I can't receive a payment/ Transaction was returned to its origin

[A_Serwy]

Hello,
I work on a language website called italki (Hong Kong/China), and I'm in Egypt.

About 3 weeks ago I tried withdrawing my funds from the website (in USD) to PayPal (in USD). I linked my PayPal account to italki successfully and I'm sure my PayPal account is email-activated, and all the documents required in the verification center are submitted and accepted; no more demands in the verification center.

The problem is when I ordered the withdrawal, I didn't receive the payment in my PayPal balance. The site says I should receive the payment in 10 days. I waited 2 more business days after these 10 days and still nothing. I contacted italki customer service which in turn contacted PayPal/Hyperwallet service and the response came as this:
"We have checked the transaction and we can see that the transaction has been returned, due to regulatory restrictions". 

So the money was funded back to my italki account but I can't use PayPal because of this "regulatory restrictions". So, what are these restrictions and how could I get rid of them?

Please help!
Thanks in advance.

P.S. I tried to check the resolution center, report a problem, and PayPal automated assistant and none of them have the answer, nor connecting me to a direct customer service personnel (either redirecting me to my profile again, or saying the customer service is not available at the moment) which I find specially frustrating.

[sharpiemarker]

@A_Serwy 

Did you link a Visa card or US bank account? That is required in order to receive payments in Egypt:

https://www.paypal.com/eg/webapps/mpp/setup-to-receive-withdraw
https://www.paypal.com/eg/webapps/mpp/ua/recpymt-full

[A_Serwy]

Hello @sharpiemarker 
Thanks for your fast response!

I linked both a Visa credit card issued in Egypt (few years ago) and a U.S. account (a month ago), which both have been verified by PayPal. I didn't set any of them to be used as the preferred method for automatic transfers.

The Visa card is expired now and I didn't renew it, but still kept it in my PayPal profile (it has a red mark over it). I made sure not to start the withdrawal from italki site until I added my U.S. bank account and PayPal to verify it, then I started the transaction.

I re-read the links that you attached in your response, and article no. 6 in the second link seems to be related to the matter. Giving the chronological order of events (Visa verified first then expired, U.S. bank account verified, transaction request denied): Does keeping the old expired Visa in my profile made my profile ineligible for receiving the funds, even after adding the verified U.S. bank later (because I didn't set any of them as "preferred for automatic transactions" and PayPal only uses the first instrument, which in my case expired?) Or is the problem something else?

[sharpiemarker · Accepted solution]

@A_Serwy 

In the article, PayPal presumes all your payment methods are valid. I suggest you set your bank account (since it is valid) as the preferred automatic withdrawal method according to the instructions to start receiving payments again.

[A_Serwy]

I thought that since there is a single valid verified financial instrument, PayPal would receive my funds from other sites but will have a problem withdrawing the funds to Visa card/U.S. bank (a problem that I intended to solve later in the month).

It didn't cross my mind that receiving funds is linked to the first verified method only, and I've to alter that. It's worth a try.

Thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it!

I'll try this next month and if there were any issues I'll update this topic or write a new one.