Show Money Tips for Visa Applications - What to do if you don't have money on your bank account?

What to do if you don't have money on your bank account? Do you really need to have show money to get an approved tourist visa? Here are my tips for this visa application requirement!

One of the struggles of holding a Philippine Passport is the tedious visa applications that we have to go through every time we visit certain countries like the USA, Canada, Japan, China, Schengen Countries, and a whole lot more.  As if the flight and hotel expenses aren’t enough, you’d also have to add Visa Fees and the amount to get all those requirements in your tight travel budget.

One common requirement in all these visa requirements is the Bank Statement and Bank Certificate Within The Last 3 Months. While these 2 documents are different, both just want to prove the same thing: that you have the necessary funds to finance your trip to the country where you’re applying for a visa. The problem arises when you have an insufficient balance in your account pero ganun na lang ba yun? Suko na agad? I don’t think so. There are other ways to prove that you can finance your trip and here’s how! :)

BANK STATEMENT OR BANK CERTIFICATE?

These are two completely different documents. Some embassies require any of those but some require both. A Bank Statement shows a list of transactions for the given period and a Bank Certificate is an official statement from the bank that the applicant has an account in that branch with such amount in a given period. You should get it with the Bank stamp and signature of the Branch Manager.

I suggest you submit both of them. If you’re based abroad then use the local bank that you’re using and use the online banking statement that you have in the Philippines if you still have your savings in Pinas.

WHY ARE EMBASSIES REQUIRING A SHOW MONEY FOR VISA APPLICATIONS?

They are requiring this for the reason that they want to be sure that you have the necessary funds to finance for your trip and that you’ll be visiting their country for legitimate reasons. Ayaw nila ng mga “kunwaring turista” or “turistang parasite” who will just deplete their resources. If you’re going to visit their country for tourism, you must have something to bring to the economy. Dapat may pang gastos ka dahil kung wala, anong point para bigyan ka ng visa, di ba?

HOW MUCH SHOULD I HAVE IN MY BANK ACCOUNT?

They said you should have enough to cover the ‘living expenses’ in the country you’re visiting. This would amount to Flight Expenses + Hotel Expenses + Food Expenses + Tour Expenses during the entire duration of your stay. Here’s an estimate of how much you should have in your bank account:

• Netherlands – 34 Euros/day.

• Germany – 45 Euros/day.

• New Zealand - NZD 1,000/month or NZD 400 if you have already paid for your accommodation.

• Turkey - 50 USD/day.

• Croatia- 70 Euros/day or 30 Euros/day if you are in possession of proof of paid tour package or similar document.

• Canada- At least 200 CAD/day plus flight and accommodation expenses.

• Korea- At least 50,000 Php but I know people who have less than that but still got approved.

• France- More or less 60 Euros/day but you can have less if you have a sponsor

• Greece- More or less 25 Euros/day

• Spain- 60 Euros/day

• For United Kingdom, no requirements but I suggest minimum of 100 GBP per day.

• For United States of America (USA), no bank account requirements; they need to know your salary/

Make sure that you will not use your entire life savings for a trip that would only last for 2 weeks.. so you need those minimum amount of money aside from the savings that you still can use when you go home.

WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE A BANK ACCOUNT?

Then you need to open one and make sure you have the account for at least 3 months. Sobrang dali na lang mag open ng Bank Account ngayon. Most of the banks only require 2 Valid IDs, Water/electricity/cellphone Bill under your registered address, and the money to open the account (usually 500 Pesos).

WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH OR I HAVE NO MONEY ON MY BANK ACCOUNT?

Now we’ve come to the real purpose of this post. Paano nga kung hindi kalakihan ang laman ng bank account mo? Ano? Magkukulong ka na lang sa bahay? Wag ganun! Hindi basehan ng pagkuha ng visa ang madaming pera kundi ang proof lang na meron kang consistent source of income.

NEVER ASK your boyfriend or sponsor to transfer a big amount of money to your bank account.. it will be a RED FLAG! Don’t do that.. follow my tips below!

There are many ways to prove that you can finance your trip! Here are 5 examples:

1) LOOK FOR A SPONSOR

A sponsor is a person or a company who is going to support your trip financially. This person could be your parents, friend, or boyfriend. Pag may sponsor ka from the Philippines, they have to execute an “Affidavit of Support” and then have it notarized. Ang mangyayari dyan, you’ll submit your sponsor’s Bank Statement/Bank Certificate and other documents proving their financial capacity instead of yours. This way, hindi na kailangan makita ng Embassy ang laman ng bank mo.

Question 1: “What if foreigner / non-Filipino ang sponsor mo living in another country?” Ayan ibang usapan na yan. They need to have certain documents which the Embassy requires. Iba iba to per country so you better check the requirements from the Embassy’s Website. For example, Here's How A Legal Resident In The UK Can Sponsor Your UK Tourist Visa.

