Been a while since my last post. With the climate getting stricter in regards to compliance for US bank account openings for Non-Residents I wanted to share my recent experience: I now managed to get: - Wise (most recently asked me to re-verify my personal address but not my business address) - Mercury (in good standing) - Relay (by far the hardest to get for me but it worked finally thanks to some new tactics that I came across, more on that below) Planning to get two more Non Fin-techs (likely WF and BOA), plus a personal US bank account, just to be all covered. I had struggled months getting all three accounts, especially in the beginning when I tried to do everything by myself. Also got semi-scammed by a Fiverr freelancer, but got my money back. My goal was to get all three because I wanted security / backup solutions in case one closed down or didn’t work. So far now my main business account is Mercury (as the operational account for my business), I make use of Relay as my business savings account and Wise for transfers (owner distributions) to my personal accounts abroad. I have Belgian, German, Swiss, Czech, Singaporean and Georgian (Multi-Currency) accounts now for personal. Most of them free. This setup works great for me. Mercury rejected me once first. I then tweaked my application and it worked. Relay was the toughest, requesting: - All documents Mercury requested plus special proof of address, plus lease agreement and a lot of back and forth. I had bought a great info-product (playbook and video course and other materials like EIN guide) from a consulting / tax advice niche business called TaxProteX. Was a pier’s recommendation. They basically give all info from start to finish on how to successfully set up a US LLC for foreigners. Not like an agency but much more like an information resource. Highly recommend them. They helped me with Relay in the end, also connecting me with a real address service. I also followed their EIN guide when I set up the LLC and got the EIN. Went pretty lucky for me with the bank accounts sum total, since that (address) was the biggest hurdle for me. After Mercury and Relay WISE was easy (provided them with my Relay and Mercury statements).

Is there any solution to opening a private bank account as a non US citizen?

Got a question for those who have experience with this: I am a non resident, have an ITIN and am non ETBUS / no US source income / effectively connected US income. This means in my case I will not need to file form 1040NR since nothing to declare. However I would like to keep my ITIN active - best case scenario without needing to extend it approximately every 3 years (which is basically almost the same process as applying for a new ITIN). Several people told me something I had also considered: To file form 1040NR nil with nothing declared. Hence the ITIN would be used and stay active. But I don't have data on this from the real world. Seems the people who have advised doing this only had the one argument that this would keep the ITIN active but what about possible negative effects? Is this safe to do? I don't want to create any problems - e.g. the IRS double checking things on my business / assessing if ETBUS / non ETBUS or anything like that. Are there people here who know if filing 1040NR is common practice and completely harmless? Would be great to know if this is in fact a viable solution to easily keeping an ITIN active for businesses that are not ETBUS.

Hi there, I have an LLC in Wyoming. I am a non resident, resident of Nepal (no TAX treaty with US). I am a software developer earning ~99% of my income from US clients in USD. The funds are going to my LLC bank account. I have no operations, no employee, no office in US, and I have never been to US. Now I am confused weather my earning is ECI or US sourced income. One CPA said it is ECI because I have US clients, other said since I perform my service in my home country it isn't. 1. How should I classify my income? 2. For separate reasons I want to obtain ITIN number, will that change my situation and obligation? Whats the best way forward to file taxes for LLC and also obtain the ITIN number. This might be a lot to ask, but would like to connect with like minded people to understand this better.

Hey guys! I already have an online business, Mercury account, and all the good stuff. I found about James on YouTube after looking for ways to get a "us physical address" for my business. Mercury asked for another "physical address" because they are no longer accepting mailcenters, po boxes, and registered agents. The address that I have is from iPostal1. Do you have any advice? I'm planning on using the address from the business I use to bring back to my country all the things I shop on Amazon. The truth is that I have no physical presence in the US.