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US Expats living in : how to keep US bank s, US credit cards

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Discussion starter ·
Gulkana said:
I travel 6 months a year outside of the USA. My cell provider has "WiFi Calling". With it I receive any calls or texts just as if I'm in the USA. Your expense is your monthly cell bill.

Beware, when a bank, brokerage, etc. discovers you are no longer residing in the USA they may/will freeze your s. If this happens you will probably need to return the US and visit a branch of your bank.

I've never had any problem with online access with more than a half dozen banks and brokerages. That said, every 6 months I'm back in the States, so maybe if they detect you never return to the states they will flag you.

It is not uncommon for companies to detect you are using a VPN. Many of the streaming services (Disney, Netflix, Amazon, etc.) detect you trying to use a VPN. I suspect banks do too.

Better to find a bank/brokerage that doesn't care if you live overseas. There are fewer of them now, since 9/11, because the Feds have made it onerous for the banks to have these kind of depositors. But, there still some. I believe Charles Schwab (checking/savings/brokerage) is one of them. Plus they refund overseas ATM fees! But, even they may limit the kind of investments you can have — mutual funds are often problematic.

Finally, if you do live in odds are good you will become a tax resident. You'll have to declare ALL of your USA assets to the French government. No free lunch! :)
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Thank you so much for your valuable - it is always good to get some real-world experiences to learn from.
 
Discussion starter ·
ThaitilDeath said:
5 Years ago, BOA closed my of 50 years (various banks bought out until totally BOA), anyway and I was retired in Thailand. But, I learned of the State Department Federal Credit Union (sdfcu.org) which is not for govt employees or state department folks but for any American and one does not need to have a US phone number or address. The bank will give a list of organizations that one can easily and then will open a full service with credit cards etc. They also WISE for sending funds overseas as well as using the bank itself for that service which I have used for 5 years with no problems whatsoever. Their cc fraud unit is always alerrt to stange charges and advises me immediately prior to payment so is very alert always,. I myself ed American Citizens Abroad (ACA) and once you have an I have been told you do not have to continue hip in that organization as hip is only needed to OPEN an . As for lying about address etc, due to FATCA rules, one fills in the form at their foreign bank, and along with the FATCA form stating you are or are not American, you are required to fill out IRS form 7 which you sign that the address you put on that form is correct so you need to be honest and with the SDFCU you can have that foreign with no problems. IMHO anyway, it is best to stay legal always.
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Thanks for another vote of confidence for the State Department Federal Credit Union (sdfcu.org) ...
 
Discussion starter ·
I use Schwab for banking and the Debit card is quite useful abroad and worked very well in the past - but it looks like I have to look into Schwab International which also offers a great Debit card that can be used worldwide without any added fees...
 
andi_sf said:
I use Schwab for banking and the Debit card is quite useful abroad and worked very well in the past - but it looks like I have to look into Schwab International which also offers a great Debit card that can be used worldwide without any added fees...
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Watch out, though, if Schwab realizes you are living in , they may cut you off. I had that happen to me.
 
Good luck dealing with the Federal Benefits Unit in Paris for Social Security. I wish I had used my US address when I applied more than 3 months ago. Instead I used the address in so my application was kicked to the Paris office where there has been radio silence. Now Medicare is held up too so it looks like I will be without health insurance. Maybe use a US address if you are applying for Social Security or Medicare.
 
Typically when you apply initially for your SS benefits, you don't hear anything until they arrive on schedule. Is there some reason that you are applying for Medicare Part B while living in , since you can't use them while out of the country? Do you plan to return frequently to the US?
 
I don’t believe the Social Security will arrive out of the blue since they haven’t asked for Direct Deposit information so I’m not sure where they would deposit it. Perhaps they just cut a check old school style? Medicare Part B has penalties for delaying so it is a balancing act of determining those penalties versus the unknown of when, or if, returnng to the US in the future. Lots of variables to ponder.
 
