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

[justdimin]

I am from Indonesia and the proof of funds for Indonesia visa is not that much $2000, but as far as I know I never heard crypto asset as proof of funds. And to my knowledge, currently, no country will accept Bitcoin as proof of funds for visa applications. Most countries still require more traditional forms of financial evidence, such as bank statements or credit cards, during any type of visa application process. A few immigration departments, such as New Zealand, may be prepared to consider crypto assets if an applicant can prove liquidity and ownership, but this is still very rare and considered on an individual case basis. Traditional fiat-based evidence remains the standard.

Unfortunately same is true for almost every European nation as well. I have some crypto and I wanted to show that as proof of funds, and yet they declined it and they didn't consider that as a valid way to show funds, so we had to just put money in there that we didn't really have, and that mattered the most. I think it's quite important to remember that we are dealing with something that's taking some time and we could consider that as a bigger deal than what we assumed we would and we shouldn't really consider this terrible.

Just realize that you could cash it out, show in fiat, and then get back in. Worst thing would be missing a few days, and while that few days could have some volatility, we could still get back in ,and I am sure it will be accepted as crypto one day.

[Ale88]

As for your friend, it's a real bummer, he or she should ask first on any the visa office first before doing such stuff, s/he would have save time if that's what s/he did.

Guys, let's be honest, what bummer? If his friend had a million dollars in the stock market it would have been the same thing, an embassy can't accept that as proof of funds because if there is any kind of emergency he needs to have money immediately available and money accepted by everyone. Cryptocurrencies are not accepted by everyone therefore he can't use them to pay. There are many cases where we can actually complain about the governments being against bitcoin but is not one of those.

[franky1]

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. 

these visa's are not about proof of wealth, these visa's are about having funds available on hand(easy access) to cover your visit so that you are not deemed as someone entering the country looking for work..
its also about avoiding someone coming to the country to then become a economic asylum seeker.
its also about avoiding someone coming in with funds obtained from criminal enterprises

in short, if someone cant afford to have legally sourced fiat on hand to take the trip, then how are they going to fund themselves during their stay
(you actually need money to spend on food and hotel so obviously you need to cash out some coin to pay for your visit)

[Huppercase]

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. 

My country still dislike Bitcoin particularly USDT because they think it's the reason why our local currency value has suffered loss when it's obvious there fault for defending the currency when it ought to have been open free. Bitcoin is still like a mosquito to my government, they give temporary solution to hide from it and want people they are suffocating with high inflation to join their badwagon but the people that are already in Bitcoin can't be stop.

If the country doesn't dislike Bitcoin but aren't ready to accept Bitcoin as proof, why not sell some of your Bitcoin and give them bank statement as evidence. If they ask you the source of that source, simply show them your Bitcoin investment and they will not ask you further. Even if they further ask you the source of the money used to buy the Bitcoin, you can explain as long as you used clean money and your application should be granted.

[Hispo]

Even though in my country Bitcoin is legal and the government has placed some regulations on it, specially on mining; I don't think it would be possible for someone coming from abroad to present Bitcoin as a proof of funds, though.
If I was your friend, I would have used some financial tools like Binance loans, to get a loan using Bitcoin as collateral and then, once he got enough USDT to justify his travel, deposit that money into his bank account for him to peace the officers in the embassy and their rules on what the definition on money is...
I personally would never try to use Bitcoin or other decentralized assets as proof of funds when traveling to other countries, I feel specially paranoid someone will try to get the little bit of Satoshis I have, because how corrupt this country can be, and their official personnel.

[Synchronice]

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.  

If your friend holds ten times more amount than the embassy is asking for, then your friend should logically have enough cash for a small trip. It's a business trip after all, isn't it? A business trip.

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.

Now you got the answer to your question. Crypto is volatile and that's why countries don't accept it as proof of funds. Your friend will be forced to sell some part of his crypto if he has no other cash or borrow it from a friend/relative.

these visa's are not about proof of wealth, these visa's are about having funds available on hand(easy access) to cover your visit so that you are not deemed as someone entering the country looking for work..
its also about avoiding someone coming to the country to then become a economic asylum seeker.
its also about avoiding someone coming in with funds obtained from criminal enterprises

in short, if someone cant afford to have legally sourced fiat on hand to take the trip, then how are they going to fund themselves during their stay
(you actually need money to spend on food and hotel so obviously you need to cash out some coin to pay for your visit)

You described their purpose exactly and in details but to be fair, this is stupid. People still manage to start work in a foreign country or become an economic asylum seekers. They work illegally in factories or in farms and get better payment than they would get in their homeland. I have a friend who lives in Ireland and I know from her that people cut their passports and flush it in the toilet on Airplane and then somehow the government of Ireland accepts them.
I think that the world would be better if there was an accent about quality, educated and active workforce. It's very easy for a totally useless refugee to come in EU country but it's hard for those who are good workers and simply want to have a better salary by working in rich countries.

