US Immigration/Banking

Finally after 10 years we made our first trip to the states. My Wife had absolutely no issues with Immigration. They asked where we are going, Took a look at our hotel reservations and said “Have a nice Trip”
A few days later made a appointment at a Wells Fargo, handed the banker my wife’s passport and ITIN # and stated I needed her added to my account as a secondary and 15 minutes later we walking out all completed.
No proof of US address or any other documentation needed, just asked for her credit card to compare names with passport. - @vehicross100

Thanks for the information. There is a lot of fake news on the YouTube videos about problems traveling to the US i.e. they take your phone etc.. Good you had a satisfactory experience. I think Wells Fargo probably finds it sufficient to use the primary account member's physical residential address although they would never accept a virtual CMRA address like Ipostal1 if they audited and found it right be virtual.

So what’s the big deal.!? If you are a legal US citizen, there should be no problem. The Philippines system is a joke compared to the United States.

So what’s the big deal?! If you are a legal US citizencitizen, there should be no problem. The Philippines system is a joke compared to the United States.

So what’s the big deal.!? If you are a legal US citizen, there should be no problem. The Philippines system is a joke compared to the United States. - @arty5987

If you are talking about banking (you didn’t specify), it depends on the bank or credit union. For Patriot Act KYC, most banks require a physical residentisl address which may be a problem if you are resident overseas and don't have a next of kin or friend who will let you use their physical address. But I understand there are a few government associated credit unions that are flexible about that. Citizenship may be important in many cases but ot is not the only consideration.

Unrelated and off topic, but one thing I found surprising, even though I was warned, is Food costs.

Very expensive here in Denver and Anaheim

My Family of Three is averaging $70 at most of the poplar restaurants plus the customary 20% tip on top of that.

Most Fastfoods were slightly less, averaging $45-$60 for Three of us.

Checked out Vons etc and food prices are also off the hook compared to when I was here last.

vehicross100 said . . . .Finally after 10 years we made our first trip to the states. My Wife had absolutely no issues with Immigration.

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Did your wife has a Visa? If she did, how long did it take? and what steps did you take to get it?

Also what did you have to go through in order for your wife to get an ITIN number?

My wife applyied for a USA visa a few years ago. Researched requirements & applied online and she had them in hand when she was notified of her appointment 3 months later. Dropped her at the embassy with time to spare. Entry is based on your appointment time, there were maybe 15 in her group, she said.

Through  security to a room with interviewers behind glass. When she was called, she handed her required documents over as well as a copy of my USA passport. Asked some general question, the interviewer seemed to be verifying information she had already submitted.

Was never asked any difficult questions, only easily verifiable data. 10 minutes later, the interviewer looked at her & said “enjoy your visit.” Her passport was couriered to us about 3 days later.

Yeah she had a Visa, we applied during Covid so the wait time was like a year back then, but her experience was much the same as what Skip posted above. Two to three simple questions and told her to enjoy her trip. Passport came back with a 10 year visa implemented in it.

As far as the ITIN, all I can remember is we had to mail a packet to IRS containing application, Marriage contract, Her Passport and probably a few more docs that I cant fully remember.

I do know that for some reason I did not send it directly from here. I sent it to my sister in the US then had her Fedex it to the IRS address given. We then had IRS send it back to her and she forwarded back to us via fedex etc.

I think I was worried that if IRS were to send it directly here using Phil post/LBC that there was a good possibility her passport and ITIN # would end up lost.

One caution I can share is just make sure if recently married that you have your spouse update the passport to there new married name before applying and sending

to IRS for ITIN.

We didn’t  know better, so because her passport had her maiden name, that is what IRS used for her ITIN #. Now every year when filing, I have to remember to use her maiden name with her ITIN or our return will get kicked back or so we were informed.

vehicross said . . . As far as the ITIN, all I can remember is we had to mail a packet to IRS containing application, Marriage contract, Her Passport and probably a few more docs that I cant fully remember. I do know that for some reason I did not send it directly from here. I sent it to my sister in the US then had her Fedex it to the IRS address given. We then had IRS send it back to her and she forwarded back to us via fedex etc.I think I was worried that if IRS were to send it directly here using Phil post/LBC that there was a good possibility her passport and ITIN # would end up lost.

