Your Experiences: Banking; Dealing with Consulates; Entering the US

85 thoughts on “Your Experiences: Banking; Dealing with Consulates; Entering the US”

1. Re snowbirds:
   http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2015/02/20/irs-coming-down-hard-on-canadians-who-stay-more-than-182-days

   ‘IRS coming down hard on Canadians who stay more than 182 days’
   Bob Boughner, Special to The Daily News
   Friday, February 20, 2015 9:47:57 EST AM

2. What a hassle!

   First, I have learned that as the husband of a Dominican Republic (not to be confused with the Commonwealth of Dominica) citizen, I can opt for Dominican nationality, which brings with it Dominican citizenship because I am over 18. However, my son, born in Nashua, New Hampshire, just got his cedula de identidad, which gives his birth place as Nashua, U.S.A.

   Now, I’ve been running around trying to open a bank account and finally succeeded at Banco Santa Cruz. They made me complete a U.S. form W-9. I asked if they have such forms for all countries or only the U.S.A., and they replied, only the U.S.A.

   The documentation demanded by Banco Popular is outrageous.

   In any case, I brought in my passport and a reference letter saying I’ve been a customer of Asociacion La Vega Real de Ahorros y Prestamos (Alaver) for three years. Alaver, a local savings and loan, cannot cash travellers cheques or accept U.S. cheques because they do not work in U.S. dollars. Banco Santa Cruz can. I had to return the next day when the account was approved.

   These people should encourage U.S.A. to take a hike, and encourage tourists to open investment accounts. It’s easy to see the country needs more investment.

   I have one good reason to opt for Dominican citizenship: It would make me eligible to run for Congress here. There are seven members to represent Dominicans in the exterior. Any direct descendant of a Dominican is a Dominican; but people born here to people born here to people from Haiti have had their citizenship revoked.

3. Let me revise my previous comment. BSC will not accept travellers cheques bu they do accept personal cheques in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank, and of course these have to clear before the funds are available. There were just so many intrusive questions the banks are asking when they should be encouraging people to invest in the Dominican Republic.

   Other banks said to return in two days and BSC said to return in one day. Banco Popular Dominicano wanted a copy of my tax return and when I objected due to confidentiality reasons they said I could provide bank statements showing where my money is coming from. (“So, you want to put money in our bank, eh? How do we know you earned this money honestly?” type of thing. They did not say I that way but it’s that idea behind the policies.)

4. By law in the Dominican Republic, banks are required to check identification when you open a bank account, and it MUST be the cedula de identidad or a foreign passport. This is why it is troubling that the cedula de identidad shows the person’s birth place.

5. This is not on the face of it a taxation issue, but in the works is Canada agreeing to give the US information on CANADIAN CITIZENS, not just permanent residents;
   http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/03/13/trudeau-quietly-agrees-to-share-info-on-canadians-with-us-walkom.html

   “… doubt that any American politician would turn down Ottawa’s offer to give U.S. national security agencies more information on Canadians.

   Perhaps appropriately, the announcement that both sides were pressing ahead with information sharing was made Thursday not by Canada’s prime minister but by Obama.

   Is any of this a problem for Canadians? In the short run, the answer is probably no. The Canada Border Service Agency already gives its American counterpart information on third-country citizens and Canadian permanent residents travelling by land to the U.S.

   But in most cases, according to the CBSA, the information includes only basic identifiers such as name, date of birth and port of entry.

   In the longer run, as successive federal privacy commissioners have pointed out, information sharing can be more dangerous.
   …”….

6. Not directly about our issues, but about the border between Canada and the US:
   http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/border-crossing-photos-rutkauskas-1.3540709
   “..Before or after almost every shot Rutkauskas had an encounter with someone from U.S. Border Patrol, the RCMP or the Canada Border Services Agency.

   Some were helpful, even moving their cars so he could get the shot he wanted, and giving him recommendations on where to go next. They made it clear, however, what he could and could not take pictures of because of security restrictions.

   With others, he had “heated conversations” and those came when Rutkauskas stood in “no man’s land.”

   When most Canadians cross the border by land it’s at a major port of entry, and they pass through an inspection site where they are questioned by customs officers. But what does the border actually look like everywhere else?

   In remote areas, where it traverses forests or farmland, it’s a six-metre wide swath of cleared land. It is periodically marked with small, obelisk-shaped monuments.