RTWtravels said:
I don’t believe the Social Security will arrive out of the blue since they haven’t asked for Direct Deposit information so I’m not sure where they would deposit it. Perhaps they just cut a check old school style? Medicare Part B has penalties for delaying so it is a balancing act of determining those penalties versus the unknown of when, or if, returnng to the US in the future. Lots of variables to ponder.
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Direct deposit information is requested in the application form itself - are you sure you didn't include it? I just went through this process myself, so maybe my experience will be helpful as a point of reference. I applied last August on the US SSA site. I used my French address but asked that benefits be deposited in my US . The application was kicked to the Paris FBU. I ed them in January when I hadn't heard anything and they responded a few weeks later to say that they were backed up and the thirty-day processing time indicated on the SSA website was out of date. Then I received an interview call from the FBU out of the blue in April. The interview is part of the verification process and was very straightforward. I then received my first benefits deposit a few weeks ago. The FBU representative was very helpful, I think they are just short-staffed. From what I've read, I'm not sure the process would be any faster using a US address. Apart from the fact that it took a while, the biggest problem I had was being unable to generate a current statement of estimated benefits for my residence card renewal - once you've applied, the statement is unavailable. I had a copy from the year before I applied, so I used that instead.
 
Hello,

You are the canary in the coal mine a few months ahead of me and have been very helpful sharing your experiences. At this point I don’t recall if direct deposit information was requested. Perhaps it was. It’s amazing that it took from August until May to receive benefits. Do they catch up from when you originally requested it? I’m glad to hear they accepted your prior year benefits statement for your renewal. What a wacky system.
 
RTWtravels said:
Hello,

You are the canary in the coal mine a few months ahead of me and have been very helpful sharing your experiences. At this point I don’t recall if direct deposit information was requested. Perhaps it was. It’s amazing that it took from August until May to receive benefits. Do they catch up from when you originally requested it? I’m glad to hear they accepted your prior year benefits statement for your renewal. What a wacky system.
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When I applied in January of '24, I used a French address and supplied my French bank details. For some reason, I think my app went to Baltimore and sat around until July, when it was approved. Then the real fun began. SSA couldn't figure out how to get the euros into my bank . My bank kept rejecting it. It took 4 months of trail and error on their part and hours of constant nagging from me and my congressional reps until the cash flow began.
 
RTWtravels said:
I don’t believe the Social Security will arrive out of the blue since they haven’t asked for Direct Deposit information so I’m not sure where they would deposit it. Perhaps they just cut a check old school style? Medicare Part B has penalties for delaying so it is a balancing act of determining those penalties versus the unknown of when, or if, returnng to the US in the future. Lots of variables to ponder.
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I was in the same position and paid for Part B for several years, until I decided that the odds that I would ever return to the US had become very low.
 
Discussion starter ·
RTWtravels said:
Good luck dealing with the Federal Benefits Unit in Paris for Social Security. I wish I had used my US address when I applied more than 3 months ago. Instead I used the address in so my application was kicked to the Paris office where there has been radio silence. Now Medicare is held up too so it looks like I will be without health insurance. Maybe use a US address if you are applying for Social Security or Medicare.
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Thank you for sharing your experience. The decision which address (foreign or US address) to supply to the various agencies and institutions can be quite a headache I think. The more one thinks about it the more difficult it seems to get making the right pick.

Thanks for sharing your an actual case experience - this is very helpful. I hope everything clears up for you soon!
 
andi_sf said:
While planning our move to the question of keeping our US bank s, US credit cards open and current while living in .

Reading through some threads on this forum, most people advised not to tell the bank that one lives abroad but then the question comes up how to receive for example new credit cards once they expire which usually requires one to have an non-PO address in the US.

1. There seem to be some 3rd party services in the US that offer a 'real' address in the US with mail forwarding services. Would these be sufficient and are there any recommendations?

2. In regards to bank s the 2-Step verification process is sometime mentioned as a hurdle since it requires a real US phone number. Are there any workarounds?

3. Online access is also sometimes described to be 'iffy' since if the the banks detects that a bank is accessed via an IP address from abroad that this also could raise some red flags. Is a VPN still a good bet against that?

