Background

As a result of the terrorist attacks against the U.S. on September 11, 2001 and the passage of the Patriot Act on October 26, 2001, which mandated sweeping changes in the way America secures its borders against further terrorist attacks, American banking standards were tightened significantly. Section 326 of the Patriot Act required the banking industry to create the Customer Identification Program (CIP), which is designed to verify the identity of banking customers in more detail as well as check their names against a list if known terrorists. Everyone, whether foreigners or citizens, is required to submit at a minimum the following:
1. Name.
2. Date of birth.
3. Address - no post office box addresses allowed.
4. Identification as follows:
a. Citizens must provide Social Security number (SSN) and driver's license.
b. Non-citizens must provide one, or more, of the following:
i. Social Security number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).
ii. Passport number.
iii. Alien identification card.
iv. Other official foreign government issued identification card with photo.

The U.S. government allows the banking industry to require more than the above minimum and since the banks in the U.S. are privately owned, not government owned, the requirements may vary from bank to bank. Also, the U.S. government gave the banking industry some freedom to decide how they will obtain this information so some banks may allow you to open an account over the internet with others may require you to open an account in person.

There is a great deal of confusion now about who is eligible to open a bank account in America. There is not any specific wording in the law forbidding foreigners living outside the U.S. from opening bank accounts in America. However, it seems that many banks in America are refusing to open bank accounts for foreigners living outside the U.S., perhaps for fear of not being able to rely on the accuracy of the required identification and the high penalty they may suffer from the U.S. government for allowing violations of the CIP. For the most part, foreigners living in America legally are eligible to open bank accounts. Immigrant visa holders (permanent residence, "green card") are eligible for sure. Some non-immigrant visa holders living in America such as A visa types (diplomatic), F-1visa (student) and the H visa types (H-1B, H-1C, H-2A, H-2B, H-3, and H-4) living in America are also eligible for sure.

Background
Types of Accounts - Part I
Types of Accounts - Part II