Opening a US bank account for non-US citizens

This my account of what happened to me, including my interpretations of the material that I found online.  I originally wrote about this topic informally in the personal blog that I write for fun about being a British expat in America called: From Sheep toAlligators, but I thought that it would be useful to write a more formal account of my experience of opening a US bank account as a non-US citizen on this blog too, as it was very much part of the US immigration process for me.

Background

As far as I understand it, certainly in comparison to my home country of the UK, the USA had relatively relaxed rules regarding non-US citizens opening bank accounts up until the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.  After the attacks, new legislation was introduced to make it harder for people such as terrorists to have money sent to them from abroad.  This new financial legislation formed part of the Patriot Act and effects the opening a US bank account for non-US citizens.  Each bank then got their solicitors to draw up new rules which complied with the new legislation.

Advance preparation

I did some research before we went to the bank that I wished to join.  Basically, there are banks that allow non-US citizens to hold accounts and banks that don’t.  From my research on the internet, it said that I could join my wife’s bank as a joint account holder using a passport as proof of I.D. and I didn’t need a Social Security Number, which was good as I didn’t have one at that point in time.  However, other research I did said that whatever the bank’s rules, in practice, you often end up being asked for an SSN.  So my wife rang up her bank’s customer service to check the rules on proof of I.D.  She was then passed from department to department, none of whom could tell her what the rules were.  Eventually she got through to someone at the head office who told her the rules, which were the same as I’d read on the bank’s website.

Practical problems

One of the big problems is that the person who actually serves you in the bank generally doesn’t have much experience of non-US citizens opening an account and doesn’t understand the bank’s policy and they insist that you should have Social Security Number.  They are afraid that they might be breaking the Patriot Act, not necessarily knowing that the Patriot Act is actually vague on this matter and that it is the bank’s solicitors who interpret the law and actually make the specific rules that they are supposed to be following.

The bank worker who dealt with us was young and very anxious and seemed confused.  She disappeared for a long time and held a conference with the deputy manager.  Then I was rejected.  This was despite my wife and I explaining about reading the relevant rules on the bank’s website and what we were told by their Head Office over the phone.  Unfortunately, our experience was very common according to the accounts that I read from expats and legal experts on the internet.  It was still an upsetting experience though.

Eventual success

I could have gone to another bank and believe me I was sorely tempted to take my business elsewhere, but I wanted a joint account with my wife so it seemed like too much trouble.  In the end I took a deep breath and applied for a Social Security Number (which I would have had to obtain sooner or later anyway).  It took a few weeks to get one.  Then my wife and I went back to her bank again.  We chose a different branch this time, however, as we were still upset about being rejected previously.  This time our bank worker seemed much more confident and friendly.  We gave him all the relevant info, including my new Social Security Number.  He did disappear for a time, but we were reasonably confident that everything would work out and sure enough, we were given the green light.

Arriving in the US Port of entry

Arriving in the US Port of entry

The K1 Fiance Visa is a single use visa, that means that you can only use it once and so you had better make the most of it!  Arriving in the US with all my possessions in two suitcases, my passport with visa paper in it, and my sealed envelope with whatever documents the US embassy had decided to put in inside there, I was keen for everything to run smoothly.  After arriving in the US port of entry I followed the crowd as normal to the US customs desks.  Unlike previous visits to the US, when I was a temporary visitor arriving on a visa waiver and it was clear what my status was, this time I was unsure as to which queue that I should stand in as I was neither a tourist, or an American passport holder.  When I asked a kindly US Immigration Officer about it and explained that I was a US immigrant on a K1 Fiance Visa, she started a new queue and put me at the front(!)

I was nervous when a finally got to see a US Immigration Officer at the US customs desk - there was nothing amiss, I was just anxious that having gone through all the trouble of getting my K1 Fiance Visa from the USCIS, nothing should go wrong at the last minute.  As it was busy (I arrived at Orlando, Florida) and the US Immigration officer has to process all of the documents inside the sealed envelope, which takes some time, he directed me through to the waiting area, where I sat around for maybe fifteen minutes before I was called back to the US customs desk.  It took another ten or fifteen minutes to process the contents of my sealed envelope and take my fingerprints etc.  The contents of the sealed envelope appeared to be mainly just the original application documents and evidence from the K1 Fiance Visa process, but I could be wrong.