We wonder how everyone's experience is in regards to these questions and if there are any recommendations to specific services or other tested and viable approaches?

Any hints and info would be very much appreciated.
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We use a third party address (Physicaladdress.com) for our US banks and credit card companies. We do all banking and billpaying for credit cards online. On occasions where a new card has to be sent, they send to the 3rd party address and we have them forward it. We did inform Schwab that we moved to . They converted us to an international and have our address. They set us up to us an app called VIP access to access our online . We don't use their debit cards. We opened a bank and have our US Social Security benefits deposited into that , which comes with a debit card. We use a Wise card to move money (on rare occasions) from our US bank s to the bank or we just use the Wise card like a debit card.
 
Nunthewiser said:
When I applied in January of '24, I used a French address and supplied my French bank details. For some reason, I think my app went to Baltimore and sat around until July, when it was approved. Then the real fun began. SSA couldn't figure out how to get the euros into my bank . My bank kept rejecting it. It took 4 months of trail and error on their part and hours of constant nagging from me and my congressional reps until the cash flow began.
Click to expand...
RTWtravels said:
Hello,

You are the canary in the coal mine a few months ahead of me and have been very helpful sharing your experiences. At this point I don’t recall if direct deposit information was requested. Perhaps it was. It’s amazing that it took from August until May to receive benefits. Do they catch up from when you originally requested it? I’m glad to hear they accepted your prior year benefits statement for your renewal. What a wacky system.
Click to expand...
Yes, the SSA did a true-up, so the payment I received in May included benefits from last November, which was my requested start date.
 
Discussion starter ·
anscottinnice said:
We use a third party address (Physicaladdress.com) for our US banks and credit card companies. We do all banking and billpaying for credit cards online. On occasions where a new card has to be sent, they send to the 3rd party address and we have them forward it. We did inform Schwab that we moved to . They converted us to an international and have our address. They set us up to us an app called VIP access to access our online . We don't use their debit cards. We opened a bank and have our US Social Security benefits deposited into that , which comes with a debit card. We use a Wise card to move money (on rare occasions) from our US bank s to the bank or we just use the Wise card like a debit card.
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Thanks for the link to the mail forwarding provider - very helpful.

Also good to know that Schwab was so helpful in converting your to one with Schwab International. Some banks I read just freeze or close the once they become aware that the customer has move abroad. Does your Schwab International also come with a Debit card - I read somewhere that this card is also very good and gives worldwide ATM access without any fees?

How is your experience in general with the Wise card? Do you use it for ATM withdrawals also or just for online/retail transactions. Are there any monthly limits on spending and how does it compare to a regular bank debit card?
 
andi_sf said:
Thanks for the link to the mail forwarding provider - very helpful.

Also good to know that Schwab was so helpful in converting your to one with Schwab International. Some banks I read just freeze or close the once they become aware that the customer has move abroad. Does your Schwab International also come with a Debit card - I read somewhere that this card is also very good and gives worldwide ATM access without any fees?

How is your experience in general with the Wise card? Do you use it for ATM withdrawals also or just for online/retail transactions. Are there any monthly limits on spending and how does it compare to a regular bank debit card?
Click to expand...
 
We didn't ask for a debit card with them. We stopping trading stocks on the Scwab before DJT got into office, fortunately, sold our Tesla stock, before it tanked and now our money is just sitting in our IRA's with them until we have to starting taking withdrawals. No need for a debit card. Didn't know they had one but of no use to us. Because we have our US Social Security deposited into our bank , we just use the debit card for that day to day and live 100% on our Social Security benefits. We have money in money market s with another bank and only use that money for vacations. We don't need it day to day. It also made our Visa renewal very easy, only providing the statements for our bank acct. It was already in French so we didn't have to pay for bank statements to be translated and all the currency on the statement to be converted to euros based on the exchange rate on each date...which would have been expensive to get a certified translator to do. The bank acct showed our SS money (way more than the amt of money required for the Visa) going in each month and showed we were actually living on it, paying our rent, utilities and groceries day to day with plenty of money left over.
 
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