@Gabriel_Eva I felt the same when I just registered and I guess it is a situation for most users.
Eventually, after a month I was invited for a sitting.
I think that for a first sitting you should be more flexible in terms of location even if they are not ideal for you right now. Perhaps, before planning a long trip, try a sitting nearby as a test and then start from there.
I wish you all the best in house sitting!
I don’t think you need a work visa or residence permit unless that’s the purpose of applying to care for a pet in exchange for accommodation. If that were the case, the THS should inform you of this upon registration.
Hi Garfield, yes, we’ve noticed some people booking with very little notice, sometimes just three days in advance. If you’re not in that country, it’s impossible to adapt your trip and book a flight to quickly change plans. We have heartstrings on the places we’re interested in even if they haven’t published dates. We’ve also selected countries by date as we progress through our long trip through Asia.
We’ll keep trying, but if what the hosts are asking for are THS reviews, we’ll find it difficult if no one gives us a chance. We’ll keep trying, but if we had known this before our trip, we would have applied sooner to the pet-sitting app near where we live.
Thank you so much for your response. Best regards.
Hi Lokstar!
We followed the advice about updating our profile.
We signed up for the platform because we’re taking a long trip through Asia.
What surprises us is that you say it’s limited to 5 applications. Is that true? If we apply 5 times in Asia, we can’t apply for more? Why? Is there a limit per continent? We haven’t read that information anywhere. Where is it indicated? What we read in the app is that you can apply for as many sits as you want to and then make more firm arrangements as things progress.
It would be a problem for us given that we’ll only be here this year.
Thank you for answering us. Best regards
Hi again!
We’re glad you know Zaragoza and like our city. When we apply, we do say where we are at all times and where we’re headed.
We’ll follow your advice regarding updating our profile.
We didn’t know it would be more complicated in Asia, but we signed up for this platform specifically for this trip, and we’re not going to the US, Canada, or the UK, which is where we see the most possibilities. It’s a shame.
We haven’t given up; we’ll keep trying.
Best regards.
Thank you very much for your advice, we will review our profile.
Hola Gabriel y Eva
I’ve read your profile and each section seems to start with a mention that you are travelling and therefore by implication need somewhere to stay in various locations.
What homeowners want to know is what’s in it for them not you. Could you move the reason for needing a house sit lower down in your profile and emphasise the chararcteristics that homeowners will be looking for? E.g. are you reliable, organised, house proud, friendly and caring? Can you give some examples of that? Do your professions mean that you have those characteristics? Good luck and happy travels.
The 5 application limit is the number an HO can receive at a time, not the number you can apply for. You are correct, you can apply to limitless sits.
@KittySitter With all due respect I think you are overdramatising the visa issues for housesitting. I’ve seen several threads where you mention all the legalities & you come over as unnecessarily scaremongering! My hubby and I (Europeans) have been happily housesitting around the world for almost 7 years and have never encountered any issues. Ofcourse we are aware of official rules & regs but we don’t let them stop us, so at international borders, we don’t volunteer the fact we are housesitting. If asked, we are just tourists visiting the country. We keep it simple. No one has ever questioned us further. Our ages (60s) and the fact we are relaxed and seasoned travellers, probably helps.
The only country we, and many other sitters, are consciously avoiding at the moment is the USA. The US border control is known to be brutal and I certainly would not risk deportation or incarceration there. In our experience, so far, the rest of the world appears to be far more relaxed. For all the rewards of International housesitting a little risk here and there is worth it to us! We have a high risk tolerance- especially in regard to maintaining our freedom. To be honest we took far great risks travelling across numerous International borders during Covid times! 
in comparison housesitting (without a special visa) feels like a breeze!(Except in US ofcourse:roll_eyes:)
No risk No fun! 
THS advises that members check the visa requirements of the country that they plan to house sit .
This thread is a useful background information for sitters who are planning to sit internationally
@Gabriel_Eva Hi there- let me clarify!
The 5 applicant limit refers to the fact that a host can only receive 5 applications at one time then THS will automatically pause the listing. This is so that the host can review the applications and choose a sitter from the first 5, or decline them all and re-open their listing for more applications.
You, as sitters, are free to apply to as many sits as you want, wherever you want! There is no limit to applications. Until you confirm a sit you are not committed to anybody. Re- SEA there are always very few sits offered so they can fill up (to the 5 app limit) in minutes! You have to be very quick!
In the UK ( if you were there!) there are thousands of sits which makes it much easier to get started.
