Hello all,
My Portuguese bank locks my account unless I provide them with information each year, such as:
- Unexpired passport and residence card (which is fair);
- Updated proof of address, e.g. a utility bill (a bit heavy handed to ask each year, but sure);
- My tax return (which I provided when I initially opened the account, to prove source of funds for my GV investment, but don’t want to provide to the Portuguese bank each year, since I haven’t made a transfer into that account since the initial investment).
I was wondering whether anyone in Hong Kong has used the Certificate of Resident Status (CoR) from Hong Kong’s tax department for similar compliance/KYC purposes at a Portuguese bank?
Thank you in advance.
Which bank are you with? I haven’t had to “prove” my HK tax residency for my Portuguese bank. I think all I do is complete their typical CRS form declaring tax residency and giving them my tax ID number in HK. I opened the bank accounts I have in PT before I was a resident, so I think they only have my passport.
Unfortunately I’m with Novo Banco. Since they charge 15 euros plus VAT per month, and don’t allow any inbound deposits until I can get the account unlocked, I might just let the 200 euros in there run out over the next 12 months.
Which bank are you with? I was going to open an account with Activo when I’m in Portugal later this year, but heard that they started to say no to many non tax residents.
I’m with BPI for my residential mortgage, and Bison for my GV fund investment.
Thank you. I’ll go talk to BPI when I’m in Portugal.
My personal experience with BPI is that the potential customer needs to prove what real businesses he/she can bring to the bank, e.g. buying funds or mortgage. Otherwise they are not interested in opening account for non-resident.