Easy ways to get a US address

[TimeAttack]

I'm continuing this discussion in a new thread because now it is related to a different topic.

A couple days ago, I asked about setting up e-commerce payouts as a US expat. I was advised that it would be easier if I used US providers. For example:

daniels27 said:
If you are American, you can just use US providers. It saves you a lot of FBAR problems and the like.

Maybe get somebody in the US to do mailhandling for you. Even a commercial address normally passed well if it is not from a will known forwarder with millions of customers.
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Now obviously, if you want to use US banks for payouts, you need to have a US address. The problem is, I don't have one since I haven't been living there for quite some time now, also no friends/family who can help me out with this. So I'm wondering if any of you guys have any ideas on how I can obtain one for this purpose.

The easiest way I can think of is to buy or rent a cheap property, maybe on apartments.com or similar, but that usually requires a wire transfer.

It's a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem really. Can't send wires without FIAT 😕 and I'm almost all in crypto.

So like I said earlier, any suggestions?

 

[daniels27]

My advice on that

• don't use a common mailforwarder (on one side they are required to get USPS Form 1583, on the other side their addresses are "known" forwarding addresses to any bank
• usually the solution is much simpler that you think and does not require a lot of effort

Of course, you need a US address. But most likely only to have the 2 bank cards delivered to you once per year? Or is there something else you need it for?

Do you have any business partners in the US, like a warehouse, trademark agent, director, marketing guy, etc. This is normally the easiest way to start. Are you living in Adis Ababa?

I would recommend you to just rent a room with room mates. Most of the time, they are ok to scan it for you and may even give you the "room" for $10 per month if you never live there and don't use it.

Last edited: Aug 11, 2024

 

[diro]

daniels27 said:
I would recommend you to just rent a room with room mates. Most of the time, they are ok to scan it for you and may even give you the "room" for $10 per month if you never live there and don't use it.
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This is really smart, something that anyone can do in any country. Good advise.

 

[Marshal]

daniels27 said:
I would recommend you to just rent a room with room mates. Most of the time, they are ok to scan it for you and may even give you the "room" for $10 per month if you never live there and don't use it.
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Many dishonest people use this tactic to commit fraud unfortunately.

 

[12345]

You can get a virtual office and check it on website smarty.com if it's marked as residential address in the system, few addresses are but look for non address providers that are not very common. Then you can get a cheap insurance or phone service, have the bill sent to your virtual office and then have it scanned by your provided and you have a proof of address.

You can also use airbnb when you are in the United States and get the utillity bill with insurance or phone bill and then once you set up bank account you can change the address to virtual office provider.

 

[daniels27]

If he is American, he should be able to open the bank account on any address. There still are banks which don't ask for anything online.

 

[TimeAttack]

daniels27 said:
Do you have any business partners in the US, like a warehouse, trademark agent, director, marketing guy, etc. This is normally the easiest way to start. Are you living in Adis Ababa?
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Yes I live there.

Those are actually some really good ideas, but I don't (currently) have any US partners yet. It might be something for me to look into though.

I don't need it for anything else special, just to get the cards and stuff forwarded really like you mentioned. Where I live, I can get a local P.O. box for receiving stuff.

As you said, there are some online banks that are completely online, like Capital One 360, Chime and some others. That shouldn't be a problem for me at all once I got the address.

Marshal said:
Many dishonest people use this tactic to commit fraud unfortunately.
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Can you explain?

 

[daniels27]

TimeAttack said:
Yes I live there.
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Wow amazing!

TimeAttack said:
As you said, there are some online banks that are completely online, like Capital One 360, Chime and some others. That shouldn't be a problem for me at all once I got the address.
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They normally do send cards. But if you do not need those, you could technically use a hotel address. You could also check with a smaller hotel or Airbnb they may be willing to receive and forward them if your car sounds legit, see below.

TimeAttack said:
Can you explain?
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I once lived with two others in a big German city. One guy went to South America for summer break and sublet his room. The Russian guy living there was nice to talk to and allegedly dining online studies in IT. He then lived at a roommate's friend place for another month. Some weeks later, my roommate tells me that the police was looking for him for online fraud.

There are to many people who want to use other people's address, bank account, phone number for their fraud. See this guy
https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/th...-need-serious-advice-long-post-warning.43075/

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

TimeAttack said:
So like I said earlier, any suggestions?
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https://jspaint.app/
Nobody check anything brother, just give them whatever address and call it a day

 

[daniels27]

TheCryptoAnt said:
https://jspaint.app/
Nobody check anything brother, just give them whatever address and call it a day
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Yes, but how does he get the cards? Also, I told him already that he can use any address without proof most lilely. No need to fake anything.
If he is American, he should be able to open the bank account on any address. There still are banks which don't ask for anything online.

 

[bizguy4life]

What about anytimemailbox.com?

 

[dirtyharry]

12345 said:
You can get a virtual office and check it on website smarty.com
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there is a service for everything I think, that is not needed 🙁

Where do you can do free search here?
https://www.smarty.com/

 

[TimeAttack]

daniels27 said:
If he is American, he should be able to open the bank account on any address. There still are banks which don't ask for anything online.
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Some feedback on this.

I just attempted to open a Capital One 360 online account. Gave them the last residential address that I had, as well as the SSN and other info, as well as a US VoIP number I had purchased. They didn't ask for ID or proof of address to be uploaded anywhere, but they did ask me to call a number that was displayed on the webpage.

Is this a standard procedure with online US banks? I didn't call the number yet, because I'm thinking they will ask for proof that it is still my address - I don't live there anymore.

They at least state they wont send anything through the mail, which is nice.

 

[daniels27]

TimeAttack said:
Some feedback on this.

I just attempted to open a Capital One 360 online account. Gave them the last residential address that I had, as well as the SSN and other info, as well as a US VoIP number I had purchased. They didn't ask for ID or proof of address to be uploaded anywhere, but they did ask me to call a number that was displayed on the webpage.

Is this a standard procedure with online US banks? I didn't call the number yet, because I'm thinking they will ask for proof that it is still my address - I don't live there anymore.

They at least state they wont send anything through the mail, which is nice.
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Yes, happens regularly with this bank. You can call them and check. As far as I know most recently, they cannot accept VoIP numbers for opening the account. I think they will try to send you a text message, but it will only arrive if it is a registered US phone number. Otherwise, they will ask to come in branch. Are you in the US now?

 

[TimeAttack]

daniels27 said:
Yes, happens regularly with this bank. You can call them and check. As far as I know most recently, they cannot accept VoIP numbers for opening the account. I think they will try to send you a text message, but it will only arrive if it is a registered US phone number. Otherwise, they will ask to come in branch. Are you in the US now?
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Nope, not in the US currently, but I'd imagine that the whole thing would go smoothly if I just visited a branch to apply there, right?

 

[daniels27]

TimeAttack said:
Nope, not in the US currently, but I'd imagine that the whole thing would go smoothly if I just visited a branch to apply there, right?
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Yes, usually very smooth. I would recommend calling and check. And if required, you also bring an address proof. They are normally quite relaxed. Just a statement from another bank with that address is good.