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While my wife & I were in the states we applied (tried) to apply for her ITIN. We rent to the IRC office about 1 pm, it was crowed and they weren't taking anymore people that day. All this after paying a parking garage fee and a walk to their building.

This was after when trying by email, they wanted for us to mail her passport in.  Just several week before I found a notice in my mailbox that they tried to deliver a Registered letter from the IRS. So I went to the post office and they could not find the registered letter.

(Sounds like PhilPost?, right?) I had the postmaster write me a letter saying they lost the IRS letter in case their was a followup from the IRS. There never was.

So back trying to get the ITIN, With this post office experience I wasn't going to mail her passport in. What in the world what we would do if they lost her passport**. I still was able on my taxes to file married and with leaving the SS/ITIN of my wife off.

**When we were married we had to drive from Las Vegas to LA to update her passport.

Surprising after moving to the Philippines I received a check delivered to my mail forwarder from the IRS saying the check was an error in filing my taxes.

That opened up a whole can of new worms. BDO would not touch the check with a 10 foot pole. Eventually I was able to take a photo of the check, front & back and using some app. able to deposit it in CitiBank US.

@vehicross100

You didn't mention which state you're banking at. That makes a huge difference. Red MAGA states have the lowest literacy rates in the country and loosest guidelines for compliance to accommodate customers. They also have the most guns. 🇺🇸

A semi-related ID question: how do expats keep a U.S. driver license renewed and valid?

@Enzyte Bob

Surprised to hear they still use mail and paper checks. FTB and IRS direct deposit to my U.S. bank account.

@jozica

Don’t agree with your comments on the states and their guidelines based on Literacy.

Doesn’t really matter which state the branch is in. WF policy is the same across the board.

By the way the Branch I went to is in Anaheim, Calif. Definitely a blue state and yes there are plenty of Guns here too, regardless.

As far as license, I just use my Philippine license Since most states allow you to drive with a foreign license for 6 months, others 3 months.

jozica said . . . . Surprised to hear they still use mail and paper checks. FTB and IRS direct deposit to my U.S. bank account.

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Surprise, surprise . . . .  They must of thought I lived in a blue state.

jozica said . . . That makes a huge difference. Red MAGA states have the lowest literacy rates in the country and loosest guidelines for compliance to accommodate customers.

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Percentage wise California & New York lead the pack with the lowest (bottom two) literacy rates and are among the most liberal as far as voting registration.

@vehicross100As far as license, I just use my Philippine license Since most states allow you to drive with a foreign license for 6 months, others 3 months.

Quick question: Do the car rental companies let you use your Philippine license? My NC license expires soon and I may not be able to make it back for the required personal appearance at DMV.

@jozica

That makes a huge difference. Red MAGA states have the lowest literacy rates in the country and loosest guidelines for compliance to accommodate customers.

This seems like a troll to fire up a political discussion which I personally am not interested in but I do find your statement interesting on certain identifiable states being less strict on banking compliance. I assume you mean Patriot Act KYC and AML. Is this really true? That is important information for expats, who are sometimed de-banked because of too many logins from a Philippine IP address. Do you know of any banks from red states whose compliance guidelines are more friendly to expats in the Philippines?

@danfinn

Yes, I just rented a SUV from SIXT here in Anaheim for 21 days, no problem. Just handed them my Reservation, Passport,

Philippine Divers License and CC.

In and out in about 15 minutes.

I used Booking.Com for making my reservation, seemed to have some very good rates at the time. About $900 for 21 days of rental, thats with some xtra add on insurance since I no longer have any here in Cali.

danfinn asked . . . . Quick question: Do the car rental companies let you use your Philippine license? My NC license expires soon and I may not be able to make it back for the required personal appearance at DMV.

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Same thing for me, now I have an expired Nevada drivers license.

(1) One concern I have is that the car leasing companies may have an age limitation. Also having to use their car insurance can be the most expensive part of the rental.

(2) When I lived in the states my own insurance covered the rental with exceptions. It would not cover replacement value only the value, if involved in a total.

(3) Some charge cards will offer free extended insurance.

(4) My insurance agent in the states suggested updating my current insurance to cover all possibilities when renting a car and then cancel the coverage when the car is returned. (For extended rentals)

@danfinn

"This seems like a troll to fire up a political discussion ..."

