El Zorro

My assumption was based on the fact that most countries I know of require you to be at least a legal resident to be able to open a bank account. Mexico, even if it is just for the border area, seems to be an exception if a US-issued ID will suffice. I’m glad.

Thanks for the info.

"To open an account of any kind, aside from a current, valid, government-issued picture ID..."

I'm guessing that's the Mexican government.

My first choice has always been Mexico because of the proximity and the conveniences that entails, somewhat tempered by recent negatives reports, so I also looked into other countries and the main obstacle is access to dollars. At least in South America, now banks are charging an additional flat fee to use ATM's, taking advantage of the fact that it is quite difficult to get a bank account in your own name if you’re not at least a legal resident, which in itself is another problem.

I think I saw somebody’s comments in this forum about having a dual bank account (dollars and pesos) to get a fair exchange rate, and also something about being able to access money in a BofA account easily (Santander Serfin?). What is the prevailing strategy in handling dollars in a US account among expats down there?