[LDL]

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 only possible in countries like El Salvador.
If I go to a bank or passport office in my country to show bitcoins as proof of funds, my only destination will be jail.
Even though my country ranks 35th in the world in terms of Bitcoin usage, Bitcoin is strictly prohibited in my country.
So my country's banks and government have put in place strict laws to control the use of Bitcoin.  So we can never show Bitcoin as proof fund in bank or passport office as collateral for visa processing.

[Z_MBFM]

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. 

El Salvador is one of the first countries to consider Bitcoin as legal tender. And everything can be done with Bitcoin in that country but not in all countries. Bitcoins can be proof of funds or source of funds in countries where governments tax the use or holding of bitcoins. If I want to talk about my country. Bitcoin is still completely illegal in my country so it is not possible to disable it as a fund here. Legal action may be taken against anyone who does this. So if you ask about my country then I will say it is not possible in my country in any way.

[dothebeats]

Even though everyone knows that bitcoin does have an equivalent amount in fiat, there's still not a lot of places that accept it, hence not making it easy to spend and making it more of an asset and not 'money' per se.

At the current state of bitcoin where a lot of people deem it as an investment, it's like presenting X amount of stocks in a company to the immigration officer or whoever it is that mans the helm of the visa application in your country. You cannot really tell that it's funds, as it's not liquid and fluctuate in value over time. If the 'show money' that they require is $5,000, and you have $5,000 in bitcoin, even in just a minute it can be $4,950 or even lower. Hence the reasoning as to why they do not accept it as proof of funds.

If I were your friend and I were to go to another country for a very important business meeting, I would muster the required amount of money for proof that I am capable of sustaining myself and visiting that said country. I would count it as a business expense, and would prepare heavily as this means profit or loss to me.

With that said, if your friend has a business, he must always have liquid funds for things like this. I get that he heavily invested in bitcoins (I mean, who wouldn't at this point?), but it's an entirely different stuff as it's an "investment" and not funds to spend. The point of visa application asking for proof of funds is to let them know that you wouldn't do illegal stuff in the country you are supposed to visit, i.e. working for money without the right permits or whatever else you can do to sustain yourself while you're in there.

[Nothingtodo]

It goes without saying that if Bitcoin can be shown as Proof of Fund, Bitcoin will take another step forward. However, if Bitcoin could be adopted in all the countries of the world, then maybe there would be a different revolution of Bitcoin, but in reality it is not possible to do this without two countries. Most of the world is still opposed to Bitcoin so taking such a revolutionary step will take a long time.  But the future world must accept Bitcoin as Proof of Fund.

[Mpamaegbu]

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.

That friend of yours is just like me. I hate the idea of leaving money in fiat. It's a waste as inflation easily eats that up. If I were him and I'm faced with such a scenario, I would convert my crypto hodlings to fiat just to quickly pep up my proof of funds and once that's done I revert to cryptos. Yes, agreed they could be some lose of revenue from that conversion as fees but I could still gain if the coins dip too between the time I'm waiting to be cleared for the PoF thing and when I'm buying back. It will be self inflicted pain if one has an item to liberate oneself and then fail to utilize it. What matters is using what one has to get what one wants.

My country will not accept Bitcoin because the government is anti-crypto.

Your country, just like many others in Africa, is sadly retrogressive on cryptocurrency. It's going to be to their disadvantage soon. Maybe it's already.

[FinneysTrueVision]

At the current state of bitcoin where a lot of people deem it as an investment, it's like presenting X amount of stocks in a company to the immigration officer or whoever it is that mans the helm of the visa application in your country. You cannot really tell that it's funds, as it's not liquid and fluctuate in value over time. If the 'show money' that they require is $5,000, and you have $5,000 in bitcoin, even in just a minute it can be $4,950 or even lower. Hence the reasoning as to why they do not accept it as proof of funds.

Ownership of stocks is accepted as valid proof of funds when applying for a U.S. visa and some other countries too.
https://jp.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/k-checklist/k-affidavit/

Any source of income can be declared so I assume they would take your Bitcoin holdings into consideration. I would expect liquid assets to be preferable but there is no specific requirement that you need to hold a specific minimum amount in fiat as far as I’m aware.