You also have to show proof of your relationship with the sponsor and make sure they’d be happy to submit their latest bank statements and invitation letter to support your application.

REMEMBER, hindi porket may sponsor ka e sure na approved na ang visa mo that’s why I always say galaw galaw din tayo dyan!

Question 2: “What if I’m a student?” Depending on your age, you could have your own Bank Account. Assuming you don’t have one, then you should submit a Notarized Affidavit of Support from your parents, together with their Financial Documents.

In addition, you should also submit your Birth Certificate proving your relationship with them.

2) ATTACH YOUR CERTIFICATE OF EMPLOYMENT or BUSINESS OWNERSHIP

They don’t solely look at your Bank Certificate/Bank statement. Kaya nga tayo may “Set of Requirements” because they look at our financial capacity as a whole. They don’t only look at how much you have in your bank account. Rather, they want to see kung may pumapasok ba na money in our bank account regularly. Sometimes you also need to submit your ITR pero kung minimum wage ka naman then okay lang kahit wala so submit the payslip or work contract.

Question 1: “What if I own a business?” Then you need to submit a Business Certificate pati na din ang ITR ng company mo. Not only this will show na financially capable ka, this will also prove your deep-rootedness and wala kang balak mag TNT dahil hindi mo pababayaan ang negosyo mo.

Question 2: “What if yung business ko ay sari-sari store or cellphone loading business na walang Business Certificate?” In this case, you can submit a Barangay Certificate, a photo of you with/in your store, and a detailed detailed letter explaining your monthly source of income and expenses.

3) SHOW OTHER SOURCES OF INCOME

Let’s say may pinapa rentahan kang apartment pero hindi lang talaga nagbabayad yung nagrerenta kaya walang pumapasok masyado sa bank account mo or most of it napupunta din sa pagbayad ng mortgage fees. The best thing to do is to also attach a copy of your Lease Contract to prove that you really have a source of income.

This way, hindi man ma prove na financially capable ka for now, they could see how deep-rooted you are and they could see that this could have been a steady source of income. Another document to prove this could be the Business Registration Certificate if you have a business or Paypal Transactions if you’re a Digital Nomad.

If you receive monthly allowance/ remittance from your partner, gather all the receipts and organize mo 3 original receipt in 1 bond paper then photocopy mo so you have a copy of the receipt that you can submit on your visa application.

Question 1: “What if I’m a Former OFW and just returned to the Philippines with savings?” Then I assume you’ll have quite a sum on your Bank Account and wala kang magiging problema. I suggest you write a very nice Cover Letter para pasok sa banga! We can help you with that!

4) SHOW PROOF OF PROPERTY OWNERSHIP

Like what I said kanina, they look at the totality of your circumstances. Hindi lang yung laman ng bank account mo. Your Bank Account may have not much but once they look at your Land Titles, Condominium Unit Titles, Car Registration, Investment on Stocks, etc., they would understand why you don’t have much in your Bank Account dahil ininvest mo pala sa mga mas makabuluhang bagay. This will also prove deep rootedness.

5) AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, DON’T RESORT TO FUND TRANSFER SCHEME

Eto yung mangungutang ka tapos isang bagsakan mo ilalagay sa Bank Account mo yung pera. While this may look good for your bank balance, this isn’t very attractive for Consuls because they know exactly what you did and why you did it. Alam na alam na nila yang mga ganyang drama natin! If you don’t have any other choice, I suggest wag ka magpahalata! If you’re planning to travel, then 6 months ahead of your trip mangutang ka na at onti onti mong ipasok sa bank account mo. Wag kang obvious!!

OTHER TIPS FOR YOUR SHOW MONEY PROBLEM:

WRITE A NICE AND DETAILED COVER LETTER. This is a very important document which could make or break your Visa Application. If you’re not confident with what you wrote, don’t be ashamed to ask help from people you know. You need to write it in English and make sure it is free from grammatical errors dahil that’s the only time you could convey a message to the person in charge of your visa application. Kung mali mali yung grammar mo, paano ka nya maiintindihan diba? Busy silang tao, they take time to read your letters but they wouldn’t find the time to interpret it kung mali yung mga nakasulat. Neither will they call you to ask kung ano ba ang ibig sabihin mo dun sa letter mo. If you need help, Jonathan offers a Cover Letter Writing Service which you can use for several Visa Applications (you just have to edit it).

SHOW PROOF OF YOUR ROOTEDNESS. This is another factor that is very important for your Visa Applications. Here are 7 Ways On How You Can Prove Deep Rootedness or Deep Ties In Your Country.

This is all for this post! Laging tandaan, hindi lang Bank Statement at Bank Certificate ang tinitignan nila kaya kung walang masyadong laman ang account nyo, wag kayo panghihinaan ng loob. Kung yun lang pala ang kino consider nila, sana yun nalang ang requirement na hiningi diba?? Good luck on your visa application! :)

FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS BELOW!