eRe4s3r wrote on Mar 16, 2012, 15:10:
DrEvil wrote on Mar 16, 2012, 14:58:
No, you don't have to be a US Citizen to have a US Bank account. BS -- like most of your reasoning so far.
Detail step by step how to do it without being physically present in the USA. Please.
Thats quite a different matter than what you said, which was a blanket statement about needing to be a US citizen to open a US bank account. Which I demonstrated to be a false statement.
You have 2 separate things here.
a) opening an US bank account as a non citizen (which is possible as my link shows)
b) opening an US bank account as a non citizen ALSO without being physically present in the USA.
It's a million times easier if you can at least visit the USA to go to that bank to open a bank account. Afterwards, one shouldn't need to be present at the bank. And the step by step for that was in my link in my reply about this.
If you can NOT visit the USA, then you need to contact a bank. I don't think anyone here can give you an authoritative answer on the exact step by step requirements for that exact bank without actually working at the bank at which you would want to open an account. Many big bank chains (BoA, citiank, etc) have 800 numbers you can call, or support through email. You need to call or email them and find out if this is something you are interested in pursuing. Even if someone can give you an answer here, the bank in question may have different requirements. And if one bank says they can't, the next bank may say they can.
Even if all major banks say no, I would guess that it would be possible to have a US resident (notice I used the word resident, not citizen) open an account and then add someone else as an authorized user. Again, this is something where an authoritative answer can only come from the specific bank in question.
Also, I'm not your personal research assistant, and you aren't paying me, so I'm not going to call the banks for you. Use skype or google voice if its too expensive to call using your normal communication methods.
Edit:
If you have the resources, I imagine you could pay for the bank rep to fly out to YOU, if you can't fly to him for some reason.
Also, a quick google (google is your friend) shows that there are some companies that specialize in setting up a US business presence for international companies:
http://www.valis.org/usbpp/default.htmlTheir package includes setting up a US bank account, setting up a US business incorporation, setting up a US business address, getting an IRS ID number, a US visa debit card, and more. The quote there says its under $1200 which would probably be cheaper than airfare and hotel to travel to US and do it yourself.
Note that I have no clue about this company, its just a random google hit. Obviously it would be smart to research this before handing your money over if you wish to pursue it
I have no idea why this is something you want to know, but if its that important to you, I'm surprised you haven't researched it prior to this. Especially since I was able to dig up this info in just a couple minutes.
This comment was edited on Mar 16, 2012, 15:33.