Opening a US Bank account as a tourist

[nightcrawler]

Need some info. Is it possible to open a US bank account as a tourist in the US.
I do not have a us address as i usually stay in hotels
I do not have a SSN or ITIN

I usually vaca 3 times a year in the US. My son wants to study aviation field so Florida is where i plan to open the account

Any help will be nice. Thanks

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Some banks do it.
You don't need a social security number but they require two forms of national ID (your T&T passport and T&T driver's license will work) and a proof of US address (a utility or cell phone bill with your name on it and a US address). perhaps the address where your son is renting.

[redmanjp]

Always wondered about this. I don't have a US address either but have 3 siblings living there. Could 1 of their addresses be used? Once u get a US bank account then it opens up possibilities like remote work, earning income from selling stuff like ebooks online etc. As well as have access to forex which is hard in this country .

[paid_influencer]

Some banks do it.
You don't need a social security number but they require two forms of national ID (your T&T passport and T&T driver's license will work) and a proof of US address (a utility or cell phone bill with your name on it and a US address). perhaps the address where your son is renting.

remember your us visa is also a valid USA government-issued photo id, plus you have your t&t passport id. so bodow, two forms of ID in one book that will be accepted everywhere.

if your son renting, then he has a us address, and there you go bro duane solved it for you thank him

[ftitan]

If possible, look into a high yield savings account, although it would be far in and between for non nationals, especially in florida if that's where you're studying. After the studies, you should remove the registered apartment address and add a freight fowarding address dedicated for mail & letters, this way any new cards and tax compliance forms get shipped straight to trinidad. The only hassle is your primary method of contact will need to be an email address since they want a US phone number..which might be hard to maintain afterwards.

Always wondered about this. I don't have a US address either but have 3 siblings living there. Could 1 of their addresses be used? Once u get a US bank account then it opens up possibilities like remote work, earning income from selling stuff like ebooks online etc. As well as have access to forex which is hard in this country .

I know people also use their US residing family address to open the account and change it to a freight fowarding address afterwards so they can't snoop through your mail/credit card replacements.
You need to be careful with comingling funds over there. IRS will make your life a hell if you set up things wrong and they think you're hiding tax money from them.

Also for income, if you think you're gonna play with more than 60k usd at a time.. do your family a favor and set up joint brokerage accounts and set up businesses & property in a smart way. Estate tax in america is disgusting for nonresident aliens once you hold over 60k net worth of assets. Regular bank accounts are exempt from that but should still be joint

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

If possible, look into a high yield savings account, although it would be far in and between for non nationals, especially in florida if that's where you're studying. After the studies, you should remove the registered apartment address and add a freight fowarding address dedicated for mail & letters, this way any new cards and tax compliance forms get shipped straight to trinidad. The only hassle is your primary method of contact will need to be an email address since they want a US phone number..which might be hard to maintain afterwards.

Always wondered about this. I don't have a US address either but have 3 siblings living there. Could 1 of their addresses be used? Once u get a US bank account then it opens up possibilities like remote work, earning income from selling stuff like ebooks online etc. As well as have access to forex which is hard in this country .

I know people also use their US residing family address to open the account and change it to a freight fowarding address afterwards so they can't snoop through your mail/credit card replacements.
You need to be careful with comingling funds over there. IRS will make your life a hell if you set up things wrong and they think you're hiding tax money from them.

Also for income, if you think you're gonna play with more than 60k usd at a time.. do your family a favor and set up joint brokerage accounts and set up businesses & property in a smart way. Estate tax in america is disgusting for nonresident aliens once you hold over 60k net worth of assets. Regular bank accounts are exempt from that but should still be joint

I used my T&T phone number since it also starts with 1

[nightcrawler]

If possible, look into a high yield savings account, although it would be far in and between for non nationals, especially in florida if that's where you're studying. After the studies, you should remove the registered apartment address and add a freight fowarding address dedicated for mail & letters, this way any new cards and tax compliance forms get shipped straight to trinidad. The only hassle is your primary method of contact will need to be an email address since they want a US phone number..which might be hard to maintain afterwards.

