Submitted by ‘Kevnice’ via ForeignByNature.com,
In April 2012, I returned to Switzerland – my country of birth – to commence a new phase of my adult life.
Naturally, one of the first steps to undertake when establishing oneself in a new country is to open a bank account.
I went down to the local Raiffeisen bank branch in the village of Aesch, Luzern, where my relatives and ancestors had lived and worked as farmers for over 10 generations.
At the bank I received the standard application forms required to open a basic checking account. The form asked me about my nationality. I marked Swiss as my nationality, and the United States as my second nationality.
The clerk reviewed the forms I had submitted. After careful consideration and some internal discussion she said, “I am sorry, we cannot open a bank account for you because you are a US citizen”.
“But I am a Swiss citizen!” I complained, in Swiss-German.
“I know, but you have the US nationality. Earlier this month we received a directive from top management not to open any more accounts for US passport holders, even if they are also Swiss. I am really sorry, but we cannot do anything for you”, she said.
I left the bank angry and confused.
I checked with several other banks. It was the same story with all of them.
I told the story to my Swiss relatives.

Read More »