How To Open A U.S. Bank Account

July 8, 2011:

"Kathleen, thank you for your regular updates. In Australia we are faced with some of the same losses of personal freedoms and taxation issues that face people in the United States right now. I totally agree with you. When faced with such issues it is incumbent upon us to seek a better place for our future. Calling it cowardice, as a few readers have done, is at best naive. Australia, like the United States, was founded by independent-minded people wanting to get away from a rigid bureaucracy, so what is wrong with us wanting to do a similar thing now that circumstances have become unfavorable?

"Just an observation about the Schwab bank you have recommended. I applied to them a few weeks ago to open a U.S. account from overseas. It required me to fill out a form. They asked what U.S. state I was from, couldn't understand my phone number because it isn't in the format of a U.S. phone number, and did not like my post code, as it has a different number of digits from a U.S. post code. This seems a remarkably inward-looking view on the world.

"Now, a few weeks have gone by, and I have not had the courtesy of a response to my inquiries about opening an account with them.

"Is there any advice on how people overseas can open a U.S. bank account without having to fly across the world in person? The U.S. banking regulations are becoming a nightmare for people wanting to invest in the United States, not just U.S. citizens."

--Chris K., Australia

Your best shot with Schwab would probably be to speak with one of their account reps on the phone. In our years of experience with this group, they are great on the phone. Note that you will need a U.S. Social Security number to open an account like this and that withholding is applied to capital gains, interest, and dividend income earned by non-U.S. persons.

All that said, my first reaction to your situation is to wonder why you're trying to open an account in the States right now at all. Certainly, you could have some personal agenda that makes this make sense.

However, if your agenda is to access U.S. stocks, you can do that other ways...for example, through an account with a group like Jyske Bank.

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