Always wondered about this. I don't have a US address either but have 3 siblings living there. Could 1 of their addresses be used? Once u get a US bank account then it opens up possibilities like remote work, earning income from selling stuff like ebooks online etc. As well as have access to forex which is hard in this country .

I know people also use their US residing family address to open the account and change it to a freight fowarding address afterwards so they can't snoop through your mail/credit card replacements.
You need to be careful with comingling funds over there. IRS will make your life a hell if you set up things wrong and they think you're hiding tax money from them.

Also for income, if you think you're gonna play with more than 60k usd at a time.. do your family a favor and set up joint brokerage accounts and set up businesses & property in a smart way. Estate tax in america is disgusting for nonresident aliens once you hold over 60k net worth of assets. Regular bank accounts are exempt from that but should still be joint

I used my T&T phone number since it also starts with 1

Which bank?

[i_code_and_stuff]

Most of the banks you will need US address to put on file. Among those banks, some of them require a proof of US address (utility bill, letter, bank statement), while others don't.

Some banks have a lot of experience with foreign nationals and will let you sign up using your TT address (will also need proof of TT address), one such bank is Citi. Truist branches in Miami-dade will probably also take you as long as you have a US address to put on file (no proof needed last time I went).

As for the others, there's no compiled list of which bank requires what - it highly depends on the state and the branch. Most of the ones in South Florida will not take you without a proof of US address, while there are branches of Bank of America in NY that will take you without a proof of US address.

Unfortunately you don't have much choice except to play whack a mole. But as mentioned earlier in the thread, if you have to put a US address for any bank, use a family member's that you trust.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

If possible, look into a high yield savings account, although it would be far in and between for non nationals, especially in florida if that's where you're studying. After the studies, you should remove the registered apartment address and add a freight fowarding address dedicated for mail & letters, this way any new cards and tax compliance forms get shipped straight to trinidad. The only hassle is your primary method of contact will need to be an email address since they want a US phone number..which might be hard to maintain afterwards.

Always wondered about this. I don't have a US address either but have 3 siblings living there. Could 1 of their addresses be used? Once u get a US bank account then it opens up possibilities like remote work, earning income from selling stuff like ebooks online etc. As well as have access to forex which is hard in this country .

I know people also use their US residing family address to open the account and change it to a freight fowarding address afterwards so they can't snoop through your mail/credit card replacements.
You need to be careful with comingling funds over there. IRS will make your life a hell if you set up things wrong and they think you're hiding tax money from them.

Also for income, if you think you're gonna play with more than 60k usd at a time.. do your family a favor and set up joint brokerage accounts and set up businesses & property in a smart way. Estate tax in america is disgusting for nonresident aliens once you hold over 60k net worth of assets. Regular bank accounts are exempt from that but should still be joint

I used my T&T phone number since it also starts with 1

Which bank?

TD and BOA

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Most of the banks you will need US address to put on file. Among those banks, some of them require a proof of US address (utility bill, letter, bank statement), while others don't.

Some banks have a lot of experience with foreign nationals and will let you sign up using your TT address (will also need proof of TT address), one such bank is Citi. Truist branches in Miami-dade will probably also take you as long as you have a US address to put on file (no proof needed last time I went).

As for the others, there's no compiled list of which bank requires what - it highly depends on the state and the branch. Most of the ones in South Florida will not take you without a proof of US address, while there are branches of Bank of America in NY that will take you without a proof of US address.

Unfortunately you don't have much choice except to play whack a mole. But as mentioned earlier in the thread, if you have to put a US address for any bank, use a family member's that you trust.

To add to that once you put the address initially you can log in to your account via the bank website or app and select to go paperless - that way they will send all correspondence to you via email or through secure messaging in the app on on the website.
Of course card renewals will be an issue as they either mail those to your US address or you have collect in branch.

TD in south Florida gave a Visa Debit card right away on opening the account.