Eventually it was over and the immigration officials wished me well.  I still had to collect my baggage and go through more security, but I was through the US immigration part.  From now on, I would be living in the USA.

US Vaccination Requirements for the medical exam

One thing that did cause me some stress for my fiance visa medical exam was trying to sort out my shots in advance, so that they fitted with the US vaccination requirements.  If you get them done at the time of your fiance visa medical exam then you will end up paying for them and the rates are pretty expensive.  However, as I am a Brit, my plan was to get most of them done for free on the NHS.  The immigration immunization requirement that cased most confusion was the Hep B shot, but I will come to that in due course.

Booking an appointment with my local health centre

I contacted my local health centre well in advance, before I had even received the date of my fiance visa medical exam in fact and booked an appointment.  I downloaded the US vaccination requirements from the USCIS website and took them along with me, this has on it the questionnaire that you are expected to fill out for your fiancé visa medical exam and also the list of vaccination requirements which the doctor fills out.  A nurse at the medical centre gave me a general medical exam, checking my blood pressure, weight, etc. and we discussed the US vaccination requirements.  I explained that I would need my vaccination and immunization shots brought up to date and then I would like her to create me some sort of print out that I could take down to show my doctor at the fiancé visa medical exam.

The list of US Vaccination Requirements

Most of the list of shots needed on the US vaccination requirements were the same as the shots that we have in the UK, and indeed when the health nurse found my old records, I had had most the shot on the list done when I was a kid at school.  I needed a boost for the tetanus and others that I’d had at school.   I got a DT, which turned out to be unnecessary for me.  I also got an MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) jab for free, as those weren’t around when I was a kid.

The problems came with the hepatitis, which are listed in the US vaccination requirements.  The nurse said that they weren’t appropriate and her explanation sounded good to me.  I did however have a hepatitis A jab as it was free and I saw no harm with getting it.  The hep B costs money, however, and it’s not simply just a single jab.  On top of that, the hep B is meant for people such as health professionals rather than ordinary people.  I therefore didn’t have any hep B shots.

In the end, the doctor at the fiance visa medical exam ticked both the hepatitis A and hep B shots as “not age appropriate”, ie they weren’t necessary for me (I am 44 years old).  I cannot guarantee that other people have or will experience the same thing as me with regard to the US vaccinations requirements, of course, if you have a different age, background, lifestyle etc. then you may well be treated differently, but in my experience the doctor took a common sense approach consistent with the advice that I received from my local health centre.

Do I need a visa lawyer? Pros and cons and affordable alternatives

I am writing this post because I was contacted by someone who was considering submitting an I 129 petition as the first stage of the K1 fiance visa process and asked my opinion on this topic and I thought it deserved a full answer. 

It is a question that I think many people ponder before they embark on the process, but before I go through the pros and cons of do I need a lawyer, I will tell you what my wife (finance the time) and I decided with regard to this matter and why we came to the decision that we did. 

Basically, we decided against getting a US Immigration lawyer for three reasons. 

• Firstly, I have several years of experience of working with immigrants to the UK, which is not the same as US immigration, but similar enough to give me confidence in dealing with the USCIS procedures. 
• Secondly, we would have struggled to afford the expense of a lawyer, even if we wanted to. 
• Thirdly, there were no particularly difficult complications that we could foresee, for example, I do not have a criminal record, I’d not been turned down for a US visa previously, and we felt able to demonstrate that we were in a genuine relationship.
  

 

Pros of getting a Visa Lawyer

• If the visa lawyer is any good, he or she will know the procedures and legislation inside out.  They will also have experiences of dealing with glitches and major problems.
• The lawyer can give you general advice on things such as time schedules and filling in the application forms, collecting evidence for your I 129 etc.
• The visa lawyer can help you with complications, such as past criminal records, concerns over medical conditions, or visas being refused in the past.
• The lawyer can deal with the USCIS authorities on your behalf.

 

Cons of getting a Visa Lawyer

• The expense is the main thing that puts people off getting legal advice.  Getting a lawyer can be expensive.  You might need one, however, if there are complications, such as a criminal record, or there have been visa problems in the past.
• It is possible that having a visa lawyer might slow the process down slightly.  For instance, if you send your application forms to them to be checked before they are sent on to the USCIS, it might several days onto the overall processing time.  They could also save you time, however, by preventing mistakes!
• If you are in doubt, you can always enquire to find out how much a visa lawyer is likely to cost you and what services they offer in return.  You can always say no.