I was lucky in that I live in a university city and the campus branch of the local bank was entirely used to people arriving from overseas with no social security number. They happily took a photocopy of my passport as ID and set me going in minutes. I imagine most banks in a city of any size would be equally helpful.

Another approach is to find a bank with branches in both the US and your home country - a friend of mine strongly recommends HSBC for that reason. They not only created a US account for him but also transferred his UK credit rating so he was eligible for a credit card. (I've been here nearly three years and still haven't managed to acquire one).

It shouldn't be difficult to obtain a US bank account if you explain clearly why you have no SSN and have plentiful other documentation to prove who you are.

Learn more about this author, Colin Beveridge.
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