Can Non-US Citizens outside the US open a Brokerage account? (2024)

Can Non-US Citizens outside the US open a Brokerage account? (1)

Can Non-US Citizens open bank or brokerage accounts?

Yes, they can. Even if they don’t live in the US. They can do it from home. For free. This article has been updated in July 2021. A new paragraph was added for international students.

In the United States, once you open the first bank account, is much easier to open other bank accounts. The easiest way to open it, for those who are not in the US, is by opening a brokerage account that comes with a bank account.

Here is the list of brokers that open accounts to Non-resident aliens:

1. TD Ameritrade opens accounts to residents of over 100 countries. The few exceptions include the European Union, Canada, and Australia, but “there are lots of buts and ifs on it”.

2. Interactive Brokers opens accounts to residents anywhere. Their list includes 220 countries, detailed below.

3. Charles Schwab opens accounts to citizens/residents of over 100 countries, including the European Union.

4. Fidelity Investments has kept open legacy accounts from Non-resident aliens. New clients are referred to Fidelity International.

5. JP Morgan Chase has a Sapphire product for international investors, but only those who reside in the US. They do not open accounts to non-resident aliens any longer.

To note, it’s also fairly open an account in the name of a company. You can register an LLC online yourself (directly with the state, it takes 5–7 minutes and costs around $100 plus $25 for a registered agent. The best state is Wyoming). You will then need an EIN from the IRS. The best way is to contact the IRS directly (do not pay for it). Download form SS4, attach the certificate of formation from the State and fax it to 304–707–9471. If you don’t have access to a fax machine, you can use one of the free services to send a fax from the US. In that case, send the fax to 855–215–1627.

International Students

We tested helping international students, who are here in the US, open brokerage and bank accounts (again, I do all this for free, to foster financial education).

The easiest one was with Fidelity Investments. We were unable to do it online, but they emailed an application that we could fill in on a PC, sign electronically, and fax it back. The application doesn’t list their fax number. Fidelity Investments fax number for new applications is 877–236–8113. By faxing it, we saved a stamp, an envelope, we were able to trace it, and they processed it faster.

It took Fidelity three days to open the account after we sent the fax. After a week we received the debit card and then the checkbook (all free). With that information, we also opened a bank account at Marcus by Goldman Sachs. This was faster. Because we already had a bank account at Fidelity, the account was opened on the spot, and the deposit from Fidelity to Marcus was received in 12 hours. Tip: when you link bank accounts that you opened at a broker (TD Ameritrade, Fidelity), you need to enter the information manually to link the account. The first time it won’t work automatically because the routing number is with a third-party bank, not with the broker itself. Then it’s all automated.

George Benaroya

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Interactive Brokers opens accounts to Non-resident aliens residing in these countries:

Aland Islands

Albania

Algeria

American Samoa

Andorra

Anguilla

Antarctica

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

Aruba

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bermuda

Bhutan

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

British Indian Ocean Territory

British Virgin Islands

Brunei Darussalam

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Cape Verde

Cayman Islands