   When Rutkauskas found himself in that cleared zone, he — and the border agents who showed up after detecting his presence, through whatever technology was monitoring that space — would sometimes disagree over “where things begin and end.”

   “They would accuse me of illegally entering the United States,” he said..”…..

   Photographer’s eyes opened on epic road trip along Canada-U.S. border
   Canadian photographer Andreas Rutkauskas learned unexpected lessons on cross-country border tour

   By Meagan Fitzpatrick, CBC News Posted: Apr 23, 2016 5:00 AM E

7. Here is an excellent CBC documentary with the same name from a few years back:

   http://www.cbc.ca/documentarychannel/feature-programs/borderline/

8. Not sure where to put this, so apologies if this is the wrong place. I just wanted people to know that this outrageous action of the USA also means some people here in Belgium, and I expect some other countries such as France, will get to pay additional income taxes to their country of residence, purely because of FATCA.
   How?
   Because the tax efficient way of being paid a bonus payment is in to a SICAV, or an open ended Belgian investment trust. This bonus can be withdrawn at a favourable tax rate compared to via payroll. I expect you know what comes next. Right there in bold bullet points are the conditions for acceptance in to the SICAV and right there in bold “NO US PERSONS”.
   So before all the financial damage done by the USA by double taxation, cost of reporting etc etc……The American pays a higher rate of income tax here in Belgium on his annual bonus because the company designated SICAV option, that everybody takes, is closed to the American.
   I sincerely wish you guys the best of luck in this fight against this monstrosity.

9. Mike…how sad and unjust this is for you!! I don’t live in Canada but I fight along side with them. Please join us in the fight as only together as a worldwide effort can we hope for change. I have sent money to fund the
   Canadian cause and will soon be sending more money for the cbt court case. If all US persons contribute to these court cases to hire the best lawyers possible we might have a fighting chance.

10. @Mike
    That is outrageous. It sounds like another form of discrimination based on nationality for anyone unfortunate enough to be considered a “US Person”. Come join us in the fight as 2terrified2sleep has suggested. I live in Canada and renounced in 2014, happy to now be a “non US person”. But even among those who have renounced or relinquished US citizenship, there is still much outrage at the overreach of US/IRS into supposedly sovereign countries.

11. @Mike – welcome.
    Yes, this is outrageous. While the situation is not as bad here in Australia, there are some retirement savings opportunities that are closed to US persons who are IRS-compliant – not closed by Australian law, though; closed by the punitive treatment of anything “foreign” by the Internal Revenue Code.

    If you want to support the CBT lawsuit – you’ll find it at http://citizenshiptaxation.ca/donate/

12. Here’s something else to be concerned about:

    “The Canada Revenue Agency has been transferring information about Canadian bank accounts worth under $50,000 U.S to the U.S Internal Revenue Service but cannot say how many accounts below that threshold have been shared with the Americans.”

    This information is from:

    https://ipolitics.ca/2016/06/15/cra-shared-information-on-smaller-bank-accounts-with-irs/

    Allison Christians is quoted as saying:
    “They had better not be inspecting (the records)…Think about the level of detail they have on all Canadian citizens who have U.S. indicia. They (would be) warrantlessly searching the bank accounts of Canadian citizens in contravention of the income tax act.”

    Also, “Lynne Swanson, who is part of a group fighting in Federal Court to have the controversial information-sharing deal declared unconstitutional, said she was disappointed by the CRA’s answer that it doesn’t know how many accounts at different levels were shared with the IRS.”

13. Above information and more details are posted on Maple Sandbox under”

    “CRA Gave IRS Bank Records Under $50,000” by Lynne Swanson (June 15, 2016).

14. Today I opened a savings account in the Dominican Republic, and the form asked me about my birth place and whether or not I had a parent born in the USA. The form explained that FATCA requires this of any financial institution receiving transfers from USA, even though the savings and loan works only in pesos and did not receive such transfers.

15. What new additional FATCAnization effect does Meridian CU’s intended expansion into federal banking have on its current and future Canadian clients with the US status burden? “…Meridian could have chosen to convert from a provincially regulated credit union to a federal credit union with power to operate across the country.

    But like most credit unions, it has chosen not to do that. So far, only one provincially regulated credit union — New Brunswick-based Caisse populaire acadienne ltée — has chosen to convert to a federal credit union.

