Help investing in the US as a non resident alien!

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OthonIslas
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2021 3:01 pm

Help investing in the US as a non resident alien!

Post by OthonIslas »

I just started getting into Investing by reading the Bogleheads guide to investing
My nationality is Mexican and I currently reside in the United States with a Tourist Visa.
Any advice on how I should start investing? I dont have a Social Security number but I do make my money here in the United States.
TedSwippet
Posts: 5166
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:19 pm
Location: UK

Re: Help investing in the US as a non resident alien!

Post by TedSwippet »

Welcome.
OthonIslas wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 3:15 pm I just started getting into Investing by reading the Bogleheads guide to investing
My nationality is Mexican and I currently reside in the United States with a Tourist Visa.
Any advice on how I should start investing? I dont have a Social Security number but I do make my money here in the United States.
More details needed.

Have you passed, or will you pass, the 'substantial presence test', without being exempt ('closer connection')'? If yes, that can make your worldwide finances taxable and reportable annually to the US. As a general rule, most non-US investors would try to avoid falling under IRS jurisdiction.

Beyond this, it is unclear how you make money in the US on a tourist visa. The B-2 visa explicitly excludes work, employment, study and so on. Assuming you are (say) working remotely for and paid by a non-US company but from currently inside the US, that might skate past this rule, but you will want to be careful.

Finally, most US based brokers will not open accounts for anyone in the US but without a US social security number. So if you want to invest, you will need to find a suitable broker. What you actually invest in for best results then depends entirely on your US and/or other country tax status.
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