Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by egorfine 404 days ago
I'm in the same position as the GP. Impossible, because EU bureaucracy sometimes yield kafkaesque deadlocks. For example, some EU countries stated that their permits given to ukrainians are to be considered valid past the printed expiration date and thus stopped producing new plastic for them. Now, good luck finding any KYC provider that will accept that. Or any KYC provider that accepts printed Poland's TPS. Or any provider that doesn't chuckle on a set of documents, each of which is from a different country (like me). Etc, etc.

KYC is way, way more complex than it seems. Essentially, complete remote KYC is simply impossible.

1 comments

Maybe this is a dumb question, but I am trying to understand this situation. There are still some physical bank branches and I assume at least some banks will open an account for you with that TPS if you visit a branch. Is that not correct? That way you would have access to at least some financial services, if not those where as you write (remote) KYC is needed.
I tried with one physical bank, and they refused; the expat forums said it's the same with all, though I didn't verify myself tbh.

The problem is that the only thing you get is a stamp in your passport saying you applied for a temporary residence permit (including the request number).

The border control people can then (I guess) use this number to verify that your case is still pending, so you're legal in the country. But since no one else can, you get no services.

[Edit: I should add that my main problem was with other financial services, not a bank, since I could use my existing bank accounts from another country. So maybe if I'd make enough effort, I would be able to open a physical bank account, but this was not the main problem for me]

Ah this sucks. If I understand correctly, in our country the expats get a separate paper confirming they are here legally which for some uses (one of them is opening a bank account) has the same validity as an ID card.
Out of curiosity, which country is this? My experience is quite similar in France (except that I tried more than one physical bank).
Poland, and specifically Warsaw, since the process might be a little different in different parts of Poland.
Please try PKO. I had a total and welcoming success there with the same set of problems. Specifically, the branch in Atrium (at Jana Pawla II).
Local banks know the local quirks.

Global KYC provider couldn't possibly know. To get paid, they need to serve the majority of customers, not all of them.