Hi guys-

Well when I opened my account at Caja Madrid in May of 2002, I needed the carta de policia cause I told them I was a non-resident. I have a non-resident that I maintain from the states and use it when I go back to Spain. They have never given me any problems, I have not yet been charged any monthly or yearly maitenance fees, and its super easy to deposit money when Im in Spain, Europe or even from here, although the fees for withdrawing from the states are like 8 Euros! Im sure this is a combo of the US ATM's greedy nature too, but still. Ouch.

BTW, Jer, how did you convert your non-resident account to resident account? Does Caja Madrid do that too?

hey GataUSA, the game has changed, if you read back through this thread you will see that i have written that it is not longer necessary to have the "carta de no-residente" (non-resident letter) that one used to need to open a non-resident account.

not sure how you are getting around the maintenance fee on a non-resident account, all banks charge about 2-3 euros per month for that maybe caja madrid does not? no matter how you do it, more power to ya

also, keep in mind that the account you have has nothing to do with what mariposita asked about. she asked about an account in us dollars and your account in in euros.

one can change a non-resident account to a resident account when one gets legal residency here.

saludos,
jer...

Just to add my experiences to the list... I wanted to get an account at the local branch of the Caja Madrid because it's really close to my apartment and because it seems that in general their branches and ATMs are ubiquitous.

I asked them what's needed to open an account. This particular branch insists on a "tarjeta de residencia", or failing that, a letter of non-residence either from the comisar�a or from my own embassy.

I asked her if there were any differences between "extranjero" accounts and normal accounts, and she told me there is no such thing. They'll all the same as far as she is concerned. The only differences relate to tax.

And as far as fees are concerned, she said there is an annual fee, a "comisi�n", but it depends on your average balance during that year. I gather that if you have a decent average balance (over 600�) you pay little or no fees.

In my case, I have a visa but no residency card yet. And I think that rather than line up at the comisar�a to get this letter of non-residence, I'll just wait until I get the card. The other option is to run around looking for a bank that lets me open an account with just a passport, and I don't know if I can be bothered doing that. I do like the idea of dealing with the bank that's practically on my doorstep.

So it looks to me like this is a question of who you talk to, and where. Depending on that you might get different answers.... Who knows, it may even depend on what you look like! (When I went in there I was long overdue for a shave! hehe)

And on a side note... For me the reason why it's important to get a Spanish bank account is that I would like to have a VISA card issued by a Spanish bank. I find that my two Australian cards don't always work buying things over the phone or online from Spanish vendors (but they work in ATM machines and in stores, and I've used them lots of times to order stuff over the Internet from the USA).

Greguito, thanks for sharing that with us but i am afraid you were played my man

they lied to you about needing to have the letter of non-residency, they simply did not want to deal with you (good old spanish customer service ).

quote:

The other option is to run around looking for a bank that lets me open an account with just a passport, and I don't know if I can be bothered doing that.

if you read my many posts on this topic you would see that you need not run around at all.

just go to the "la caixa" on calle arenal n� 24 (metro "opera" or "sol") with your passport and tell them that jeremy sent ya

stop wasting time with those folks at caja madrid, they seem to not want your business anyway what with all the crap they are giving you.

quote:

I wanted to get an account at the local branch of the Caja Madrid because it's really close to my apartment and because it seems that in general their branches and ATMs are ubiquitous.

ok but there are just as many branches of la caixa around spain for what you will need.

also, i am sure there is a la caixa near your apt. as well, just look/ask around. there is no real need to open the account at the branch closest to your apt. as you can do just about everything with your account either online or at any branch.

if you feel you realy need to open the account at a branch close to your apt. and they do not let you at la caixa near you, open it at my branch on c/ arenal and then in a few months have them switch your main branch to the one nearest your apt.

food for thought.

saludos,
jer...

wooooooooooopppppppssssssiiiiiieeee!!!

i need to appologize to Greguito and everyone else on this thread who said that one still needs the "cart de no residente" (letter of non-residency) to open a banke account.

it would seem that i have been misinforming peoplr when i say that the banks are making it up and that they just do not want to deal with you and they have actually done away with that letter requirement.

i asked at my bank today, la caixa on calle arenal 24, again today about the "letter" and it would seem i just assumed that nobody needed it but....

it would seem i misunderstood my banks doing me a favor for the law of the land. it is still indeed a requirement at banks to have the letter of non-residency to open an account if you are not a resident.

surprised and a bit embarassed i am

you see, my bank branch loves me soooooo much :l: that they told me i could send them people personally and they would open an account for them with just their passport. they never said it was a special favor so i took it as the general "norm" for all banks.

still good news for you all but as long as you have the "carta de recomendaci�n de jer" ("jer recommendation letter") :jeje:

oh crapola, another letter!!!

saludos,
jer...

