Does anyone know of a fact sheet which can be used by new accounts personnel to understand the documentation process for an alien? Does INS have anything out there anywhere?

I know we should be able to look at a Visa or passport for everyone except Canadians (but for some reason we seem to be having a problem getting these--are these people illegal aliens??). I know a resident alien should have a green card (legal permanent resident card). I know there is some type of border crossing card called an I-94, but I don't know what it looks like. Does everyone have one of these? What do you do if the Visa or passport has expired?

We know the forms to complete (W-9 for resident alien, W-8BEN for non-resident alien, or another W-8 form depending upon alien status), we know many of our aliens have ITINs which they obtain with a W-7 form at IRS. I also understand we can expect to get some help in the future thanks to the USA Patriot Act because aliens will be assigned a number. But until then, how can we positively identify our alien customers?

I don't have answers for you, Brenda, but I couldn't help notice one of your questions:

In reply to:

---

But until then, how can we positively identify our alien customers?

---

When you think about it, how can we positively identify anyone we haven't known all their lives? It's too easy to get bogus identification these days.

Brenda, I just did some research on this topic for our loan policy manual. If you can send me an e-mail to remind me, I will send you what I have. (I am writing this at home; ever since this site was updated, I can't access it from work!) I will be out of the office tomorrow (3/14) but I will respond to you on Friday.
Thanks!
Leslie
lcallaway@ssnb.com

Leslie,
If possible please email the same material to me at tressaj@cfbanc.com
Thanks

Leslie, could you email the same materials to me ? Thanks
Ben Hicks
ben.hicks@mercantile.net

To Ben and Crazy 8
I have been out of the office since the 20th, and cannot access the Bankers Threads at work. I will copy everyone's e-mails and send you what I have on Monday 3/25. Thanks for your patience.
Leslie

Leslie: I haven't been paying close enough attention to these posts lately. I'd really appreciate your sending the materials on documenting alien status to me at mpowers@banrbank.com

Thanks very much.

Leslie, I am in the process of rewriting the loan policy and the new accounts manual. Would appreciate it if you would share what you have. Thanks gloriag@tsbot.com

Leslie - I would appreciate it if you would also email me your materials re: documenting alien status. Thanks! shanelec@lyonsfed.com

One provision of USA PATRIOT may be of interest. In section 326(b) there is a requirement for the Treasury Department, after consulting with regulators, to submit a report to Congress containing recommendations for how foreign nationals should be identified by financial institutions and for requiring foreign nationals to obtain an identification number similar to a SS# or TIN. This report is due by April 26th and may impact the Identification and Verification of Account Holders regulations that must be issued by October 26. So you might want to keep an eye out for this since it reflects the opinion of the regulators.

Leslie - I would appreciate it if you would also email me your materials re: documenting alien status. Thanks! cherylec@frsb.com

Cheryle Cozad
AVP/Compliance Officer
Feather River State Bank

Hi - I'd like to join the party and would welcome anything you can send - it sounds very helpful! Thanks for sharing!

Leslie, I would love a copy of your materials as well. I did some research on this; but it was as confusing as dealing with the IRS Code.

Thanks, Leslie, for allowing us to post your information on Banker Tools. For anyone looking for it, we've put it under both the operations and lending parts of Banker Tools.