How to be fair with saving and bills?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Um, I'm married to a non-US citizen. He'll get citizenship because he hates the idea of if we leave he'll have to reapply. But he's got his green card and that's good enough. Why do you need citizenship? With a visa your fiancee can open a bank account. With a green card too. Just suggestions.

[zetta]

You don't even need a green card to open an account. My husband came here on an H1B visa and could open a bank account, and we have friends from Switzerland who continued to work for a Swiss company and were on an E or F type visa, and they could open accounts. I've even heard of a bank (maybe Bank of America?) that was allowing "undocumented" immigrants from Mexico to open accounts.

How does your fiance suggest you manage your money?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I do not understand him not opening a bank account locally. Does he not have the proper Visa to be conducting business here so that he is afraid a bank account will tip off the fact the he is doing business and endanger his Visa? Everyone I know from other countries but living in the US has an account here.

If he is on the mortgage of the house you two just bought, did he not have to provide to the lender thorough documentation of his income? If so, seems to me you should have been able to get a good understanding of his financial picture at that time.

You say, "He work for himself for his UK based company." Do you mean he is the owner of the company? He pays himself? Or is he an employee?" If he is an employee, is his pay going to an account in the UK? How does he meet the need for cash? If he is self-employed and working in the US, are his customers paying in dollars? If so, what does he do with those dollars if he has no bank account?

[KatieNK]

I will clarify for her since she is my sister- He owns his own business and companies contract him out to do work. All his work is UK based, he is not doing business illegally in the US.

[MelC]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

With a visa your fiancee can open a bank account. With a green card too. Just suggestions.

Thanks good to know, bank didnt tell me that
Yea all he wants is a green card

[MelC]

Originally Posted by Joan.of.the.Arch

I do not understand him not opening a bank account locally. Does he not have the proper Visa to be conducting business here so that he is afraid a bank account will tip off the fact the he is doing business and endanger his Visa? Everyone I know from other countries but living in the US has an account here.

If he is on the mortgage of the house you two just bought, did he not have to provide to the lender thorough documentation of his income? If so, seems to me you should have been able to get a good understanding of his financial picture at that time.

You say, "He work for himself for his UK based company." Do you mean he is the owner of the company? He pays himself? Or is he an employee?" If he is an employee, is his pay going to an account in the UK? How does he meet the need for cash? If he is self-employed and working in the US, are his customers paying in dollars? If so, what does he do with those dollars if he has no bank account?

He owns the company, he is the only employee. Its a UK business and UK companies contract work to him. He's a UK citizen. He is technically only here on vacation, but been doing this for a while now. He comes here via the Visa-waiver program. He stays for 3 months, then flies back to England to renew his passport. He then returns for another 3 months and starts the cycle again. Yes he pays himself. His bank is in the UK, both business and personal. He pays UK taxes. All his pay is electronically debited from his companies into his account. Very handy considering hes abroad. Hes never done anything illegal and leaves just before the 3 month mark in order to prevent overstaying his 3 months hes allowed via the Visa Waiver Program.

Also, he's not on the mortgage for this house. Just me. We got better assistance in buying the house if it were just me, and it wasnt worth the hassle of the paperwork for him to be on the mortgage.

I do know his financial picture, its pretty darn good- thats why I created this post to begin with!

All I know about him opening an acct is what the bank briefly told me when I called the other day. They said he needs to either be a US citizen or be working in the US. I am sure there is a way around it, with a green card probably.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

You typically cannot get a mortgage unless you have a H1B or TN visa. There are some pretty strict limitations as to who can get a mortgage visa status wise.

No, you only need a work authorization to open a bank account. Students on J1 or F1 visas open bank accounts all the time. Obviously the person at the bank has no idea what they are saying.

My husband open a bank account on day one he arrived with a J1. He also got a SS card, driver's license, and bought a car. My BIL when he arrived on an F1 did the same. I helped him.

What is going on is your fiancee isn't really in the US "working", basically you have visiting you on "vacation". I don't know if he's working during that time, but basically he's a vacationer.

That makes getting stuff like a bank account a lot harder because he has no permenant address, etc. How long are you planning on having him commute in?

And if you are together and getting married get ready for a major change in taxes for him. Probably for the worse for both of you. You'll end up with a lot more in bills.

[MelC]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

You typically cannot get a mortgage unless you have a H1B or TN visa. There are some pretty strict limitations as to who can get a mortgage visa status wise.

No, you only need a work authorization to open a bank account. Students on J1 or F1 visas open bank accounts all the time. Obviously the person at the bank has no idea what they are saying.

My husband open a bank account on day one he arrived with a J1. He also got a SS card, driver's license, and bought a car. My BIL when he arrived on an F1 did the same. I helped him.

What is going on is your fiancee isn't really in the US "working", basically you have visiting you on "vacation". I don't know if he's working during that time, but basically he's a vacationer.

That makes getting stuff like a bank account a lot harder because he has no permenant address, etc. How long are you planning on having him commute in?

And if you are together and getting married get ready for a major change in taxes for him. Probably for the worse for both of you. You'll end up with a lot more in bills.

Yea, again, he didnt get a mortgage- I did. Hes not a student or working here, so no bank account for now. I said he is vacationing. He'll be doing this until we are married and I sponser him in.

What do you mean get ready for a major change in taxes? We do need to get in touch with a FA about this. I work in US, pay US taxes and always filed HOH for my daughter and I. He works in UK, pays UK taxes. Not sure how the filing status would go. How will we end up in a lot more bills? How do you figure?