Florida Banks?

[k_stacky 65]

A quick question for all of my Floridians out there... What banks do you/did you guys use as visa holders?

I came here in December as a K-1 visa, married the beginning of January and a week or two later tried to get my name put on my husbands bank account at Florida Credit Union and they said it was their policy that they couldn't put me on the account until I had my green card. Now I am working on my AOS and I'm starting to get worried about how I'm going to be able to gather some proof of our bonafide marriage when my name isn't on any of the cheques we're using to pay the bills. Obviously my name can go on the bills themselves, but not having a joint bank account is annoying because I can't get a debit card, credit card, etc. and I wanted to have a paper trail of our mingled finances that went all the way back to the beginning of our marriage.

Obviously I'm not going to have my green card for many more months, so does anyone know of another bank we could possible try? Or has anyone else had any experience dealing with Florida Credit Union? We really don't want to have to switch banks but if it's the only way to have a joint account together than we will have to.

Any help would be muchly appreciated!

[Amadia 711]

Hi,

I am currently awaiting paperwork to be approved by NVC but I travel to Florida twice a year using my tourist visa to spend time with my husband. In Dec 2015 I visited with my kids and went to Wells Fargo bank and was able to open a savings account using my passport and credit card from my home country. That's all!

I recently applied to get a credit card and I was approved as well....without having a green card or SSN....there are always ways to get this done, some banks have varying criteria and we respect that.

BTW, if I remember correctly, your deposit for the account is US$100 and they give you a time frame to raise it to $300 so that you don't get charged a maintenance fee on the account. You are also given a debit card in the mail and you can use the # on the physical card to register for online banking You can request to have your husband added to your account as a joint account holder when you open the account.

Good luck and lemme know if you get thru! (They have weekend banking as well )

Edited February 26, 2016 by Amadia

[WandY 430]

There are dozens of banks and credit card companies that will open accounts for you. Fill out the paperwork and see what happens. This is America, the land of extremely easy credit.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I second Wells Fargo.

[Heley 52]

Wells Fargo! My husband had an account wit sun trust Bank but like u said they couldn't put me in his bank account they said till I get my green card. He was pissed n we went to well Fargo .they had an awesome customer service and guess what they let us opened joint bank account and I received my debt card last two weeks. And he close his sun trust account. So yes well Fargo. I even got secured credit card to build my credit....

Edited February 26, 2016 by Heley

[Amadia 711]

Wells Fargo! I even got secured credit card to build my credit....

That's the exact credit card I took as well! It can help me build a good credit score without even being in USA

[k_stacky 65]

Thank you all so much for your replies! you're all wonderful. I think we're going to go with Wells Fargo.