Hello! Thankyou Jer for giving us all the lowdown on the Spanish bank account situation! I am actually moving to Madrid next weekend and plan to go to La Caixa and open a new account. Unfortunately, my Spanish isn't quite what it should be (hence I am taking classes as soon as I arrive!). Do you think the kind people at La Caixa have good enough English for me to explain about the "Jer Recommendation Letter"? I was hoping to open an account with them as they seem like a great bank but I am embarrassed that I do not speak good enough Spanish yet! Do you happen to know if they have good English skills as I probably need to open the account before my Spanish classes are underway! Thanks again for all your help and advice on this great site!

hey helenhelen, just tell them i sent ya, that will be enough. the "jer letter" comment was just a joke

there is one guy at my branch who speaks english rather well. his name is ram�n but he is not always there. it really does not matter anyway, they all understand enough english to open an account for you, just go in.

saludos,
jer...

quote:

originally posted by jer:
[qb] hey helenhelen, just tell them i sent ya, that will be enough. the "jer letter" comment was just a joke

there is one guy at my branch who speaks english rather well. his name is ram�n but he is not always there. it really does not matter anyway, they all understand enough english to open an account for you, just go in.

saludos,
jer... [/qb]

Unfortunately this didn't work for me. As noted above, I had already tried to open an account at the Caja Madrid and been told that I needed the carta from the comisar�a. In the light of Jer's subsequent posts that indicate that being asked for the carta is not exceptional, but quite the contrary, that going to his branch of the Caixa and not being asked is the exceptional case, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and head on over to the Caixa in the Calle Arenal and open an account.

There there told me I would need the "certificado" of non-residency. They said it's imprescindible (essential), no exceptions. I said that I'd been referred to this branch specifically because I'd been told that not all banks "exigen" the certificate, and this was apparently one of them. No, go, she says. So, unfortunately for me, this once again proves that it's a matter of luck as to who you speak to, when you speak to them, and what you look like. I have obviously struck out on at least one of these counts.

They said you can get the certificate at any police station on the spot with no waiting. As I highly doubt that, I think I'll just try to survive for the next six or eight weeks without access to my funds, live off the credit card, and open a proper account when I get my residency card. I am rather sick of waiting in queues to no avail, so I will quite happily just forget about the whole subject until I can do it later in a straightforward fashion with no rule-bending.

For those of you wanting to give this a try, just be aware before you make a special trip to the branch that there are no guarantees that it will work.

Cheers
Greguito

hey Greguito, did you walk in naked or something

can't imagine why they would turn you away

you said you told them...

quote:

I said that I'd been referred to this branch specifically because I'd been told that not all banks "exigen" the certificate, and this was apparently one of them.

... but did you tell them that "jeremy" sent you specifically? they told me they would open accounts for people i recommended, i can't imagine they would lie to me

if so, i will have to look into this.

saludos,
jer...

quote:

originally posted by jer:
[qb]they told me they would open accounts for people i recommended, i can't imagine they would lie to me [/qb]

I'm sure your contact(s) wouldn't lie to you. I probably just spoke to the wrong person, someone who hasn't had dealings with you. And we can always blame my Spanish for any misunderstanding. I didn't take note of the name of the lady I spoke with. Around 30 years old, thin, not very "Spanish looking".

hey Greguito, the branch is small and there are only 3 people who work the teller counters, Cristina, Jacinto and Ram�n.

they ALL know me and live up to their word on opening accounts for those i send in.

Cristina being the only woman, you must have spoken to her. she is in fact the one who told me personally i could recommend people and they could open accounts with just their passports so this is a shocker. ii am sure it was Cristina as she is the only woman who works at that branch.

i am very surprised that you mentioned my name, said i sent you and she said no

going to pop in there tomorrow and get the scoop from her, perhaps the deal is off and nobody bothered to tell me

will post back here and let you all know what happened.

saludos,
jer....

quote:

originally posted by jer:
[qb]Cristina being the only woman, you must have spoken to her. she is in fact the one who told me personally i could recommend people and they could open accounts with just their passports so this is a shocker. ii am sure it was Cristina as she is the only woman who works at that branch.[/qb]

No doubt another one we chalk it up to my bad Spanish then! (But then, some would argue that with a strong Australian accent like I have, my English wouldn't have been much more helpful!)

Uh-oh, looks like my bad Spanglish isn't going to win me any favours over at La Caixa either!

Jer, please do let me know how you get on with finding out about the special favours! I plan to stop by next Monday or Tuesday to open an account, maybe I can be your next "test" for them?
(PS - I won't go in naked)

hi helenhelen, i was not able to get by today to ask why they turned Greguito away and to see if my "enchufe" was still valid.

i will go by monday as they are closed tomorrow and friday.

will post here on whatever they say.

saludos,
jer...

IMPORTANT NEWS FOR ALL MOVING TO SPAIN!!!

AS PROMISED, I DOD GO TO MY BRANCH OF LA CAIXA THIS MORNING TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH THE ACCOUNT OPENING FOR NON-RESIDENTS.

WELL, GREGUITOS SPANISH IS MUCH BETTER THAN HE THOUGHT

I WAS TOLD BY THE SAME PERSON WHO A YEAR OR SO AGO TOLD ME I COULD SEND THEM PEOPLE TO OPEN ACCOUNTS WITHOUT THE "LETTER" THAT AS OF MARCH 11TH, THERE IS NO MORE PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN THIS MATTER AND THAT ANY NON-RESIDENT WHO WANTS TO OPEN A BANK ACCOUNT WILL NEED THE "CARTA DE NO-RESIDENTE" ("LETTER OF NON-RESIDENCY").

THE BANK WAS VISITED BY AN INSPECTOR SHORTLY AFTER 11-M AND ALL ACCOUNTS WERE SCRUTINIZED SO NO MORE MR. NICE BANK.

�SE ACABO EL CHOLLO! :cry:


OH WELL, IT WAS NICE WHILE IT LASTED

saludos,
jer...