Opening Bank Account in States

L

Lan

Registered User
Messages
43
Does anyone know if it is possible/legal for an irish resident, living in ireland to open a bank account in the USA? A friend is going on holidays in a few weeks to the USA and goes there at least twice a year and wants to have an account over there. I have no clue on this so any advice is welcome!
 
yeah its very possible especially a non resident account. I used to have one when I lived there. Just make sure to bring proof of address and identity and tons of it . bank statements from an Irish account would be useful too

Wells Fargo is on the West Coast , San Fran etc , Citibank is big in Chicago and New York. The only problem is depending which bank you choose when you go to another city far away from the one with your branch you may not have a branch to do business in there but can use the ATMs. Ciitibank is also quite internet orientated and you used to be able to send free cheques in the mail to your landlord or to pay a bill etc using the internet and you can withdraw money from the dollar account at ATM machines here in Euro.
Another problem is they tend to charge high fees and will close your account if they think you dont use it.
 
When I was attempting to open a bank account in the states quite recently, Bank of America where the only bank willing to do this. The banks seem to have stopped opening bank accounts for foreigners due to the Patriot's act, since 9/11.
 
Hi Brodiebabe,

how did you go about opening your bank account with Bank of America?

Thanks
 
Would you mind letting me know as well. I tried a year or two ago, as I am in US a couple of times a month, but they led me to understand that it was impossible for a non resident.
Thanks a mill
 
Just went to Bank of America, met with the person who assists with accounts being opened. Explained our case - why you want to open an account, why you don't have a Social Security number and show identification (passport). Wachovia Bank would not open an account for us and a few other banks would not either. Bank of America are the bank that allow illegal mexican immigrants get a credit card with them this is a market that is worth millions.

By the way it is not illegal for a non-american resident to have a bank account but the bank workers are meant to verify who you are, get to know you, etc. This is under the Patriot Act which is meant to prevent terrorists opening bank accounts.
 

Bank of American is not allowing illegal mexican immigrants to get a credit card, that is wrong reporting. What they allow is someone who has no Social Security Number (SSN) to open a credit card with an ITN (Individual Taxpayer ID) providing that he can proof his identitiy and residence with documents that are outlined by the US goverment in the Patriot Act. And even than it's not a full credit card, it's a credit card that requires a guarantee, i.e. they deposit 100$ and get a 100$ Limit etc. Maybe they get a 99$ deposit 500$ limit deal if they are with the bank for a long period.

If you want a bank account with a US bank than you need to cerify your tax status (like you need in Ireland), which you can do either with what is called a W8 form or an ITN. You can get an ITN from the IRS (which requires that you proof your identity to them).

Once you have either W8 or ITN you need your passport and proof of address and proof of currentl legal status (the green slip of your visa waiver is enough) and most major banks will open you an account. Bank of America, Citibank or Chase do even have special groups that deal with non resident foreigners accounts.

And if you don't want to go over, than e-trade.com is opening you an US bank account via postal mail.
 

When I opened my account (in the last 3 months) I did not prove my tax status. I did not fill in the W8 form, nor did i get an ITN.


[broken link removed]



In relation to illegal immigrants and banking, a google search throws up plenty of info.
 
If you did not fill out a W8 form which is a Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding you must have signed somewhere on the form a statement about your witholding status.

If you are not a US person or resident and don't have an ITN you need a W8 certifying your country of taxes. That has nothing to do with the Fools Pariot act, that is an IRS requirement.

If your bank skipped that form you will get hit with US tax withholding (for example 28% on credit interest).

In Relation to the BOA, thanks for the links, but again the secured credit card on offer here was always available for anbody with an SSN (simple because the US credit bureaus (their ICB) use the SSN as identifier) and for customers longer than a year without an SSN. All they do now is accepting ITIN's and W8's at an earlier point in time. The major problem however is the acceptance of the matricula cards instead of a passport, but again the Fools Partiot act allows that. So they are not breaking the law, they don't do something new. THis product is available since years, they just now got publicity.

So if you have an BOA account you could actualy apply for a Credit card and you would get it with the same limit as the amount you put into a CD.

Not to mention that Credit Unions in the US are giving secured cards out since years to "illegial" immigrants purley on a W8 cert.
 
When I opened an ETrade investment account some years back, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they also provided a checking (sic) account, so I could write USD cheques and lodge USD payments. I recall them offering an ATM or credit card more recently, but I didn't use that facility myself.
 
When I lived in the US you never needed a SSN to open a bank account. It was just that little bit harder to do so. You did need to prove status which was not a problem.
 
I opened a BOA account in person a couple of years ago, it was very straight forward. Just bring your passport, proof of address and be prepared to go through a fairly lengthy customer service "interview". It went smooth as anything except the system wouldn't accept a foreign address initially..had to give a local address and them change it immediately. That glitch might be sorted now.

I got a debit card much the same as a Laser which is accepted everywhere you can use a Visa card. I had to fill in a W8 at the time and they send me one periodically. BOA also have online banking and great customer support so I'd recommend them.

At the time you HAD to open the account in person on account of their anti terrorism/money laundering laws, not sure if that's still the case.

They close a smaller account I had because it was clear I wasn't using it so do be sure and put transactions through periodically or they'll shut it down and you'll have to go through the whole process again.
 
When I opened my account in the US I didn't have to prove my address, just provide one (I was amazed considering how hot they are on bank statements/bills etc here) and a SSN wasn't necessary for a basic account, but to get a debit card on the account I had to provide my SSN.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register