But anyway I wish you very good luck & happy travels! 
lots of good advice here! as many have already mentioned, sits in asia are pretty scarce as well as competitive. there are loads of sits in australia, however, so if your travels take you in that direction, it could be a good place to get a couple sits under your belt!
remember that there are three key areas to pay attention to:
if you application message is weak, then an HO might pass you up without even looking at your profile / reviews.
and as others have pointed out, there is the competition aspect as well, so keep the following in mind:
it’s definitely a plus if you can tell an HO that you are already in their region (or will already be in their region), so be sure to include that mention in your application message, as it gives them more confidence that you’ll be reliable and hopefully won’t run into the problems that someone traveling in from the other side of the world might run into.
looking at your profile, it seems you’ve made some great changes based on others’ feedback! a couple more suggestions:
hope that helps!
Hi,
Just to clarify (it can be confusing!) - you as a sitter are not limited to the number of applications you can make. It is the HomeOwners who can only receive 5 applications (from sitters) before the listing automatically goes to ‘reviewing’. Only if they then reject some applicants can more people apply. The result of this is that listings go to ‘reviewing’ very fast and you have to be super quick applying to get in (but if you’re already in Asia at least you’re in the same timezone as they are posted).
As others have said there are relatively few sits in Asia (I sit mostly in Asia myself so I’ve been across the listings for years) and most are highly in demand, especially towards the winter months. However there are a few (there was one recently posted in this very forum for Thailand) that don’t receive as many applicants because there are lots of animals and/or they’re in slightly remote locations. So it’s not impossible. Also many locations, like Chiang Mai, have very active FB pet sitting pages so do try to join those.
Again, as others have suggested, try to get some references from people whose pets you have looked after at home.
Good luck.
Just popped up in my favorites a longish sit in India @Gabriel_Eva
First: maintaining my freedom is precisely the point. I intend to travel extensively for many years to come. For me, for example, deportation from any EU country would mean a minimum five-year ban across the entire Schengen zone. That is a risk to my travel freedom that I am unwilling to take.
If you personally are comfortable breaking the immigration laws of your host countries, that is your choice. But if I were a homeowner, I would pause to consider whether a sitter who is willing to disregard immigration law might also be casual about other obligations.
Scaremongering, by definition, means spreading frightening rumors. I have not shared rumors. I have shared facts, with sources, about immigration rules. On one occasion another member helpfully pointed out a distinction I had overlooked between civil and criminal penalties, and I was glad to acknowledge and correct that. I welcome corrections grounded in evidence. If anyone can show that what I’ve posted is factually inaccurate, I will be grateful to update my understanding.
In this thread, @Gabriel_Eva asked for advice on getting sits in Asia. The responsible answer is to point out that most Asian countries require a work or residence permit for this. Ignoring that reality doesn’t make it go away.
Finally, you say “No risk, no fun.” I believe it is unkind to take unnecessary risks when the wellbeing of pets is involved. They deserve the certainty of a sitter who is legally allowed to be there and won’t suddenly vanish because of an immigration problem.
My advice is do short, local, last minute sits to get references. That is how we got started, and it worked well for us, not a great deal of fun at first but we just did small local things and it was fine.
Perhaps it will help if you mention you speak perfect English in your profile too, and whatever other languages you speak. I would put it in your experience part, right at the top so that owners see it first. Rather than owners presuming you may be using a translation app for everything. I am guessing mentioning you speak English will get you a little further in Asia, than Zaragoza/Spain will.
Every little tip at improving your profile that you are given here, helps to put you one small step ahead of others, and all those small steps add up.
Have you tried a local sit 1st. That might be a good start since you can possibly meet in person before the sit.
From my perspective as HO, your profile says very little about you, your history and skill sets (work, education, home ownership, etc). Most critically, you don’t sound like you have much experience with animals (and the photos holding cats in the air aren’t helping). When I receive applications I look for a sitter who expresses enthusiasm for my animals and interest in this area. Their profile and message need to inspire confidence that my home and pets are in competent hands. If you can find a way to express that and make adjustments suggested by other sitters your chances may improve. But if Asia is your immediate goal and sits there are limited and highly competitive, sorry to say I think you might be disappointed.
@Gabriel_Eva As a HO in SEA, one thing I look for in applications and sitter profiles is sitters experience of travelling/living in our area: where, how long, what for.
If they have THS sits and good reviews from here all the better, but we’ve had sitters who did not yet have any reviews, but had relevant experience from here.
There might be SEA sits that are a great fit for the first timers, but as living here is quite different than in most places in Australia, Europe or US, ours is not one of them.