Hi everyone, So, after failures in Chase branches in San Francisco and Washington DC ( System outage in DC ) I finally got a Chase checking account ( The one with the $4.95 monthly fee ) in a Las Vegas branch. Luckily my new BofA checking account generated a statement last week with a workable Anytime Mailbox address. I also applied for the Freedom Unlimited credit card, and despite my banker pushing it to be approved on the spot, the application has gone into review. But my banker is confident that it wilk be approved by next week. He also took copies of my BofA statement, passport, and i had to sign some forms, including the W8 Ben form. I was at the branch for 1 hour and 15mins. The banker was very patient and friendly. ( I have attached a copy of his digital business card, in case anyone is going to Las Vegas lol ) And that's it for my American banking adventure. I think it was a productive trip, as i have signed up with BofA, Wells Fargo and Chase. I know for some nationalities, it is difficult to get a US visa, and USA is an expensive country to visit. But if you have the $$$ and time, and your passport is powerful, i highly recommend that you all come to America and get everything done in a branch. The experience is so much easier and less stressful.

I am thinking of opening a Citi checking account before i leave America. But i see that there is a monthly fee unless you receive a $250 deposit every time. It doesn't seem worth it..am i reading it right?

Hi guys, Looks like i will have activate my Wells Fargo debit and credit cards in Australia, since the cards got delivered to my New York Anytime Mailbox address after i left New York. Has anyone here got a Wells Fargo card and it got activated overseas ? If so, were there any problems? I have activated my Capitol One and US AMEX cards in Australia, and had no problems. Hopefully it wil be the same for Wells Fargo.

Anyone looking for a US checking / savings account should check out Alliant, the process was pretty straightforward. I was drawn to Alliant specifically because they allowed W-8BENs at initial account opening, and you don't need to have a US address. They are explicitly NRA-friendly, so no in-person visits required either. The only catch is that you need to fill out a "paper" application instead of going through the online process. Here's the link to the form, which you can fax, mail, or send via the chat. I did it via the chat, I just said I wanted to submit a paper application and if they could please forward it to the back office. Documents I submitted: - Signed form (signed in wet ink and scanned) - Passport - ITIN letter - W-8BEN - Utility bill evidencing my street address as stated in the form Timeline: - 17 April – submitted documents via chat - 26 April – received email stating my debit card was shipped on 23 April - 27 April – called them to ask for my member number so I could setup online banking; details sent via secure email (account opening date was stated as 22 April) So overall it was a quick and hassle free process, I'll update this post when I receive my debit card!

Hello everyone, Since my BofA and Wells Fargo checking accounts are too new to generate a bank statement, can i just go to a branch and request a document printout which says that i own this account? And will this document be accepted as proof of address by Chase?