Canaidain Bank account?

[WannaBeInCanada]

I’m a US citizen and I’ve been trying to acquire a Canadian bank account for online gambling purposes. I was told by RBC Royal Bank that I could open an account online/and or through the mail and they sent me a bunch of forms to fill out. I then received the following email:
“Thank you for contacting RBC Royal Bank. We have received your application to open an account through our on-line site. As some of the information that was input indicates that you are currently a non-resident, we need to make further inquiries.
Are you currently in the process of coming to Canada as an immigrant or under a student visa or work permit?
If not, please explain in detail the need to have an account in Canada.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely, “
I am not planning on immigrating to Canada or getting a student visa (although you can do short-term student programs without a visa). I do sometimes stay with my friend in Toronto, so I could show proof of residence (although getting a bill with my name on it might be difficult.) I was wondering if anyone has had any success with this and what are some excuses they’d except. (I’m a professional poker player is probably not going to fly).

Anyone with experince in this matter please post here or pm me.

[WannaBeInCanada]

Lets say I rent/live in a condo in Toronto for 2 months out of every year and can supply them with the address, get a letter from the condo owner etc. would this salsify the requirements?

[Henry17]

I think you'll have a hard time opening an account in Canada.

I did open an account at Chase in the Virgin Islands without being a resident or even ever going there. I simply called up the bank and they Fed-EXed me an application. I Fed-EXed it back with a photocopy of my passport and that was it. Very simple. Since you goal is just to have a non-US account you might try somewhere with less regulation then Canada. The banks here are honestly useless.

Can a Canadian open an account in the US while not being a resident?

[Henry17]

I checked with ScotiaBank. They are downstairs. The manager told me that a US citizen can open an account at their bank if they have proof of Canadian residence and valid ID. Must be done in person at a branch though. They won't do it online.

[WannaBeInCanada]

[ QUOTE ]
I think you'll have a hard time opening an account in Canada.

I did open an account at Chase in the Virgin Islands without being a resident or even ever going there. I simply called up the bank and they Fed-EXed me an application. I Fed-EXed it back with a photocopy of my passport and that was it. Very simple. Since you goal is just to have a non-US account you might try somewhere with less regulation then Canada. The banks here are honestly useless.

Can a Canadian open an account in the US while not being a resident?

[/ QUOTE ]

This sounds great I'll look into this.

[good2cu]

[ QUOTE ]
I think you'll have a hard time opening an account in Canada.

I did open an account at Chase in the Virgin Islands without being a resident or even ever going there. I simply called up the bank and they Fed-EXed me an application. I Fed-EXed it back with a photocopy of my passport and that was it. Very simple. Since you goal is just to have a non-US account you might try somewhere with less regulation then Canada. The banks here are honestly useless.

Can a Canadian open an account in the US while not being a resident?

[/ QUOTE ]

I could not find a chase branch in the virgin islands? Please help? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[tangled]

Why not just answer the questionaire by saying that you plan to visit your friend in Canada often and would be more comfortable if you had access to a Canadian bank when you do. Also, you may want to attend school in Canada, but you are not sure yet, but if you do, already having a Canadian bank would be one less thing you will have to worry about.

If they still deny your application, then you can follow through on getting a student visa then if you want. You would lose nothing and you might save yourself some time not getting a student visa if you really did not need to.

I contacted this same bank by phone several months ago, and was upfront with why I wanted to open a Canadian bank account (online gaming) and the bank official did not express that that was a problem, but I never went through with the process so I don't know if there would have been a problem down the road or not.

Good luck and please let us know what happens.

[Henry17]

I responded to your PM regarding Chase. If you need any more help feel free to PM me again.

I've asked two banks now and both have told me all you need is proof of residence in Canada. So some kind of bill. You do need to go into the bank in person though with your US ID. Getting some bills in you name is easy enough if you are willing to just sign up for some random service for a month or two at your friend's place.

[spider]

Well, you could just tell them the actual reason. Nothing to lose by that, is there?

Tell them that under NAFTA, they are required to let you open an account. If Mexicans can drive trucks anywhere in the US under NAFTA, why can't Americans open Canadian bank accounts? Damnit!!!

[spider]

Some stuff here seems to suggest a non-resident could open an account through Citibank:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=720199