Ray

They take witholding out of the interest ..

meauxna

And credit it to..... who? what?

chartreuse

Back when I opened my account (with WaMu - don't bet on the same horse or stand in the same line as me - really, don't.) they used,IIRC, form W8-BEN.

It basically says "Don't tax me, I'm Johnny Foreigner and I live in a country which has a tax treaty with you."

Ray

there you go ...

meauxna

I'm not disbelieving you, just curious about where the money goes.

Ray

presumably to to the tax man ...

lapin_windstar

A clued up branch of Citibank will give you a checking account and secured credit card without a SSN. They will then hose you because they are all bastards...

mister D

I got around it this way (without a SSN): I opened an account in the UK with HSBC, once that was up and running, I walked into a USA HSBC branch and opened an account there and then, it took about an hour, and i had to have passport, proof of address (take in a statement of UK acct), and i provided a temporary USA address. They gave me a similar status acct to my UK one.

You then have to apply through the branch for a number to access internet banking, as it requires a SSN on website.

Apparently you can get a USA HSBC acct from your UK address, but it's a bit more complicated. HSBC in the UK can process it for you though, it costs £100 and takes 4 wks.

Hope this helps.

mister D

What i am now seeking to do, is be approved for a car lease without a SSN - does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Bob

You don't need a SSN to open an account, you just need proof that you are who you say you are, if the bank gives you trouble, go to another branch.

BoA, TD Bank, Citizens, they'll all sort you out. Don't bother with Sovereign, as they are going out of business.

Car lease, as with most things, drop enough of a deposit and they won't care. But a car lease, in Mass at least is a bit shit, because you'll never return the car in a few years in mint shape, well if your in Boston.

MsElui

try international autosource for a car lease. we sorted out the car etc before we arrived and had ssn's there.

mister D

thanks MsELui for the info on Autosource, that's really helpful, i'm on their website right now!

Trekguy

I opened an account with National City with a UK permanent address combined with a US mailing address and they used all 0's as a SSN then phoned them and got the internet banking set up and a nice interest rate for the savings too.