Opening bank account K1?

[mogiftney 144]

My wife has tried to open a checking account with many banks, and all of them require her to be a lawful permanent resident. She doesn’t have a green card yet, we just sent the AOS package in august. They require her to pass the IRS “substantial presence” test or the “green card” test, both of which it appears she doesn’t pass. She doesn’t have a green card and she hasn’t been living in the US for 3 years. What is she supposed to do? How do they expect her to have a bank account at the AOS interview when she doesn’t even have a green card to open a bank account? All help appreciated, thanks

[yuna628 9,676]

2 minutes ago, mogiftney said:

My wife has tried to open a checking account with many banks, and all of them require her to be a lawful permanent resident. She doesn’t have a green card yet, we just sent the AOS package in august. They require her to pass the IRS “substantial presence” test or the “green card” test, both of which it appears she doesn’t pass. She doesn’t have a green card and she hasn’t been living in the US for 3 years. What is she supposed to do? How do they expect her to have a bank account at the AOS interview when she doesn’t even have a green card to open a bank account? All help appreciated, thanks

I added my husband to my bank account without an SSN, a green card, or... well much of anything but a passport and a marriage certificate. My suggestion would be if a bank gives you trouble, you either ask for a higher-up person, or you find a new bank, because that bank doesn't deserve your business. Immigrants open accounts all the time, you just need to find the bank knows what they're doing.

[mogiftney 144]

47 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

I added my husband to my bank account without an SSN, a green card, or... well much of anything but a passport and a marriage certificate. My suggestion would be if a bank gives you trouble, you either ask for a higher-up person, or you find a new bank, because that bank doesn't deserve your business. Immigrants open accounts all the time, you just need to find the bank knows what they're doing.

Thanks for the response. Is there any way for us to do this without going into a branch? COVID-19 and all, we want to limit our exposure as much as possible. Applying online was where we ran into this LPR requirement. Thanks

Edited October 25, 2020 by mogiftney

[payxibka 10,045]

We hunted around and found a local credit union that allowed us to open an account online.

[HRQX 4,145]

2 hours ago, mogiftney said:

both of which it appears she doesn’t pass.

She meets substantial presense test. Add up the following: "All the days you were present in the current year, and 1/3 of the days you were present in the first year before the current year, and 1/6 of the days you were present in the second year before the current year." For 2020 it's already day 298. For 2019, 1/3 of 39 which is 13. Adding 298 and 13 is a lot more than 183. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/substantial-presence-test So she is a resident alien for tax purposes because of the substantial presence test.

Edited October 25, 2020 by HRQX

[Ayrton 965]

2 hours ago, mogiftney said:

My wife has tried to open a checking account with many banks, and all of them require her to be a lawful permanent resident. She doesn’t have a green card yet, we just sent the AOS package in august. They require her to pass the IRS “substantial presence” test or the “green card” test, both of which it appears she doesn’t pass. She doesn’t have a green card and she hasn’t been living in the US for 3 years. What is she supposed to do? How do they expect her to have a bank account at the AOS interview when she doesn’t even have a green card to open a bank account? All help appreciated, thanks

Wells Fargo will probably open an account for her even she shows up without an ID.

 

Jokes aside, they only required my passport and a credit card a I had from back home.

[mogiftney 144]

This is a standard message I’m getting when I try to open an account online:

 

I certify under penalties of perjury that:

1. The number shown below is my correct Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN#).
2. I am not subject to backup withholding because of one of the following reasons: 
   1. I am exempt from backup withholding.
   2. I have not been notified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that I am subject to backup withholding as a result of a failure to report all interest or dividends.
   3. The IRS has notified me that I am no longer subject to backup withholding.
3. I am a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien).

[mogiftney 144]

14 minutes ago, HRQX said:

She meets substantial presense test. Add up the following: "All the days you were present in the current year, and 1/3 of the days you were present in the first year before the current year, and 1/6 of the days you were present in the second year before the current year." For 2020 it's already day 298. For 2019, 1/3 of 39 which is 13. Adding 298 and 13 is a lot more than 183. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/substantial-presence-test So she is a resident alien for tax purposes because of the substantial presence test.

Is this true? It says second year before the current year, that would be 2018 which my wife wasn’t here for. She arrived in 2019

[Sarah&Facundo 595]

15 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

Wells Fargo will probably open an account for her even she shows up without an ID.

 

Jokes aside, they only required my passport and a credit card a I had from back home.

It's true though! I had a friend in college who was undocumented, yet had a bank account with Wells Fargo! 

I also had an old Wells Fargo account that I reactivated when my husband moved here on the K1. He was added before he even had a SSN or anything. Chase, my preferred and actively used bank, wouldn't allow me to add him though.

[HRQX 4,145]

9 minutes ago, mogiftney said:

I certify under penalties of perjury that:

She meets those 3 conditions of W-9 form. She is resident alien per IRS definition.

8 minutes ago, mogiftney said:

Is this true? It says second year before the current year, that would be 2018 which my wife wasn’t here for. She arrived in 2019

Yes, add up the following:

Current year (2020): 298

First year before current year (2019): 1/3 of 39 which is 13

Second year before current year (2018): 1/6 of 0 which is 0

298+13+0=311

311 is greater than 183

Edited October 25, 2020 by HRQX

[Ayrton 965]

4 minutes ago, mogiftney said:

Is this true? It says second year before the current year, that would be 2018 which my wife wasn’t here for. She arrived in 2019

She needs to have 183 days total. It doesn't matter if 2018 was 0. She already meets the requirements just with the time she's here in 2020. So she's already a Resident Alien for the year of 2020.

 

Did you get married in 2019? Did you file taxes jointly for 2019? If so, she has been a Resident Alien since 2019.

 

Does she have SSN? You will only be able to open online accounts with ssn.

 

 

[mogiftney 144]

1 minute ago, Ayrton said:

She needs to have 183 days total. It doesn't matter if 2018 was 0. She already meets the requirements just with the time she's here in 2020. So she's already a Resident Alien for the year of 2020.

 

Did you get married in 2019? Did you file taxes jointly for 2019? If so, she has been a Resident Alien since 2019.

 

Does she have SSN? You will only be able to open online accounts with ssn.

 

 

I don’t file taxes because I’m not required to, so no, and neither does she. Is she still a resident alien based on the substantial presence test if we both don’t file taxes?

[HRQX 4,145]

1 minute ago, mogiftney said:

Is she still a resident alien based on the substantial presence test if we both don’t file taxes?

Yes, she is.

[Ayrton 965]

1 minute ago, mogiftney said:

I don’t file taxes because I’m not required to, so no, and neither does she. Is she still a resident alien based on the substantial presence test if we both don’t file taxes?

Presence test is enough. She's a Resident Alien for Tax Purposes.

 

Does she have SSN?

[HRQX 4,145]

17 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

Does she have SSN? You will only be able to open online accounts with ssn.

She has SSN: "My wife came on a K1 and has a social security number already"