LOL, I say those things to keep you guys on your toes.

"Do you know of any banks from red states whose compliance guidelines are more friendly to expats in the Philippines?"

If that's a serious question, I wouldn't have a verified answer. I would imagine though that a small credit union gives more personalized customer care than a hard-nosed nationwide bank. 

@jozica

A semi-related ID question: how do expats keep a U.S. driver license renewed and valid?

It depends on the State. In NC they have 5 year renewal periods. If you renew online, then for the next 5 year period you must appear at DMV in person as I and my wife will have to do.

@danfinn
"This seems like a troll to fire up a political discussion ..."
LOL, I say those things to keep you guys on your toes.
AS I SAID.
"Do you know of any banks from red states whose compliance guidelines are more friendly to expats in the Philippines?"

If that's a serious question, I wouldn't have a verified answer. I would imagine though that a small credit union gives more personalized customer care than a hard-nosed nationwide bank.

Well it sounded like a serious assertion on your part about easy banking compliance in red states but I guess you were joking.

danfinn asked . . . . Quick question: Do the car rental companies let you use your Philippine license? My NC license expires soon and I may not be able to make it back for the required personal appearance at DMV.*****************************Same thing for me, now I have an expired Nevada drivers license.(1) One concern I have is that the car leasing companies may have an age limitation. Also having to use their car insurance can be the most expensive part of the rental.(2) When I lived in the states my own insurance covered the rental with exceptions. It would not cover replacement value only the value, if involved in a total.(3) Some charge cards will offer free extended insurance.(4) My insurance agent in the states suggested updating my current insurance to cover all possibilities when renting a car and then cancel the coverage when the car is returned. (For extended rentals) - @Enzyte Bob

I always use the insurance provided on my Capital One business credit card which last for 30 days for each rental period. It works as a primary insurer. Some credit cards are only 2 weeks and may be only secondary so this is something that really needs to be checked closely.

The AI tells me hertz "may" have a 75 yo age limit at some locations but Avis and Enterprise do not have an upper age limit. AI says they all accept Philippines DL with passport but AI is not always reliable (it "hallucinates" sometimes, they say)  so I would (will) ask the location where I rent to confirm no age limit and Philippines DL. Another thing to check, which I haven't done yet, is TURO, sort of the airbnb of car rentals which you may be familiar with, probably popular in Nevada.

Turo is a good option that I was seriously considering before I chose SIXT. Almost booked through Turo but after researching and reading many reviews I realized that since the Rental cars are mostly the owners personal cars that sometimes the owners can be difficult to deal with upon returning in regards to car condition, gas, etc.

If you have your own or supplemental insurance then Turo should be considered as a option since Turo rentals are much cheaper but definitely consider the owner’s rental reviews.

Also I did not entirely understand how the insurance would apply to foreign license holders without any insurance, so I just went with SIXT.

When I was comparing the pricing of rentals, most if not all had the insurance as a added on cost with the exception of Booking.com.

When I checked them, their quote already had the insurance included at a lesser cost then the others.

Then of course there was additional

add-ons you could choose from which I did for peace of mind.

The xtra add on insurance for my 21 days was under $170, roughly $8 a day.

Even after that I was only at $45 daily total.

Good to know that booking through sites like booking.com lowers the collision damage waiver CDW. When booking direct, as others say, the CDW insurance cost almost as much as the rental.

Yes Correct, thats what I found to be true.

jozica asked . . . .A semi-related ID question: how do expats keep a U.S. driver license renewed and valid?

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danfinn replied . . . . It depends on the State. In NC they have 5 year renewal periods. If you renew online, then for the next 5 year period you must appear at DMV in person as I and my wife will have to do.

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As best of my recollection in Nevada after the age of 70 it requires a visit to the DMV for a vision check.

jozica said . . . That makes a huge difference. Red MAGA states have the lowest literacy rates in the country and loosest guidelines for compliance to accommodate customers.
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Percentage wise California & New York lead the pack with the lowest (bottom two) literacy rates and are among the most liberal as far as voting registration. - @Enzyte Bob

That's a lot of cut & paste info, Bob. You know I don't reply to cut & paste.