[i_code_and_stuff]

Most of the banks you will need US address to put on file. Among those banks, some of them require a proof of US address (utility bill, letter, bank statement), while others don't.

Some banks have a lot of experience with foreign nationals and will let you sign up using your TT address (will also need proof of TT address), one such bank is Citi. Truist branches in Miami-dade will probably also take you as long as you have a US address to put on file (no proof needed last time I went).

As for the others, there's no compiled list of which bank requires what - it highly depends on the state and the branch. Most of the ones in South Florida will not take you without a proof of US address, while there are branches of Bank of America in NY that will take you without a proof of US address.

Unfortunately you don't have much choice except to play whack a mole. But as mentioned earlier in the thread, if you have to put a US address for any bank, use a family member's that you trust.

To add to that once you put the address initially you can log in to your account via the bank website or app and select to go paperless - that way they will send all correspondence to you via email or through secure messaging in the app on on the website.
Of course card renewals will be an issue as they either mail those to your US address or you have collect in branch.

TD in south Florida gave a Visa Debit card right away on opening the account.

Correct.

One note on the paperless: most of the banks are paperless by default, but a handful such as Truist will still try to physically mail specific types of correspondence to your address on file, such as notifications when you wire money into the account, regardless of paperless settings and it's a hassle to get them to stop.

[Musical Doc]

I was told that about 2 yrs ago a law was passed that made it a requirement to be a resident to open a bank account. My sister was able to do it before that happened. If anyone has any other info on this would be great

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

I was told that about 2 yrs ago a law was passed that made it a requirement to be a resident to open a bank account. My sister was able to do it before that happened. If anyone has any other info on this would be great

I know they were still doing it at TD and BOA up to December 2023
Two forms of T&T national ID and a US address to send mail to

[i_code_and_stuff]

I was told that about 2 yrs ago a law was passed that made it a requirement to be a resident to open a bank account. My sister was able to do it before that happened. If anyone has any other info on this would be great

There is no such law.

Financial institutions are mandated to perform due diligence in verifying the identity and risk involved in conducting business with an entity, and they are within their rights to turn you away for any reason, but there is no law prohibiting them from opening a bank account for non citizens or nonresident aliens.

I short, it comes to (1) individual bank policy and (2) how the bank rep you're dealing with feels on that particular day

[nightcrawler]

I was told that about 2 yrs ago a law was passed that made it a requirement to be a resident to open a bank account. My sister was able to do it before that happened. If anyone has any other info on this would be great

I know they were still doing it at TD and BOA up to December 2023
Two forms of T&T national ID and a US address to send mail to

Did you have to show proof of us address?

[The Bamboo Online]

My first bank account I opened was a joint account with a local. In 2018 That was when I just had a B1/B2 visa. But I needed a US ID Card or DP tied to my physical US address before they even considering me.

None of the banks would open one up just for me even with American IDs

Predator banks would let you open one and give you a debit card that connected to a account that had fees to do everything similar to what we are used to already with banks in Trinidad

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ the TD visa debit card and savings account has no fees once you maintain a US$300 daily balance but it also has no interest.

I was told that about 2 yrs ago a law was passed that made it a requirement to be a resident to open a bank account. My sister was able to do it before that happened. If anyone has any other info on this would be great

I know they were still doing it at TD and BOA up to December 2023
Two forms of T&T national ID and a US address to send mail to

Did you have to show proof of us address?

Yes a prepaid cellphone bill with the address worked

[The Bamboo Online]

Yeah during pandemic rules relaxed a bit as there was a lot of international people was stuck in USA and needed access to funding. Right now some US banks giving you $250-1000 cash rewards if you set up direct deposit and save a certain amount in 3 months.

^ the TD visa debit card and savings account has no fees but it also has no interest.

I was told that about 2 yrs ago a law was passed that made it a requirement to be a resident to open a bank account. My sister was able to do it before that happened. If anyone has any other info on this would be great

I know they were still doing it at TD and BOA up to December 2023
Two forms of T&T national ID and a US address to send mail to

Did you have to show proof of us address?

