How to Open an Offshore Bank Account for Non-Residents?

Opening an offshore bank account is a legitimate and popular way to save, invest, and manage money abroad. Whether you relocate your business to another country, immigrate, find a job overseas, hire foreign contractors, travel much, or have any other reason to receive and transfer money internationally, you need to know how to open an offshore bank account.  

What is an Offshore Account? 

In the most generic sense, the terms ‘offshore accounts’, ‘overseas accounts’, ‘foreign accounts’, ‘non-resident accounts’, and ‘international accounts’ can be used as synonyms. Simply put, they mean an account opened abroad.

Depending on the context, there are also more specific implications of the term ‘an offshore account’: 

• An offshore account is an account opened by a bank, payment system, neobank (digital bank), or another financial institution for a foreign client.
• An offshore account is an account with a financial institution maintained by a client outside the client’s country of residence. 
• An offshore account is any corporate account of an offshore company, i.e. a legal entity incorporated in an offshore jurisdiction or zone (such as Nevis, Belize, Cayman Islands, Delaware (USA), Cook Islands, etc.).
• An offshore account is any personal or private account opened by a private person with an offshore financial institution (offering benefits in terms of privacy, taxes, reporting, and banking services).
• An offshore account is an account opened in an offshore jurisdiction by a non-resident company for its branch, office, or trust.

Why Should You Open an Offshore Bank Account?

Offshore banking is the transfer of money to/from a bank located outside the client’s country of legal or tax residency. It also means a foreign bank’s products, services, security, and other benefits that make it easier to do business/manage finances in foreign currencies outside the home country. 

It is becoming more and more common for private persons and companies to open offshore bank accounts. There can be objective reasons for offshore bank account opening:

• if you have moved abroad for work, retirement, education, treatment, or other purposes
• if you are going to relocate abroad permanently or temporally
• if you travel abroad quite often on business or for work 
• if you frequently travel internationally for pleasure and/or family reunion
• if you regularly support your child, parent, some other relative, or friend abroad  
• if you get paid for freelance work in foreign currencies 
• if you hire staff or contractors abroad
• if you plan to acquire or have acquired some real estate, other property, or assets abroad. 

Banks offer offshore checking accounts, savings accounts, demand deposit accounts, term deposit accounts, real estate accounts, international investment accounts, trust accounts, etc., depending on the offshore bank account holders’ needs and purposes.  

The purposes of opening an offshore bank account may be:

• an offshore bank account for asset protection
• an offshore bank account for passive income from real estate, investments, interest 
• an offshore bank account for capital diversification, enhanced privacy, and financial confidentiality. 

The advantages of opening an offshore account with an offshore bank are:

• Access to and flexibility of offshore banking services. After an offshore bank account opening online, you will appreciate the ease of online offshore banking. 
• The minimal amount of paperwork. The reasonable requirements for offshore bank account opening and reporting are a great advantage, compared to European banks.
• Confidentiality and data security. Offshore banks have to share information about their offshore bank account holders only on a special request from law enforcement bodies. However, you may need to declare your income/offshore account to the relevant tax authorities in the country of your tax residency.
• Asset diversification.  If you have only one bank account in your home country, the risks of your account freezing or currency fluctuations because of political, economic, and pandemic turmoil is too critical. You can mitigate the risks by diversification:  open an offshore bank account or accounts.
• Asset protection. Some offshore banks provide enhanced protection from sanctions, foreign courts, and lawsuits filed by creditors, relatives, etc. This is an advantage of setting up an offshore bank account in a country in which the court does not recognize the decisions of foreign judicial bodies.
• Tax-efficient savings. If the offshore jurisdiction provides tax incentives, the offshore bank account holders will enjoy legitimate tax savings. 
• Multicurrency/foreign investments. With your offshore bank account, you can plan very profitable investment projects.

Based on the above, an offshore bank account may allow the account holder to enjoy more security, asset protection, easy access to advanced banking products and services, and better profitability.

Where is the Easiest Place to Open an Offshore Bank Account? 

Before opening an international account with an offshore bank, you should ‘do some homework’ – to see if the institution meets your primary requirements. 

The 3 key considerations when opening an offshore bank account are as follows:

• The overall cost. Please compare the fees for opening and maintaining offshore bank accounts and the minimum balance requirements.
• The currency. Learn if you can open a multicurrency offshore bank account or accounts in different currencies (eg., USD, EURO). 
• The jurisdiction. Check that the bank’s jurisdiction of incorporation is not blacklisted by FATF or other organizations. Otherwise, your offshore bank account will be just a nuisance.

