Money and immigration

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

28 minutes ago, N-o-l-a said:

 

I don't know if whatever bank in Sweden works the same way, but my husband has his Danish bank account open... the problem is with getting the card renewals in a timely enough manner to activate them and then that list of access codes they send out.  

I'm not 100% sure either (I'm the American), but I ran it by my fiancé after reading this thread and he made it sound as though it's pretty simple to do. The bank(s) over there don't require consistent activity or available balances to maintain an account, you just have to pay a $12 fee every three months, which is no big deal. We use PayPal a lot between the two of us for things, since the fee is much cheaper than bank transfers, and he may leave his PP attached to the Swede bank account. I suggested adding a family member that resides in Sweden as a backup/joint owner in case of emergency, but I know that may not be a viable option for everyone.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

32 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

I'm not 100% sure either (I'm the American), but I ran it by my fiancé after reading this thread and he made it sound as though it's pretty simple to do. The bank(s) over there don't require consistent activity or available balances to maintain an account, you just have to pay a $12 fee every three months, which is no big deal. We use PayPal a lot between the two of us for things, since the fee is much cheaper than bank transfers, and he may leave his PP attached to the Swede bank account. I suggested adding a family member that resides in Sweden as a backup/joint owner in case of emergency, but I know that may not be a viable option for everyone.

 $48 fee every year for a bank account?  Wow, that would be silly with how little we tend to keep abroad.  Other people may feel differently about that. 

 

We we have some credit cards that don't charge foreign transaction fees and now American cards have chips, so there is less of an incentive if it would cost money to keep an account open, know what I mean?

 

Really our only purpose is sometimes his parents send us money to buy gifts, but then we turn right around and use that same cash on gifts for family abroad. 

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

2 minutes ago, N-o-l-a said:

 $48 fee every year for a bank account?  Wow, that would be silly with how little we tend to keep abroad.  Other people may feel differently about that. 

 

We we have some credit cards that don't charge foreign transaction fees and now American cards have chips, so there is less of an incentive if it would cost money to keep an account open, know what I mean?

 

Really our only purpose is sometimes his parents send us money to buy gifts, but then we turn right around and use that same cash on gifts for family abroad. 

To each their own Some cons aren't great enough to cancel the pros sometimes. It was still good advise for anyone who may be considering similar scenarios.

[Nemeseax 36]

1 hour ago, RLA said:

I think this particular question hasn't been answered yet, so I'll give it a try:  From what I understand a joint account would be helpful, but is not required.  Spouses are free to arrange their finances as they like, including keeping separate accounts or no accounts at all.  USCIS would probably be interested to hear how you handle your finances, but if you have a good explanation and sufficient evidence that shouldn't be a problem.  Is that right? 

Thank you! Yes I can explain everything. 

And I am so happy that you ppl have answered at my topic and give  ( not only to me) a lot of freat advices.My husband and me will decide what is the best for us and what might satisfy USCIS. 

[geowrian 22,335]

Transferring money from a solo-owned account to another solo or a joint account for which you are the owner isn't unusual. And there's no tax issue (you can't gift yourself your own money).

If a transfer were to be to an account that you were not owner, and there were other reasons for them to suspect fraud, it might look fishy.

 

Regarding the joint account side of things, they are a positive in most cases. USCIS does like to see commingling of finances for couples that currently live together. But note this means not just having an account together, but using it together. A joint account that isn't used, or isn't used by both parties, is more of a liability than a benefit IMO. So as long as you actually use it together, it's fine to include as part of your evidence of a bona fide marriage.

[little immigrant 800]

13 hours ago, D.Ba said:

Let me tell you what the advantage is: When I travel to Germany, I withdraw euros and pay with my German debit card. No worry about exchange rates or using a foreign credit card.

Also, my European customers can pay me in euros and transfer to my German account at no cost or via my German PayPal (don't worry, it's all declared for taxes).

 

The other thing is a German specialty: If you want to naturalize in the US you have to apply first to keep the German citizenship and become a dual citizen. Having bank accounts is one reason for them to allow you to keep German citizenship.

 

Certainly I "de-registered". I also told my bank I live in the US now so they do not deduct investment tax from my dividends.

I guess it depends on the individual then. I have no more ties to Germany and I didn't file Beibehaltung. If you're still doing business with German and/or European customers and if you need to travel frequently it makes sense. In my case I only went back once and I don't really need to go back again. 

 

And I didn't have a better word for abmelden 

 

 

[D.Ba 85]

I think we all can agree, as everything it depends on your personal situation.

Just to keep an account to have an account makes certainly no sense. Just think about pros and cons before you do it.

And, little immigrant, I knew what you meant by de-register. I did not put it in quotations marks to mock, just to mark it is a kind of ad-hoc translation. I wouldn't know a better one.

It's important to tell your bank that you live in the US since they might have some special reporting duties (thank you, SEC, or whoever).