Opening a bank acct???

[Reeena 0]

So the hubby has a SSN... and went to the bank to open an acct. He went to Chase. They opened the acct, but the other day he got a letter saying he needs to fill out a W9.... and then they were questioning why he has a US address as a non-resident... argh!!

Have any of you had to fill this form out? After reading the instructions it does not seem like this form applies to him.

I think they have messed up his paperwork because they also had him listed as a nonresident and then they also wanted to know why he has a US address... I wish I would have gone with him the first time... but you know how it is when you want a bank acct and dont want to wait for anyone to go with you to open the acct.

Just wondering if any of you have had to fill out this form??

Thanks

Posted in the Canadian Forum because its the only one I read

[JillA 2]

Never heard of such a form, didn't have to fill one out... I don't bank at Chase though, I have a local credit union as my bank...

[BermyCat 1]

I got one of these too. Phil got me added to his bank accounts before we even got the K-1. They sent us the W-9 form because I didn't have an SSN yet. Of course, it took them so long to send the form that I had immigrated and gotten my SSN when it arrived. I just went to my branch and gave them all my new infromation.

Apparently the patriot act really tightened up banking rules around verifying SSNs and ITINs. If they can't do that, they are required to withhold 28% of any interest on the account.

~ Catherine

Edited June 6, 2009 by BermyCat

[AnaGRicky 0]

Do you Bank with "RBC Royal Bank " in Canada by any chance? Because if you do , RBC Bank are located all over the US. I have banked with RBC Royal Bank in Canada for many years so I opened a US RBC Bank just by phoneing them. It was so easy . My son,( in Florida )me and RBC Royal bank phone lady went on a three way phone call and voila ! its so easy, and well worth it ! So when I move to the US , Having my RSP's and Finalizing last few bill's in Canada it will be very easy , I do it all on-line, I even have a US Debit Visa card now!

Its Great! Just in case things dont work out with Chase .

Good Luck

[July09Bride 1]

So the hubby has a SSN... and went to the bank to open an acct. He went to Chase. They opened the acct, but the other day he got a letter saying he needs to fill out a W9.... and then they were questioning why he has a US address as a non-resident... argh!!

Have any of you had to fill this form out? After reading the instructions it does not seem like this form applies to him.

I think they have messed up his paperwork because they also had him listed as a nonresident and then they also wanted to know why he has a US address... I wish I would have gone with him the first time... but you know how it is when you want a bank acct and dont want to wait for anyone to go with you to open the acct.

Just wondering if any of you have had to fill out this form??

Thanks

Posted in the Canadian Forum because its the only one I read

You can have ANY account you want in the US...it just can't be an interest earning account. So, if you try only for a non-interest bearing checkingaccount, you should be good to go!

BTW, I bank at Chase and my fiance' (CDN) has a checking account now (via MY account) and he hasn't even come over here on his K1 yet!!!

[Reeena 0]

I just dont get why they need this form, he has a social... makes no sense to me.

When I read about the form it seems its for contractors or people with a business???

I told him we should just go to another bank.

He only chose that bank because it is close to our house.

Not to mention it is a brand new branch and the people seem clueless... ARGH!!

[trailmix 77]

You can have ANY account you want in the US...it just can't be an interest earning account. So, if you try only for a non-interest bearing checkingaccount, you should be good to go!

BTW, I bank at Chase and my fiance' (CDN) has a checking account now (via MY account) and he hasn't even come over here on his K1 yet!!!

Hmm, no reason why he can't have an interest bearing account, unless i'm not understanding what you are saying July?

Yes Reeena, it makes sense that he should not have been flagged as a non-resident - apparently the banks don't think like that here.

Anyway, yes, I had the same thing happen to us. When we originally opened our account we opened it in Canada, although I had a SSN at the time - long story short, they sent me a letter saying hey, you have to fill out a W8 or W9 - RBC U.S. - I call them and say why - they say - oh that must be a mistake - nevermind.

ffwd to tax time - I get a slip for like non-resident interest. So I call them - oh, you have to fill out the W9. Yeah.

So I do fill one out for both of us and mail it to the bank.

I know to read it that it sounds like it doesn't apply, but if you look at the whole who is a U.S. person part and how that relates to being a resident alien - it does. Basically they are just asking you for his SSN.

Edited June 6, 2009 by trailmix

[Reeena 0]

Thanks TM

I guess we will just fill it out and send it in if we dont end up at another bank first.

I just didnt want them to assign him a TIN on top of him already having a SSN.

