Strategy to obtain US Amex

[Viridis]

Global mail
- living in Australia is fine
- SSN or ITIN is irrelevant
- no previous USPS is fine - don't need to redirect anything
- 1583 is so that they can receive the mail on your behalf - they just want a passport and a bill (eg rego or insurance) to your AUS address to prove you are who you say - it take about 5 mins done online - this is so they can receive all mail for you on your behalf - the notary thing is only to prove your ID - nothing else - I have done it now about 6 different times - I think they get paid per notary so they will want you online for less than 2 mins if they can help it

Is there something particular about the notary that worries you?

More concerned with how deep they dig on reasons for having the address - I'm not especially good at lying and the US legal over-reach worries me somewhat

 

[georgie23]

Your not lying
Its perfectly legal to have an address to get mail posted - you can have friends post you letters or online shopping or whatever
you are giving your AUS address and ID and they are setting you up with a US address - they don't care why you have one and no one is breaking any law (as far as I can tell) - you are paying for a service

 

[djchuckles]

Hi All,
I wonder if anyone has signed amex checking with bonus $300 or $250 offer, how did you meet the dd requirement pls. Thank you.

What do you mean by dd? If it’s like business checking where you need 5 eligible transactions then ACH transfers in tick the box. Have done three from HSBC and just testing a WISE one

 

[georgie23]

What do you mean by dd? If it’s like business checking where you need 5 eligible transactions then ACH transfers in tick the box. Have done three from HSBC and just testing a WISE one

Not sure of they mean a direct debit - like someone's pay or salary each month

I found the below

A Qualifying Direct Deposit is a single ACH transfer of $500 or more from an employer or thegovernment for a paycheck, pension, government benefit (such as Social Security), or tax refund. Thefollowing are not Qualifying Direct Deposits: person to person transfers (P2P), demand deposit accountto demand deposit account transfers (for example, from a checking account to another checkingaccount), and deposits or ACH transfers not from an employer or the government (for example, onlinetransfers or bank transfers).

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/directdepositincentiveterms2023/#:~:text=The%20following%20are%20not%20Qualifying,example%2C%20online%20transfers%20or%20bank

According to this one - Wise worked for this person

https://www.reddit.com/r/amex/comments/1empmq4/amex_checking_300_bonus

 

[DC3]

I'm just looking to set up a Global Mail account but I've never lived in the US and don't have an SSN or ITIN. Will this be a problem? I also don't have a previous USPS address from which to forward; likewise - a problem?

Is it compulsory to go through the whole form 1583 thing or only if you expect USPS mail? Bit concerned about the whole Notary thing

The process has been pretty much explained upthread. Posts 8288, 8290 and 8884, and others in that area are a good start.

Edit: Also, searching AFF for “Notary US Global” will get some hits

 

[djchuckles]

I tried to find the answer via search with no luck. But if I want to do AU MR to US MR transfer do I call AU team or US team?

 

[georgie23]

I tried to find the answer via search with no luck. But if I want to do AU MR to US MR transfer do I call AU team or US team?

US GT team is best bet - the AU team will likely tell you it is not possible

 

[Viridis]

The process has been pretty much explained upthread. Posts 8288, 8290 and 8884, and others in that area are a good start.

Edit: Also, searching AFF for “Notary US Global” will get some hits

Did a search before asking my original question but didn’t include the word Notary.

That was very helpful, thank you

 

[blacksultan]

What do you mean by dd? If it’s like business checking where you need 5 eligible transactions then ACH transfers in tick the box. Have done three from HSBC and just testing a WISE one

Have the hsbc ones been confirmed as being eligible for the purpose of the bonus ?

 

[Tiki]

I just discovered recently that transfers via Wise to a US bank account are much faster if you load the AUD onto the Wise card first, then send it to the US account. Shows up almost instantly.