When opening an offshore bank account, any bank wants to be sure of the legitimate origin of the client’s funds. The baseline requirements involve the submission and verification of certain documents, data on the principal holder of the offshore bank account, and additional information. 

Wherever you develop your business (in several countries or just one), your thorough preparation of documents for opening an offshore bank account isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a must.

By FATF standards and international directives, the Know Your Customer (KYC) check is mandatory for all financial institutions. It is meant to help both banks and clients avoid the risks of fraud and financial crimes. The 3 key elements of KYC are customer identification program (CIP), customer due diligence (CDD), and ongoing monitoring. 

The specific compliance procedures for offshore account opening do vary by jurisdiction. Besides, there are different requirements for setting up an offshore account for personal and business needs. Unfortunately, ignorance about offshore banking regulations is not an excuse. Failure to comply with the offshore bank account application rules can be a critical blunder. Too often, negligent preparation of documents for opening an offshore bank account results in the bank’s refusal to cooperate.

On the other hand, information security is key to reliable asset protection and personal safety. No wonder clients want to open an international bank account where banking confidentiality is guaranteed by the bank’s commitments and the national legislation. This is a chicken-and-egg dilemma when planning your offshore account opening: should you first choose the jurisdiction or the bank? 

If the jurisdiction and the bank are thoroughly hand-picked by experts to meet your needs, offshore bank account opening and maintenance will be easier. 

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Which is the Safest Path to Opening an Offshore Account?

Opening an account with an offshore bank for private persons or offshore companies will likely take more effort than opening a bank account in their countries of residence. On the one hand, offshore banks have to scrutinize the application documents of new non-resident clients by the most stringent KYC due diligence rules. On the other hand, most clients find it difficult to understand offshore banking requirements and procedures in a faraway country.

Instead of obtaining pre-approvals from the selected banks, or in case positive feedback is not available for some reason, you can consider other options. 

Incorporation of trusts and foundations will serve the purposes of asset protection and diversification. Among our popular services in 2023 is assistance with setting up a trust plus an LLC in Nevis.  

You are always welcome to book a free session with our experts and discuss our possible menu of solutions. 

Please look up our services and updates on opening foreign bank accounts, setting up offshore accounts with payment systems, obtaining brokerage accounts, and getting anonymous cards. 

Our network of experts and partners embraces the entire world. So, we can assist in offshore bank account opening and other matters wherever you are or going.

How Can You Open an Offshore Bank Account Remotely?

An offshore account may be opened remotely in quite a few offshore jurisdictions and offshore zones, including Belize, Nevis, Switzerland, the Bahamas, the Cook Islands, Curacao, Liechtenstein, Saint Lucia, etc. 

The procedure for remote offshore bank account opening is similar to the in-person on-site application.  However, the documents are submitted online, and the KYC check and communication with the bank’s Compliance division are also internet-based.

Regardless of the method of setting up an offshore bank account, you will need to take care of the proper legalization of documents. If a submitted document contains some errors or incomplete information, the bank will deny the service. 

What Documents are Required for Opening an Offshore Bank Account for a Private Person?

To open a personal or private offshore bank account, you will need to prepare and submit the properly legalized, translated, certified (by a notary)/apostilled documents. The lists of documents are bank-specific and vary across countries. 

A typical application portfolio includes the following:

• a notarized scanned copy of the applicant’s passport;
• a document confirming the place of residence;
• a written reference confirming the solvency of the applicant (this can be a letter from the employer, a bank statement, or any other certified proof of the legitimate origin of income);
• the CV mentioning, inter alia, the nature of the funds to be placed in the account, and the nature/amounts of the expected future transactions.

After you send the required set of documents to the bank, the compliance review may take up to 30 days. 

Offshore bank account applications can be rejected for many reasons – from simple mistypes in names – to serious fraud. The irretrievable blunders often result from mere negligence, inconsistent information, and delays in submitting additional data or papers.

Who Can Help You with Your Offshore Account Opening?

Together with our seasoned experts, you will discover interesting solutions and tap new opportunities for setting up an offshore bank account online. You will save a lot of time and effort, avoid frustrations, and will be able to focus on the tasks that depend on your involvement.

You can discuss with our experts a variety of issues: offshore benefits, types of jurisdictions, company formation abroad and international business, protection of assets, trusts, licenses, international taxation, residence, second citizenship, immigration, banking, opening offshore bank accounts online, investments and real estate matters, and many other relevant aspects. 

You can choose our customized turn-key packages and products. 

You can find attractive offers in our comprehensive menu of services all over the world.