Oh and he got another SSN card in the mail today, however this one also has his 2 middle names on it when the other one just has his first and last name... strange. I think though they are the same number, I never did DOUBLE check... might need to go do that, haha.

[July09Bride 1]

You can have ANY account you want in the US...it just can't be an interest earning account. So, if you try only for a non-interest bearing checkingaccount, you should be good to go!

BTW, I bank at Chase and my fiance' (CDN) has a checking account now (via MY account) and he hasn't even come over here on his K1 yet!!!

Hmm, no reason why he can't have an interest bearing account, unless i'm not understanding what you are saying July?

Yes Reeena, it makes sense that he should not have been flagged as a non-resident - apparently the banks don't think like that here.

Anyway, yes, I had the same thing happen to us. When we originally opened our account we opened it in Canada, although I had a SSN at the time - long story short, they sent me a letter saying hey, you have to fill out a W8 or W9 - RBC U.S. - I call them and say why - they say - oh that must be a mistake - nevermind.

ffwd to tax time - I get a slip for like non-resident interest. So I call them - oh, you have to fill out the W9. Yeah.

So I do fill one out for both of us and mail it to the bank.

I know to read it that it sounds like it doesn't apply, but if you look at the whole who is a U.S. person part and how that relates to being a resident alien - it does. Basically they are just asking you for his SSN.

Well, I bank at Chase (the same place Reeena went), and when we (my fiance' and I) went to open an account for him (back in December 2007), the branch manager told us he could could have any account he wanted, as long as it didn't earn interest. Reason being, if he had an account that earned interest, it would show as income to the IRS. Since he has yet to become a permanent resident and/or have the proper paperwork to earn any income of any sort, he can not have an interest bearing account = income in US funds. A non-interest checking account was perfect. Mind you, the account we had at the time was a business account (which we have since closed and dissolved the business)... he and I were on the checking account, but only my name was on the savings account. However, this past January (01/02/2009, to be exact) we went to my bank and tried to open a checking account for him, alone. We were told that he could not open an account on his own, at this time, but we could open an account for him under my name/account, so we did.

[wowswift 3]

they're GC holders though, and shouldn't have had a problem. I think they messed up and i would go back. we have chase too, and husband had no problems. they didn't want to see his green card, just the visa in his passport and some random credit card with his name on it. they did it no problem. maybe make sure to tell them you have a PR in the states. i was with my hubby when we added him though

Edited June 7, 2009 by wowswift

[July09Bride 1]

they're GC holders though, and shouldn't have had a problem. I think they messed up and i would go back. we have chase too, and husband had no problems. they didn't want to see his green card, just the visa in his passport and some random credit card with his name on it. they did it no problem. maybe make sure to tell them you have a PR in the states.

Hmmm... guess so.

[Reeena 0]

they're GC holders though, and shouldn't have had a problem. I think they messed up and i would go back. we have chase too, and husband had no problems. they didn't want to see his green card, just the visa in his passport and some random credit card with his name on it. they did it no problem. maybe make sure to tell them you have a PR in the states. i was with my hubby when we added him though

Exactly thats why I think the girl messed up the paperwork...

Esp since the letter they sent wanted to know why he has a US address...

I did call and add him to my USAA acct and that was easy, they said they will just send us some signature cards and to send them back...

Like I said I think since this is a brand new branch they are still learning...

I want to just go to another Chase branch... lol

[trailmix 77]

they're GC holders though, and shouldn't have had a problem. I think they messed up and i would go back. we have chase too, and husband had no problems. they didn't want to see his green card, just the visa in his passport and some random credit card with his name on it. they did it no problem. maybe make sure to tell them you have a PR in the states. i was with my hubby when we added him though

Exactly thats why I think the girl messed up the paperwork...

Esp since the letter they sent wanted to know why he has a US address...

I did call and add him to my USAA acct and that was easy, they said they will just send us some signature cards and to send them back...

Like I said I think since this is a brand new branch they are still learning...

I want to just go to another Chase branch... lol

Yes, I agree, they made a mistake, he probably mentioned that he had just moved here from Canada and they messed it up from there.

July - your bank was also wrong - there is nothing wrong with earning interest - even if you don't have a SSN - they just count you as a non-resident and you are taxed accordingly (which is what they did with us).

[thetreble 19]

When I first got my account, without an SSN, they didn't send me those forms. Fast forward a year later with SSN and green card in hand, I get the W9 forms in the mail!!!

Don't fill them out. You don't have to. Just call and tell them they made a mistake like T-mix said.