Bank accounts- non resident

[nzleagle]

My brother in law has arrived in NZ on a 3 year multi entry visitor visa (90 days max at a time) to look for work. Now having been through this process with my partner and her parents, they have had no issues with getting a bank account, now hes been told that he cant open an account... cant seem to find any changed to law since we did it with my partner prior to applying for partnership Visa.. can anyone help?

[LemonAndPaeroa]

Has he tried all the banks? He will need proof of address.

[Super_BQ]

Any address where he's staying in NZ will do. The problem is more to do with recent changes in AML and CRS (Anti-Money Laundering Act & Common Reporting Standard). FACTA will come into play if he is a US citizen or a previous US resident.

Your brother-in-law will need to prove his tax status. CRS rules is an OECD multi-nation requirement so ALL NZ banks are bound by it. Being a non-NZ citizen, he will need to provide his tax # from where he resided from. If he does NOT provide the tax #, the banks WILL REFUSE to open up a bank account ; there are no exceptions. Even as a NZ citizen, banks are required to hold your IRD #. So long gone are the days where you can open accounts by nominee or without any tax status.

[allune]

@Super_BQ Does that still apply to people coming from countries with no income tax like the UAE? No tax = no tax number to provide. That's going to be interesting...

[mainlandgay]

If a country doesn't issue a tax number then you can note that on the form.