Desinflorida

Hi all, plans are progressing. After visiting Wells Fargo in London we have a checking account open despite no social security number. Debit cards and pins have arrived and cards now activated by calling WF in the US. Great help from Terry Bachus at WF. It was pleasingly straight forward.
https://www.wellsfargo.com/inatl/con...rsonal_banking

Just feels good to have some kind of financial start!

Heard from HR at work yesterday that my L1A petition has been approved in the US and so next step more forms, funny 2" square photos and off to the Embassy with the family.

Any recent experiences on obtaining a credit card without an SSN and a US address (housing is the next big task) gratefully received. AIG/Chartis international relocation 'Travelguard' seem to be a good lead on this but would like to hear if it worked for you!

I have gained so much valuable information from BE, i would not wish to be uprooting us all without it! Hopefully others will find this thread useful.

EricK

Des, have replied to your IM, but for others interested - AIG corp services can arrange everything for you prior to your move without a SSN - credit cards, bank accounts, car lease / finance, car insurance.

The customer service is excellent, you get a dedicated rep who works for you. $400 annual membership was cheap given the amount of help I have had from them. Can't recommend them highly enough

cranston

HSBC did for us, free for Premier members, £100 for the rest.

Desinflorida

Thanks all, will definitely go for the AIG option, the USD400 seems a bargain.

Axel99

Hi Desi,

I am planning to meet Terry Bacchus to organise a US bank account. What was the overall cost to you? are there any hidden costs that I should be aware of?

Thanks

Desinflorida

Axel,
The good news is that banking is free - yes i was surprised too, well free if you have a minimum of USD1000 i think it was, in the checking account but if not charges are only USD5/month from memory. Also dont be put off by WF's lack of physical presence in Florida, that should be overcome by the fact they now own Wachovia who are well represented in Florida. Good luck and hope it all works out for you.

Drakule

Just tried to open a WF account with my USC wife as 1st named , went through all the hoops provided all the paperwork they required ( wanted to get account up and running for move to the US in may to transfer funds from sale of property in UK ) and we just had the knock-back ( read below )

"Wells Fargo Bank is a national banking association and is required by US regulations that require us, from time to time, to secure additional information on individuals or companies who wish to open accounts with us. These regulations also mandate we do not open certain types of accounts or accounts in certain countries. In addition, Wells Fargo has account opening requirements which limit the types of accounts we open. We must inform you that we are unable to open your account at this time".

Have asked them for a bit more info on this as its a bit cryptic , we started the application process by contacting the London office and sent all our paperwork to California as we live in Jersey Channel islands it's not possible for us to get to London but we were assured that was fine .
The sneaking suspicion i have is they seen Jersey on the application and the red flashing light came on