As I need to do a visa run soon as my 180 days are running out in 2 months I think that I’m going to Hawaii in August as they are reopening on August, 1st. My visitor visa which is a visa label can’t be converted into a resident visa based on marriage as they refuse to accept correctly legalized name change documents legalized in the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwanese embassy (TECO) in Bangkok. I think that everything is manageable as all I need is a to do a COVID-19 test just before I go to Hawaii and make a reservation of a quarantine hotel in Taipei and before going back to Taipei I would need to do a COVID-19 test in Honolulu. My US visa is still valid until 2028 so no problems concerning entering Hawaii. In the TECO in Honolulu I’m planning to apply for a visitor visa based on marriage combined with a special entry permit. By the way there is no quarantine in Hawaii from August, 1st but still quarantine in Taiwan as of now. So I would just need to go into quarantine back in Taipei which is no problem at all.
As the currency in Hawaii is obviously the US-Dollar I would like to ask which is the cheapest way to obtain USD in Taipei? Should I withdraw TWD cash in an ATM and exchange it in a bank counter to USD or should I use a Taiwanese debit card to withdraw USD in a multi-currency ATM in Taipei? Which is the cheaper option? Chunghwa Post claims that foreign currency withdrawals are possible at Bank SinoPac so as I have a Post debit card this would be an option for me.
from my past experience, the easiest is to exchange TWD cash to USD cash at the bank. in the past few years I’ve preferred going to bank of taiwan for this, the rates are usually the best.
Have you tried to withdraw USD in a Taiwanese multi-currency ATM using a Taiwanese debit card before? Is using a multi-currency ATM the same, better or worse than just exchanging money at a bank counter?
I think the option of using a multicurrency ATM is available for residents/citizens only. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
But if this option is available to you, I have found (at least at Mega Bank) that the ATM foreign currency exchange rates are slightly more favorable than what the tellers can offer. The downside is that these ATMs will almost certainly only provide large denomination bills (US$100).
It seems that people in Canada are also withdrawing USD from their CAD accounts so I thought that withdrawing USD from a TWD account at a multi-currency ATM would also be a good deal.
Thank you for your answer Guy, I’m not only using my own bank accounts but also bank accounts in my daughter’s name. As my Taiwanese daughter also has a bank account at Bank SinoPac I could use her debit card as well. So if my card isn’t working then my daughter’s card would be working for sure. I still have a lot of small USD bills from my last US trip left so that the multi-currency ATMs in Taipei only dispense USD 100 bills is no problem at all.
I’m in Taiwan now but I only wanted to indicate that the people in Canada are also withdrawing USD at ATMs. So as the situation is clear now I will try to withdraw USD from a multi-currency ATM before going to Hawaii.