Moving to the US (curiousity question.)

[Martha200]

I am encouraging someone I sort of know to be more positive about looking at moving to the US (considering they hate the UK with a passion and wont really consider anywhere but the US, where they say they have friends, one of whom is trying to assist them with advice etc.)

What I would like to know, based on my pretty limited knowledge of the US, is can it really be possible to set up a bank account if one does not live there? They apparently have a fixed mail address too. They have no relatives there, and I can't see an employer involved. Saying this though, they are some sort of 'company director' (don't ask me of what!) so wondered can't they just expand the company over to the US... would that not be an option to be able to get over there?

Any views are welcome on this.. in all seriousness I think if someone really can't think of anything positive about the country they live in, then it's worth them moving on rather than bloody moaning about it at every opportunity!

The key thing to anything financial in the US is to have a Social Security Number. It can take a few weeks to get one after arriving on a visa that allows you to work. You can't really get one at all if you can't work. Sounds like your friend is on some kind of investor visa, so they would be able to work and get a SSN, but they would have to wait for it to be processed.

It is always much easier if you can get an employer to pave the way with banking.

When we went to the US, DH's employer set us up with bank accounts (and we did both have SSNs already), which meant that banking fees were waived.

Hi,
We (dh and I) opened a bank account in the states before moving out there. We did a recce (sp?) visit and walked into a bank (Bank of America) handed over a hundred dollars or so to put in and they opened an account for us using our UK addresses. (and requiring lots of paperwork)

ALso many UK banks will open a dollar account for you. So if someone is moving on a temporary basis that is a useful compromise.

We are going to the US just for 3 months next year and we've opened a $ account with Citibank here that we'll be able to access when we're over there. So that side of things was actually very straightforward.