Any American living abroad has their own horror story about trying to open a US bank account without having a US address. Banks often incorrectly use the Patriot Act or other excuses to refuse providing service. Now two members of Congress are urging for hearings on the matter. There’s a petition drive to make this happen.
American Citizens Abroad has been working with the Americans Abroad Caucus in Congress (see here and here). I didn’t even know there was one! The caucus (created in 2007) is cochaired by Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Joe Wilson (R-SC). In April, they sent a letter (PDF) formally requesting that the House Committee on Financial Services hold hearings on banking issues impacting Americans abroad.
Apparently, the letter wasn’t enough. So ACA is asking people to petition the committee by filling out a simple online form here at the committee’s web site. They have this suggested message:
Dear Chairman Frank and Ranking Member Baccus,
As an American living overseas and a supporter of American Citizens Abroad, I urge you to take note of the letter sent to you on April 21,2010 by Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Joe Wilson, the co-chairs of the Americans Abroad Caucus.I join in requesting prompt hearings on the difficulties encountered by overseas Americans in opening and maintaining bank accounts in the United States and abroad. We are counting on the Committee on Financial Services to investigate these issues and ensure that overseas Americans have access to necessary financial services under reasonable conditions.
Regards,
[Your name and location; for example, Thomas Smith, Brussels, Belgium]
Hey, it’s just a recommendation. You can submit whatever you want, as long as you make it clear that you’re pushing for a hearing on banking issues.
The form, naturally enough, assumes that you live in the US. Americans living abroad apparently never need the help of the committee, so there’s no provision for your non-US address. ACA recommends using the city and state where you’re registered to vote or the city and country (for state) where you live.
If you fill out the form, I’d also suggest asking for a review of the 90-22.1 filing requirement. After all, the deadline for that yearly nightmare is coming up at the end of this month for Americans with overseas bank accounts. It needs major reform. For more, see my past post, It’s Form 90-22.1 Time Again For American Expats, The Annual Waste Of Time Exercise.
Maybe the committee might be able to help with the US Census not counting Americans abroad (see Collectively, Americans Abroad Are 21st Most Populated “State”). There’s a full ten years to fix that problem.
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Good work!