Depending on which source you use -- Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, Arkansas, Maine, Michigan, Arizona, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Alaska, New Mexico are ranked lower. They just highlight California to grab clicks because it's the most beautiful and most desired mainland state everybody is jealous of (except Hawaii). Funny, California and New York are the brains of the country.

jozica said . . . That makes a huge difference. Red MAGA states have the lowest literacy rates in the country and loosest guidelines for compliance to accommodate customers. *********************Percentage wise California & New York lead the pack with the lowest (bottom two) literacy rates and are among the most liberal as far as voting registration. - @Enzyte BobThat's a lot of cut & paste info, Bob. You know I don't reply to cut & paste.Depending on which source you use -- Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, Arkansas, Maine, Michigan, Arizona, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Alaska, New Mexico are ranked lower. They just highlight California to grab clicks because it's the most beautiful and most desired mainland state everybody is jealous of (except Hawaii). Funny, California and New York are the brains of the country. - @jozica

Why do you continue to advance this position about California and New York being the "brains" od the country. It appears that you started this, in your own words, as a troll to "keep you guys on your toes"...OK I get it but it has nothing to do with drivers licenses, immigration or issues of expats in the Philippines. It is quite meaningless as, except for extremely rural areas of either states, the populations there consists largely of people born and often brought up in other states or countries (mostly 3rd world). I feel to see the relevance of that fact, with its obvious negative implications to CA and NY collective " brains",  to either this thread topic or even the price of beef in China.

Percentage wise California & New York lead the pack with the lowest (bottom two) literacy rates and are among the most liberal as far as voting registration. - @Enzyte Bob

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jozica said . . . . That's a lot of cut & paste info, Bob. You know I don't reply to cut & paste.

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I have never cut or pasted anything in many years on this forum. Things others have posted on this forum if it I doesn't seem to make sense, I checked it out.

You said "I know you don't reply to cut & paste", then why are you replying to my post.

@jozica
That makes a huge difference. Red MAGA states have the lowest literacy rates in the country and loosest guidelines for compliance to accommodate customers.
This seems like a troll to fire up a political discussion which I personally am not interested in but I do find your statement interesting on certain identifiable states being less strict on banking compliance. I assume you mean Patriot Act KYC and AML. Is this really true? That is important information for expats, who are sometimed de-banked because of too many logins from a Philippine IP address. Do you know of any banks from red states whose compliance guidelines are more friendly to expats in the Philippines? - @danfinn

Without wishing to get caught in the  political crossfire with our American friends there is a certain irony in that over the years many US states have switched party allegiances. Non US citizens reading this thread will be surprised to learn that the 'reddist' of the MAGA states Texas used to vote predominently Democrat.

This to my mind illustrates a healthy democratic (small d) process.

Heaven help us if all the red/blue states were contiguous and clustered together we might have another 1861 on our hands..

@jozica
That makes a huge difference. Red MAGA states have the lowest literacy rates in the country and loosest guidelines for compliance to accommodate customers.
This seems like a troll to fire up a political discussion which I personally am not interested in but I do find your statement interesting on certain identifiable states being less strict on banking compliance. I assume you mean Patriot Act KYC and AML. Is this really true? That is important information for expats, who are sometimed de-banked because of too many logins from a Philippine IP address. Do you know of any banks from red states whose compliance guidelines are more friendly to expats in the Philippines?  - @danfinn

Without wishing to get caught in the political crossfire with our American friends there is a certain irony in that over the years many US states have switched party allegiances. Non US citizens reading this thread will be surprised to learn that the 'reddist' of the MAGA states Texas used to vote predominently Democrat.

This to my mind illustrates a healthy democratic (small d) process.

Heaven help us if all the red/blue states were contiguous and clustered together we might have another 1861 on our hands..
- @Lotus Eater

Not crossfire per se but the issue of KYC and AML risk is extremely important to expats in the Philippines from everywhere. US expats have our own issues based on US Patriot Act but I know UK has even more severe anti-fraud measures that cause collateral damage to your expat banking. I think your KYC and AML practices are based on OECD guidelines. Even ANZ is impacted though they seem to be most lenient. Every year it gets worse. Five years from now banking overseas may be next to impossible. Of course, this has nothing to do with politics; that person admittedly is trolling maga. He is not a serious man on this topic. I will try at another time in another thread to have a reasoned discussion on expat overseas banking issues. Thanks.