    Maurin said Meridian looked into the possibility of becoming a federal credit union, but decided to expand across the country as a bank as that’s a financial entity Canadians are most used to…”…
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/meridian-credit-union-bank-1.3724351

    We already know that they espouse their support for FATCA compliance, as their FATCA page appeared early on, with wording reminiscent of the CBA FATCA cheerleaders;
    http://www.meridiancu.ca/meridian/legal/FATCA/Pages/default.aspx

    Meridian includes links to IRS pages on its FATCA webpages http://www.meridiancu.ca/meridian/legal/FATCA/FAQ/Pages/default.aspx .

    And they pretended right from the beginning that “We expect that FATCA will not have any impact on most of our Members”. Right, tell that to the members in Niagara and other parts of S.Ontario where lots of duals or Canadians with some kind of US status (ex. greencard) are located. How could it be possible that “FATCA will not have any impact on most of our Members” (see Meridian FATCA webpage) when “… Meridian has steadily grown through mergers and acquisitions to the point where it is now the largest credit union in Ontario, with 81 branches and 270,000 members in southern and central Ontario. It has $14 billion in assets under management.” ( http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/meridian-credit-union-bank-1.3724351 ).

    I have a small account there which preceded FATCA, and am thinking of closing it even though I am no longer a USP.

16. @badger
    Thanks for the information in this constantly changing post FATCA world. It’s always good to keep tabs on our financial institutions so we know what they are up to. Better to do one’s banking at a Local Client Based FATCA exempt credit union which doesn’t report on any Canadian residents.

17. Pat Canadian, I do believe you’re on of the lucky ones who lives in BC. I was in BC earlier this summer, and was totally jealous of you people every time I passed one of those LCB credit union branches. Unfortunately (for many reasons) I live in Ontario, and I have yet to find any institutions here that are as accommodating to US tainted people.
    Does anyone in Ontario, or even Quebec (I’m close) know of such an institution?

18. Try AlternaSavings and Credit Union. I just looked at their on line application. It asks citizenship but not if you are a US citizen I.e. you just check Canadian.

19. @PierreD
    The situation, with regard to LCB credit unions, has not been researched as much back east. Here in BC, the best bet is Vancity credit union. It’s FATCA policy is even online for all to see.

    https://www.vancity.com/PrivacyAndSecurity/YourPrivacy/FATCA/

    And it is quite clearly stated:

    “As a result of our Local Client Base classification, Vancity only needs to collect FATCA information and report on member accounts held by non-Canadian residents.”

    The other credit unions should be encouraged to get their act together. Good luck with your search for a compatible FI.

20. @PierreD, I would also try Alterna, as DoD said. Unlike Meridian, it does not direct people to IRS webpages, and is proactive at least about posting the list of registered accounts which it states are FATCA IGA reporting exempt. I have had very good service from them for many years. I have never been asked about my citizenship.

    @PatCanadian, thanks for reminding new readers about the “Local Client Base classification” option if one can be found where they live.

21. I have been a customer of Alterna since 1977, when it was called the University and Colleges Credit Union. I have had nothing but good service, good rates and low fees from them. There has never been any whiff of FACTAness in any of my dealings with them. Frankly, I have never understood why anyone would ever use a bank.

22. @No name

    ” Frankly, I have never understood why anyone would ever use a bank.”

    Especially now, after FATCA. I will never go back to the big banks. Vancity has my loyalty with it’s great service and no fees for those over 55.

23. @all

    another vote for van city.

    once I was able to set the manager and assistant manager straight about them being a “local client base” credit union they have been great to deal with.

    the nice lady that opened the account for me had no clue what FATCA was nor did she even care about it. I was able to open this account with my drivers license and visa card and zero questions about where I was born or what my citizenship was.

24. Here I sit in an internet cafe in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Just down Calle Mella from here, at the corner of Calle Del Sol, is a Scotiabank branch. Now, Scotiabank has an affillitate in Haiti, The Bank of Nova Scotia (Haiti), but the branch here tells me that in the branch here, Haitian currency is neither bought nor sold. They exchange Canadian, USA and some other currencies but not that of their next-door neighbour.

    This has to stop, and it is a symptom of a real obstacle to international commerce. Exchanging Dominican Republic pesos for U.S.A. dollars, then bringing the dollars to Haiti to exchange for Haitian money, is absurd, but that is how it is done and that is what needs to be fixed.

25. @Tom
    It cannot be fixed as long as certain currencies carry such a risk of devaluation