What will be our biggest challenges when we relocate to NJ
Aug 5th 2022, 8:16 am
#46
DE-UK-NZ-IE-US... the TYP
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,872
Re: What will be our biggest challenges when we relocate to NJ
This not correct, and is at best, misleading advice. A visitor to the US has upto 12 months on their non-US licence, irrepsective of whether they pay for a IDP, which is only a translation of their UK licence, so not especially relevant in the US anyway.
Once you establish residence in a state, evidenced by actions such as buying/ renting a home, starting employment/ a business, putting your children in school, etc. (individually, none of these are necessarily conclusive, but they are all taken as indications) then you fall under the state rules for drivers licensing requirements for residents of the state you are resident in, not the federal rules for visitors to the US.
There is no requirement in the US for a new customer to have to provide an SSN to open a non-interest bearing account, such as a checking (currrent) acccount, unfortunately not all bank employees understand this as obviously most new customers do have an SSN. Many people have reported on BE over the years that they had little trouble opening an account as a new immigrant without an SSN, including at the largest national bank chains. If a branch employee tells you that you "need" an SSN then tell them (use these words) "the USA PATRIOT Act only specifies a 'government-issued ID number' and my passport number satisfies that requirement", and if that doesn't persuade them, ask to speak to a supervisor. .... If you still get rebuffed, it probably isn't worth fighting, so try another bank.
FWIW HSBC seems to be "on its back foot" in the US these days and have sold off most of its US branch network and seems to be focussed primarily on high net worth customers.
Once you establish residence in a state, evidenced by actions such as buying/ renting a home, starting employment/ a business, putting your children in school, etc. (individually, none of these are necessarily conclusive, but they are all taken as indications) then you fall under the state rules for drivers licensing requirements for residents of the state you are resident in, not the federal rules for visitors to the US.
There is no requirement in the US for a new customer to have to provide an SSN to open a non-interest bearing account, such as a checking (currrent) acccount, unfortunately not all bank employees understand this as obviously most new customers do have an SSN. Many people have reported on BE over the years that they had little trouble opening an account as a new immigrant without an SSN, including at the largest national bank chains. If a branch employee tells you that you "need" an SSN then tell them (use these words) "the USA PATRIOT Act only specifies a 'government-issued ID number' and my passport number satisfies that requirement", and if that doesn't persuade them, ask to speak to a supervisor. .... If you still get rebuffed, it probably isn't worth fighting, so try another bank.
FWIW HSBC seems to be "on its back foot" in the US these days and have sold off most of its US branch network and seems to be focussed primarily on high net worth customers.
When I first moved in 2010 they were amazing… I had an account day 1 with no SSN, checks same day and a bank card within maybe 2-3 days…. I had the same personal banker for about 5 years and it was amazing… would send a 1 line email to get stuff done and if I had to go in to wet ink sign, everything was ready and in and out in minutes.
Aug 5th 2022, 8:21 am
#47
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,599
Re: What will be our biggest challenges when we relocate to NJ
.... But an IDP isn't really applicable in the case of being a new resident in a state.
