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If you have access to your spouse's account you may need to enter that into the FBAR form https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Secrecy_Act#FBAR https://en.wikiped

If you have access to your spouse's account you may need to enter that into the FBAR form https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Secrecy_Act#FBAR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Secrecy_Act#FBAR Regarding the difficulty of investing/borrowing outside the US: Non-US banks are required to report stuff to the US if they have US customers. So they might not want US customers because it's a hassle for them.

jacquesm 5y ago
And that in turn is not in line with EU law - if not in letter then at least in spirit so banks are caught between two powers and in turn offload that burden onto the citizens. Realistically as an American abroad you can do it but there is a continuous cost and stress associated with remaining a US citizen. I know several people that have gone down this path and a few who are doing it right now, the US seems outright vindictive against those that want to leave, a bit like an abusive spouse that can't imagine there is a life after them for you.
Ichthypresbyter 5y ago
As a US citizen who lived in the Netherlands until recently, at least one bank (ABN AMRO) is fine with US customers, and is also attractive to expats in other ways- for instance, they will do more of their correspondence in English than other banks. It required maybe 20 minutes in an office at my local branch when I opened my account for them to have dealt with everything, and then my banking experience was no different from anyone else's. The problem in the Netherlands isn't so much expats who grew up in the US, but "accidental Americans" who were born in the US and left as small children. They are US citizens, but don't have an SSN, which Dutch banks require to comply with US law (and with pandemic-related embassy closures, obtaining one isn't necessarily easy).
- Someone 5y ago
  I don’t think ABN AMRO is completely fine with US customers today, given that they have an US persons disclaimer and have a phone number for questions regarding it (https://www.abnamro.nl/en/personal/specially-for/us-persons.html https://www.abnamro.nl/en/personal/specially-for/us-persons....) Problem is that FATCA requires banks to actively send the US government personal information about its customers with US citizenship, while the GDPR forbids them from doing so without consent from their customers (https://americanexpatfinance.com/tax/item/632-eu-data-protection-board-to-revisit-fatca https://americanexpatfinance.com/tax/item/632-eu-data-protec...) But yes, accidental Americans definitely are a weird case. Some of them don’t even know they have US citizenship until the IRS sends them a message, or when, upon visiting the USA, border control requires them to show a US passport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_American#Awareness_of_U.S._citizenship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_American#Awareness_...)

jacquesm 5y ago

And that in turn is not in line with EU law - if not in letter then at least in spirit so banks are caught between two powers and in turn offload that burden onto the citizens. Realistically as an American abroad you can do it but there is a continuous cost and stress associated with remaining a US citizen. I know several people that have gone down this path and a few who are doing it right now, the US seems outright vindictive against those that want to leave, a bit like an abusive spouse that can't imagine there is a life after them for you.

Ichthypresbyter 5y ago

As a US citizen who lived in the Netherlands until recently, at least one bank (ABN AMRO) is fine with US customers, and is also attractive to expats in other ways- for instance, they will do more of their correspondence in English than other banks. It required maybe 20 minutes in an office at my local branch when I opened my account for them to have dealt with everything, and then my banking experience was no different from anyone else's. The problem in the Netherlands isn't so much expats who grew up in the US, but "accidental Americans" who were born in the US and left as small children. They are US citizens, but don't have an SSN, which Dutch banks require to comply with US law (and with pandemic-related embassy closures, obtaining one isn't necessarily easy).

Someone 5y ago
I don’t think ABN AMRO is completely fine with US customers today, given that they have an US persons disclaimer and have a phone number for questions regarding it (https://www.abnamro.nl/en/personal/specially-for/us-persons.html https://www.abnamro.nl/en/personal/specially-for/us-persons....) Problem is that FATCA requires banks to actively send the US government personal information about its customers with US citizenship, while the GDPR forbids them from doing so without consent from their customers (https://americanexpatfinance.com/tax/item/632-eu-data-protection-board-to-revisit-fatca https://americanexpatfinance.com/tax/item/632-eu-data-protec...) But yes, accidental Americans definitely are a weird case. Some of them don’t even know they have US citizenship until the IRS sends them a message, or when, upon visiting the USA, border control requires them to show a US passport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_American#Awareness_of_U.S._citizenship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidental_American#Awareness_...)