You've recently expanded your business, and now have a steady stream of U.S customers? Great. You're buying merchandise from American merchants and need to pay directly from a bank account? Marvellous. You're a webmaster acting as an online affiliate and are beginning to see those orders from your referrals stack up? Fantastic! It's all exciting stuff...except that everyone wants to trade or pay you in US dollars. Which is a bit of a problem if you're living outside the United States.
Doing business within the largest single market in the world; the US market, is potentially the most profitable move you can make if you're in business, but it can also be an enormously expensive move, especially if you don't have the facility to trade directly in USD. Sure, you can make and receive payments via your own domestic bank, but boy, will they make you pay for the privilege. In fact, for many small businesses just starting out, scale of the bank charges for processing US checks is all but crippling.
It's never been very easy for non-US residents to open a US bank account, but the Patriot Act post 9/11 has just made it a whole lot harder, since banks are required to tighten up on their account opening procedures. As a result, acquiring a US bank account if you live outside the United States has become a) a complicated or b) a highly expensive procedure - in many cases, it's both.
Valis International is one of the few agencies still able to open a US bank account for non residents. Most importantly, they're able to do it with the absolute minimum of fuss and cost - I know first hand, because being based in the UK, I used them two years ago when I was looking to open a checking account in the US.
You'll be able to open a personal or corporate Checking account with a Delaware-based bank (which is of course is registered as a US FDIC insured financial institution), and operate your account exactly as if you were based in the United States. Write and deposit US checks, pay bills directly from your account, make and receive wire transfers, make purchases worldwide using your Mastercard debit card, and access your cash worldwide using your debit card or an ATM card.
Although it's been made incredibly simple and straightforward to open your checking account as a non-US resident, David Gendron of Valis International will guide you through the sign up procedure and arrange processing of all the relevant documentation. All you'll need to supply will be copies of ID, including passport, Drivers License and a utility bill. The process is normally completed within three days, with your account fully up and running as soon as hard copies of all documentation are received by the bank.
I'm the first to admit I was more than a little nervous about the authenticity of the whole operation when I first came across Valis on the internet, but it was truly one of the least stressful financial procedures I've ever undertaken. Gendron was able to answer all my questions, and when I was ready to proceed, delivered the service, exactly as he'd outlined it. Within 10 days, my account was open, I had my debit card, and was ready to do business!
