I'm in a similar situation. But, I wouldn't forbid him to come back or visit.

@Boonlert ****

Yes, they did.

I saw expats in Malaysia laughing at it in their community. I'm not making this up.

Rules are arbitrary in practice.

The regular post office is actually not bad.

How about Malaysia? I would be interested to know myself.

When my high school group travelled to a different country, some of our students were asked to carry some checks to bring the money to be spent abroad. I was one of the carriers and I was 14.

Different offices and different officers seem to have different interpretations. We will know what their true intentions are in the coming years. However, I think many countries are becoming isolationists after COVID-19. As an example, Malaysia virtually stopped the MM2H program. Expats may face increasingly bad times everywhere.

In all national parks I visited, they never accepted non-o spouse visa stamp on my passport as a proof of long term residency in my past experience. I spend a long time explaining, but official rules don't apply in these islands and mountains. I think vast majority seems to take the driver's license as some kind of long term residency. When they see a passport, they see a potential competitor to be exploited in my opinion. Some are quite insecure and hostile.

Joe Mann Yes. They give me a break when I use an international license in other countries.