How to Open a US Bank Account for Non-Residents

Article discussion
1

The good old US of A. Perhaps you are a frequent traveler there, looking for a practical way to do business there, or you are an American that lives abroad and needs a convenient way to avoid high international fees. Whatever your reasons, opening a bank account in the world’s largest economy can come with many benefits, although, if you are a non-resident, you might face several challenges if you don’t know exactly where to look!

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://nomadgate.com/us-bank-account-non-residents/
2 Likes
3

Thanks for this article! You may want to update the info about BofA though. I have kept our BofA account when we moved to Europe 15 years ago. Recently, it has become harder and harder to work with. Last spring, I went through a Kafkaesque series of steps and ended up asking a US friend to temporarily enter his phone number and mailing address. BofA can only send 2FA text messages to US phone numbers, and they no longer allow foreign addresses as the primary address. We therefore had to have our new ATM card sent to our friend’s address. I’m quite frustrated with them, so I’ll use your article as a starting point when looking for a way out of this.

4

A lot of good information here, but it seems to be out of date despite saying Updated Aug, 2025.

I went through the series of Charles Scwah, Chase Personal, & BoA to attempt to open a personal account. Most do not accept an ITIN or won’t allow an ITIN application online but only in person.

Perhaps I’m mixing some steps up.

5

Most of these only accept in-person account opening for non-residents with ITINs (at least if you don’t have US credit history to prove your US address). I personally opened a checking account online with BofA just a few days ago as a non-resident, but I have an SSN and a US credit history.

I know many people use Alliant Credit Union as their first US financial institution, as they are more willing to open accounts remotely for those with just an ITIN. Then you can use statements issued by them as a proof of address with other institutions that have more stringent requirements.

Another potentially useful proof of US address is renter’s insurance (e.g. from Lemonade—which can be cancelled monthly).

If you can’t use the address of a friend or similar in the US, check out our other article on mail forwarding services that are usable for banking in the US: