W199

Those other banks you listed won't do it because they are not international banks. The HSBC link you posted is the wrong link. That is for the HSBC USA for a resident bank account. You need to use HSBC international department. They are the ones that will open a non-resident USA bank account. I have talk to the latter on the phone, my personal banker, and I have used them myself to open foreign non-resident bank accounts. I am not just guessing based on a link I found. And this was the link I had posted. Did you even check it? https://www.us.hsbc.com/international-banking/moving-to-america/ But to clarify. the international cross-border banking rules are very restrictive. I am not saying that you can do this from the UK. But I know someone from the Philippines is able to open up a non-resident USA bank account while they are still in the Philippines. Their website seems to imply this might not apply for the European Union.

The FBI background check that you get is useless because specifically states that it can not be used for purposes like this. Furthermore the USCIS has full access to multiple different FBI database including sealed and expunged records, This is the first thing they check. Why would they want your limited personal identity record? lol However, checking your own FBI record is always a good idea. It only takes a day or two if you use an agency for about $50. Item #1 above is critical and should be adequate especially with #2 Item #2. They key for this is to be sure to include the disposition of your case, for example, "Found Guilty, Paid the citation of $1K" or whatever really happened. They want to make sure the case is closed. Or consult a lawyer for real legal advice

I am not sure if this is really correct. I am in USA and opened a HSBC premier account in the USA. They then opened me a HSBC bank account in the Philippines for free while I was in the USA. This allows me to transfer money back and forth to the Philippines literally instantly and for free as well get a personal banker in the Philippines. I can then easily transfer money from the Philippines to my fiancee's local bank account for free and quickly with a better foreign currency exchange rate then xoom, remity, etc... This is a nice luxury when I do travel there too. They also have multi-currency accounts.. They then also said my Fiancee in the Philippines can open a non-resident USA bank account while she is still in the Philippines. They said she can can do it with zoom, without even leaving her house in the Philippines if she uses the hsbc international office. Another method would be to have the local HSBC bank do it for her but that takes longer. I'm pretty sure they know what they were talking about since it was there international banking division' experts. Check this link, https://www.us.hsbc.com/international-banking/moving-to-america/ They specialize in getting you set up in USA before you arrive. Or even if you didn't set up your HSBC account in the USA before you left home, you can just do it when you arrive with an ITIN or SSN. Then you can link it to your global HSBC and do instant transfers back and forth for free. Only thing to note, they made a recent change is that you must be premier member to do this now. And that requires a total of $75K in assets, But most people just open an HSBC brokerage account to keep that money, so the cash doesn't sit in the account. If you don't have that much, year there are many easier ways to deal with it. Note, if you do carry cash over $10K, you not only have to declare it but need prove the source such as your bank statements where you withdrew it.

Then most likely a $15-$50 USD fee that the bank will charge your wife upon receiving an international wire transfer. But this will be waived if she has a premium account at some bank.s

I totally agree with you. My fiancée is from the Philippines. There is literally zero chance they would give her a B1/B2 visa to visit me while the K-1 in pending. Before we were engaged, they would not even let her come on a student visa to get her Master's degree because she had a bf in the USA. They didn't want to see any proof of employment or ties. Therefore, some time later, after we got engaged, she got a Canadian tourist visa. Rented a airbnb in Montreal for the summer, and I'll just visit her in Montreal, since its just a 5 hour drive.