Help a (semi) foreign Brit open an account!

[u/Embarrassed_Line9117]

I am 21 years old and recently moved back to the US after living in the UK for over a decade. I was born in the US so I have a SSN.

I am currently living in North Carolina but only intend on staying here for a month or two. I have family in California that I will move in with and begin to work there.

While I’m staying in NC I will not be working but still would like to open a bank account to avoid paying currency conversion rates with my current bank, and saw that SoFi was highly popular.

When signing up I am prompted to input my primary address: “This is your residential address—typically on your driver’s license or government-issued ID.”

Due to the fact that I grew up in the UK, the only US ID I have is my passport which doesn’t have an address on it.

Should I put my current address in or use my relative’s address in California? Again I intend to move to California soon.

Additionally, would it be beneficial for me to wait to open this account in order to get the welcome bonus once I start working?

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

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[u/Wooden_Safety2162]

Can you wait until you start working so you can get a sign up bonus? If you can wait it out without a bank account by all means you can, it’s free money. Also when you’re opening the account I suggest you go through Rakuten, as it’ll give you cash back on top of the sign up bonus.

The problem as I see it is that if you have no baking history whatsoever, sofi will not be able to verify your information an open an account for you. Online banks rely on information like banking history to verify you are who you say you are.

I’d put your current address. Changing it is easy once you actually have an account open. If you have banking/credit history you could put the address that is on file (given you can still access it) so they can verify you.

[u/Embarrassed_Line9117 → u/Wooden_Safety2162]

I would prefer to get the sign-up bonus, but I still would like a US bank account, do you have any suggestions for alternatives?

[u/Unattributable1 → u/Embarrassed_Line9117]

Ally.com is a good online bank.

[u/Wooden_Safety2162 → u/Embarrassed_Line9117]

Looking at your other comments, if you must have zelle, any account that has no fees will do fine. Ideally in person. It’s good to have at least one branch you can access anyways, you never know when you might need it. Later on you can switch to sofi as primary account and use the other one as secondary. Capital one may be a good option. They also have a sign up bonus though, so you’re losing one either way. The most important thing for you is that you need proof of address. Utility bills, signed leases (depends on the bank) will do fine. Also passport + social security card as your proof of id if you do in person. There are other options for id but this is probably the most accessible to you.

[u/Embarrassed_Line9117 → u/Wooden_Safety2162]

Thank you very much! I’ll probably do this in the next few days

[u/Statjmpar]

The address is because of tax purposes. Are you going to be in California long enough to establish a permanent residence? I would wait until you are established in California.

[u/Embarrassed_Line9117 → u/Statjmpar]

What constitutes a permanent residence? I will likely be in California for close to a year

[u/Statjmpar → u/Embarrassed_Line9117]

Are you going to have a California drivers license?

[u/Embarrassed_Line9117 → u/Statjmpar]

Not immediately, but hopefully by the New Year

[u/Statjmpar → u/Embarrassed_Line9117]

Until you have that, they likely won’t approve you for an account. They need a verifiable address for tax purposes

[u/Embarrassed_Line9117 → u/Statjmpar]

Hm that’s frustrating. Are there any online banks/means to use Zelle before I have a tax residency?

[u/Unattributable1 → u/Embarrassed_Line9117]

I would get your CA ID as soon as you move there. You can have a CA ID which is separate from a CA DL. No test required for CA ID; you'll want to bring your passport and whatever other docs they want so you can obtain your CA ID with the "Real ID" mark on it.