Dubai has been crypto friendly but they are not accepting it for the above purpose. Maybe you can share a link where you got the information.

one of the reason why we hold bitcoin some time for for such emergency and one good thing with bitcoin is that it always give you the opportunity to buy back at even a probably cheaper price, so instead of the dude to be sad about the whole thing he has taken the decision to liquate his asset to cover up for his traveling demand, most of the countries around the world probably prefer visitors prove of funds to be in local currency, some go as far as checking the banking history of the applicant.

Selling some part of his holding and presenting it in fiat would have been the easiest pathway. But we are all aware of how the market is now. Selling now is not a good move since the price of Bitcoin has dropped significantly. I don't think he would consider such an option.

[Cookdata]

The embassy is insisting that although Bitcoin is legal in the country, they cannot accept it as proof of funds. The guy is a little bit frustrated because he is been forced to sell his coin prematurely in other to present the amount they are requesting. The visit is for an important business where he needs to test run and evaluate some equipment he wants to acquire. Taking a loan might not be appropriate since the embassy wants to see the flow of cash and not just a lump sum.

I suspect that countries like El Salvador might accept Bitcoin for such proof. How is the situation in your own country? My country will not accept Bitcoin because the government is anti-crypto. 

This is simple unless the embassy want to complicate things, if there is a receipt of what he used to buy the Bitcoin, that's enough. Since he has 10 times of what th embassy are requesting, there is no harm in selling some to get money into his account, the fund can be accepted under investment cash flow and it will definitely be accepted if he submitted his account to the embassy, he can use the money to buy Bitcoin again after reaching his destination.

I can't remember but I remembered El Salvador given some privilege to people owing Bitcoin this year or so, since the country is legally binded with Bitcoin, they should but your friend is going to another destination I think. Perhaps if there is a way of shortcut From El Salvador to your friend destination, you should put a try but I don't think it will be that easy, you will definitely spend.

[Finestream]

I suspect that countries like El Salvador might accept Bitcoin for such proof.

In El Salvador, they might accept it as proof, but I can't say for sure that other countries would accept it like that.

How is the situation in your own country? My country will not accept Bitcoin because the government is anti-crypto.  

There's no story to tell about the Bitcoin situation like other countries that have legalized Bitcoin. However, we are grateful that the government has not banned Bitcoin as a commodity asset even though Bitcoin is prohibited as a means of payment.

Except El Salvador, the rest of the countries are still hesitant to use it as a legal tender, hence bitcoin can't be considered as a source of funds during visa application most especially in my country. However, you are right, let's just be grateful because bitcoin is still legalized as a good store of value or commodity asset, at least we still have the potentials to get rich not maybe with fiat but with bitcoin.

[Ndabagi01]

I suspect that countries like El Salvador might accept Bitcoin for such proof. How is the situation in your own country? My country will not accept Bitcoin because the government is anti-crypto. 

If you even show this in your country where they’re strictly against crypto, they can even get you arrested as to why you’re holding crypto when it is highly prohibited by all citizens to own and trade with them. I won’t even think of doing that when I know my government is anti-crypto, it’ll make me more vulnerable to the public (government agencies) if I do that.

Nope, even stock, gold, real estate didn't qualify as proof of funds, so I'm not surprising to see Bitcoin didn't qualify too. However, I'm shocked that your friends didn't have emergency funds, no matter how big your trust in investment, you need emergency funds in order to prevent you to sell your investment at loss.

Bitcoin to some people is an asset just like gold, real estate etc, so it can’t be used as a proof of funds when applying for visa. Where bitcoin is legally used and a means of payment and services, I think such countries will accept it as a proof of fund. In this case, we can’t tell if the friend may have emergency funds with him but it might not be enough to show as a proof of funds that will make him qualify for the visa. What was he thinking if he doesn’t have fiat to spend in the country he’s going to, he will definitely have to convert there if he doesn’t now, so I feel he has some funds but not enough to allow him qualify for the visa.