[Z-tight]

Ownership of stocks is accepted as valid proof of funds when applying for a U.S. visa and some other countries too.
https://jp.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/k-checklist/k-affidavit/

While you may be allowed to present stocks as a valid proof of funds when applying for a visa to the U.S., i don't think it is the best thing to do of you want your visa to be approved, neither do i think you can present only your ownership of assets like stocks, without backing it up with your bank statements or that of a sponsor, that shows you also have liquid cash.

Owning stocks does not mean you have easily accessible cash to fund your trip, the value of your shares can also take a hit, which will affect your financial situation if you have already been granted visa into the country. I don't think there is even a chance for BTC to be considered.

[FortuneFollower]

If he’s able to obtain the certificate, he might also want to include other forms of documentation that showcase his financial stability. A detailed statement from his crypto wallet could also work in his favor, showing consistent activity over time rather than just a lump sum.

Yeah, and even then - actions speak louder that any words.
Only time will tell.

[Franctoshi]

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.

This might even worsen the whole situation, imagine showing someone that has no idea about Bitcoin won't even understand anything here,  and secondly implicating yourself, if this is to be my country and you present a proof of funds via Bitcoin transaction, it can even attract so many questions which might even lead them to investigating and delaying the whole visa process and may think you're into some sort of online scamming when you present to them this blockchain transaction. This friend of his would have no option in case this is all the money he got than to liquidate some amount of Bitcoin greater than or equal to the amount of money requested to approve his visa .

[Taskford]

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.

This might even worsen the whole situation, imagine showing someone that has no idea about Bitcoin won't even understand anything here,  and secondly implicating yourself, if this is to be my country and you present a proof of funds via Bitcoin transaction, it can even attract so many questions which might even lead them to investigating and delaying the whole visa process and may think you're into some sort of online scamming when you present to them this blockchain transaction. This friend of his would have no option in case this is all the money he got than to liquidate some amount of Bitcoin greater than or equal to the amount of money requested to approve his visa .

Best thing to do in that situation is to ask the officers if they are accepting bitcoin as proof of funds. If in case they didn't accept bitcoin then one thing his friend could able to do is to withdraw his funds from bitcoin then use it as a proof so that he could go on the country he want.

Also this is good article to read regarding on the topic what OP want to raise here https://cointelegraph.com/news/can-crypto-be-used-to-prove-financial-independence-for-travel-visas provably that this could give an idea to people who got confuse about rules implemented by the authorities.

[Doan9269]

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. 

Of course bitcoin should be able to serve as proof of fund in countries where bitcoin is seen and accepted as a legal tender or an approved legal means of making payments by its government, since we can also download and request for a bitcoin statement of account, there is nothing stopping it form being used in the same way we have been using fiat as a proof of account statement.

[adultcrypto]

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. 

Of course bitcoin should be able to serve as proof of fund in countries where bitcoin is seen and accepted as a legal tender or an approved legal means of making payments by its government, since we can also download and request for a bitcoin statement of account, there is nothing stopping it form being used in the same way we have been using fiat as a proof of account statement.

Unfortunately, in my country, if you present bitcoin as proof of funds, you will have more problems than you will be able to handle. Our governments frown out bitcoin and have no stable policy about it and have been on steady crackdown on users of bitcoin and other crypto. However, this does not deter people from buying and holding bitcoin, instead it created greater publicity and interest among the younger people. So, to avoid playing into the hands of the authorities, it is not advisable to present bitcoin as a proof of funds as that may complicate things so greatly. I think it is only in few countries that it is possible to use bitcoin as a proof of funds.

[Samlucky O]

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. 

Most countries will not accept Bitcoin as a proof of funds neither will my country because they still think Bitcoin is not to be taken seriously as a currency or asset. Bitcoin is volatile and the price of your investments can reduced or increased  depending on when it gets viewed therefore they will want a fiats statement of account. Better your friend just sell some Bitcoin and have fiats that he will use for the verification and go on his business trips. We should not be having our money in just one thing because we do not know what tomorrow holds. Betting on Bitcoin is a good move but we still need fiats for some important things like proof of funds, therefore we should also have emergency money in our accounts that can be used for this type of verification and for other things that might come up.

I agree with you because bitcoin is volatile in nature which implies that it may add or reduce when sent to the recipient. Emagine paying for something in bitcoin at current price of $92k and after sometimes it fell to $88k so surely the recipient may panic. So they will like to use a more stable coin like USDT or Fiat to avoid volatile. Actually not all country will like to use bitcoin as a proof of fund or Visa application.