@Tristan ********

how long do you expect to wait before you can send your EUR over? Trying to time my own transfer... I'm not in a rush, just wondering if I should expect to hold off a few more weeks or a few more months.

@Greg *******

I'm surprised they asked for an English test even for a work visa! It's bad enough that the UK requires it for the study visa. I hope one day that dumb requirement will be dropped by both VFS and the UK gov.

@Greg *******

about the English test, I guess your friend was applying for the edu visa? A friend of mine did his high school in Singapore and college in Switzerland, all in prestigious English speaking schools, and worked for English speaking companies. He still had to take the IELTS to get the edu visa for a short course in the UK. I personally find that absurd, though it's not VFS' fault but a UK requirement, no?

@Stuart ********

thanks! Otherwise I'll be so fucked because it's literally legally impossible for a Vietnamese to receive more than ~$7100 from Viet Nam every year via bank transfer. And I would have to physically be in VN and sign the papers to make the transfer.

So I take it I won't be able to get Non O retirement visa in the future either unless I manage to open a bank account in my name in a 3rd country with higher outbound transfer limit from VN.

@Frank *********

isn't Non ED and Non O guardian's extension multiple entry too? Or are they single entry? Because they still need to buy re entry permit separately, no? I haven't gone through one so idk

@John ********

I keep a tiny amount in Wise and Revolut for travel booking's deposits, and I use Revolut virtual card to pay for small transactions while traveling. Is that a problem?

@Ivan ***********

piggybacking question since you seem knowledgeable: my bank in VN can send USD or THB, same fee but their USD rate is better. Do Thai banks charge a fee for receiving USD? Am I better off sending USD or THB? (I'm from Viet Nam)

@Paul ********

does is need to show as an international transfer from yourself to yourself? Because that's 100% impossible for me. My country only allows a person living in Thailand to receive $7100 from my country each year, and if I want to make the wire, I'd have to be in person in my country to do that.

I asked a friend living in Thailand to help. I sent her money to her bank in our country, and she sent me the equivalent in THB to my bank here. Can't you send GPB to your wife and she sends THB to your Thai bank?

@Greg *******

If you stay in Thailand just over 90 days each time, you'd have to go to IO each time. That's why I said 95-100 days each stay as an example.

@Stephan **********

Good for you, that's you. Not everyone else is you. Some of us live far away from IOs without personal transportation, so going to the "local" IO every few months can be a whole ordeal. Some of us are old or sick or disabled and struggle to make the trip. Some of us are too ADHD to comfortably navigate this much bureaucracy, the frequent requirements generate a lot of extra mental load. Some are multiple of those things and more. It's a diverse world.

The process has been simplified, perhaps, but let's not kid ourselves that so many of these steps have to be this burdensome, or that there has to be so many steps.

(Personally, I keep beating myself up for not trying to move to the US or some EU country this time instead because I know for a fact that it's a million times simpler for me. But from the outside, without any frame of reference, I did not realize it would be this convoluted)