Yes a prepaid cellphone bill with the address worked

[redmanjp]

^ the TD visa debit card and savings account has no fees once you maintain a US$300 daily balance but it also has no interest.

I was told that about 2 yrs ago a law was passed that made it a requirement to be a resident to open a bank account. My sister was able to do it before that happened. If anyone has any other info on this would be great

I know they were still doing it at TD and BOA up to December 2023
Two forms of T&T national ID and a US address to send mail to

Did you have to show proof of us address?

Yes a prepaid cellphone bill with the address worked

whose name has to be on it? yours or could it be a US relative?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ the TD visa debit card and savings account has no fees once you maintain a US$300 daily balance but it also has no interest.

I was told that about 2 yrs ago a law was passed that made it a requirement to be a resident to open a bank account. My sister was able to do it before that happened. If anyone has any other info on this would be great

I know they were still doing it at TD and BOA up to December 2023
Two forms of T&T national ID and a US address to send mail to

Did you have to show proof of us address?

Yes a prepaid cellphone bill with the address worked

whose name has to be on it? yours or could it be a US relative?

My name was on the bill. Mobile carrier didn't need proof of address.

[pugboy]

are you guys using zelle ?
it seems to be the defacto online transfer
not sure how come it superseded regular bank wires

what about sending usd to outside of the us ?

[The_Honourable]

Seriously thinking about opening a U.S account outside of T&T because imbert and the banks playing the @ss with people U.S.

Used to have one over a decade ago but hardly used it and the fees was too much so had to close it.

I'm aware that a great alternative was WISE but trinis abused it to the point accounts were closed and they have limited the features that was once available. Local banks even clamped down on persons using credit cards to send US to their wise accounts.

Besides the united states, anybody opened an account within the caribbean?

[AlphaMan]

Seriously thinking about opening a U.S account outside of T&T because imbert and the banks playing the @ss with people U.S.

Used to have one over a decade ago but hardly used it and the fees was too much so had to close it.

I'm aware that a great alternative was WISE but trinis abused it to the point accounts were closed and they have limited the features that was once available. Local banks even clamped down on persons using credit cards to send US to their wise accounts.

Besides the united states, anybody opened an account within the caribbean?

I thought I was the only one that noticed this.
Wise no longer works with my credit card.
Was wondering if it was a card problem or a software update problem.
Did all the banks block sending money via the WISE platform?

[The_Honourable]

Seriously thinking about opening a U.S account outside of T&T because imbert and the banks playing the @ss with people U.S.

Used to have one over a decade ago but hardly used it and the fees was too much so had to close it.

I'm aware that a great alternative was WISE but trinis abused it to the point accounts were closed and they have limited the features that was once available. Local banks even clamped down on persons using credit cards to send US to their wise accounts.

Besides the united states, anybody opened an account within the caribbean?

I thought I was the only one that noticed this.
Wise no longer works with my credit card.
Was wondering if it was a card problem or a software update problem.
Did all the banks block sending money via the WISE platform?

RBC was the first to block it.

FCB throttled it so you can only send up to 100US every few days plus you get hit with fees which you don't see initially in the transaction but on your bank statement.

Scotia blocks for the most part. Those that get thru will be charged fees as the bank see it as a cash advance.

Not sure about Republic but heard that they clamped down. If you do abuse your CC, they will ask you to return it.

[st7]

does wise support currency conversion? i assume if it does, there is a fee for that.

what if you send euro or pounds, then convert it to US?

[AlphaMan]

I do think wise wants to do business with anyone from Trinidad..
Things were going so good. Trinis messed it up again..

[The_Honourable]

does wise support currency conversion? i assume if it does, there is a fee for that.

what if you send euro or pounds, then convert it to US?

Yes it does and fees are attached, but it depends on your jurisdiction. The feature can be available for one country but unavailable for another. It seems to be available for most.