As Palerider said above, you must present yourself physically in the branch. And you do need a US Social Security number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. Also, you need to be absolutely sure that you aren't breaking US Federal or Irish tax laws. It's very easy for a US bank account to get frozen if the tax information relating to it isn't kept up to date. You should only open a bank account with a US bank if you are resident in the US, and are up to date with your federal tax returns. If you live in Ireland, US Dollar accounts can be facilitated by Irish banks, my personal preference would be to use AIB.