I have an individual who has a personal checking account and who is a NRA with a F-1 (student) Visa. He has formed a corporation in Texas and informed us that he is applying for an E-2 Visa. Should we open the business account while knowing that the owner is still here on a student Visa?

Your "customer" would be the corporation (a U.S. person) not the individual. The fact that you asked the question suggests you already know that.

Is there anything in your CIP that 1) requires you to identify signatories and 2) prohibits non U.S. persons as signatories? Is there anything in your "due diligence" process that requires you to verify corporate ownership and assure that all owners are U.S. persons?

The point is, unless your bank has CIP or due diligence restrictions that are highly unusual, by using a corporation instead of a sole proprietorship the individual has side-stepped the fact that as an individual he could not operate a business in the U.S.

If you refuse to open the account based on his legal status in my opinion it's a ruse. (Personally, I have no problems with an occasional ruse.)

Ken, The individual was a customer with a personal account before forming the corporation so CIP was performed. We are a bank of 'immigrants' so we have a large number of non US persons as customers so that is not the issue that I was asking about. My only concern with the new account for the corporation was due to the fact that the owner's visa status is not compatible with his 'new' status as running a business in the US. Nothing in our CIP policy prohibits refusing to open the account for the corporation.