Last reviewed: 27 July 2026. Analysis and documented experience, not investment, tax, or legal advice — see the disclaimer. Broker policies by country change without notice; verify against the broker's current terms before moving money.
There's a letter that finds almost every American abroad eventually. It's polite, it's final, and it says some version of: we've noticed your address is outside the United States, and we're closing your account. Since 2024 the list of firms sending it has grown to include names people assumed were permanent — Vanguard, Fidelity, Merrill, Morgan Stanley, Edward Jones, TIAA, USAA have all restricted or terminated accounts for US customers with foreign addresses. I've been investing from Spain as a US citizen for years; this topic isn't research for me, it's logistics. And the conclusion the whole expat community has converged on is the same one I reached: for a US person living abroad, the realistic shortlist is Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab International, and everything else is borrowed time.
Why the industry is firing you
It isn't personal and it isn't even FATCA, mostly. A US brokerage serving a customer in Spain or Turkey is, in the regulator's eyes, doing business in Spain or Turkey — which implies local registration, local conduct rules, and local liability the firm never priced for a customer worth a few basis points. Multiply by every country expats live in and the compliance math says: send the letter. The firms that stayed are the ones that built for it — Interactive Brokers runs a deliberately global business serving customers in 200+ countries, and Schwab maintains a dedicated international division with its own account product for US citizens abroad, no minimum since 2025. The purge is rational; so is your response: move before the letter, on your schedule instead of theirs.
The two survivors, honestly compared
| Interactive Brokers | Schwab International | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Global self-directed investors; the default recommendation in every expat forum for a reason | US citizens abroad who want a familiar US brokerage experience |
| Country coverage | 200+ countries; account may be assigned to a regional IBKR entity depending on residence | 100+ countries via the dedicated International account |
| Minimums and costs | No minimum; institutional-grade FX conversion at near-interbank rates — quietly a killer feature for anyone living in lira or euros | No minimum since 2025; US-side commissions familiar from domestic Schwab |
| Platform | Powerful and famously unsentimental; TWS has a learning curve, the web and mobile apps have improved massively | The gentler experience, closer to what you left behind |
| Watch for | Entity migrations as you change countries (paperwork, sometimes product changes) | Country list is narrower; some products restricted by residence |
The genuinely correct answer for many households is both: one as primary, one as the already-open fallback for the day a policy shifts. Redundancy is cheap; re-opening an account from abroad after a closure letter is not.
The two traps that do the real damage
Trap one: PFIC. The US tax code treats non-US pooled investments — foreign mutual funds, foreign-domiciled ETFs, most insurance-wrapped products your local bank will enthusiastically sell you — as passive foreign investment companies, with a punitive tax-and-interest regime and Form 8621 filings that turn a simple index fund into an annual ordeal. The rule for US persons is one sentence: in taxable accounts, buy only US-domiciled funds, ever. The friendly advisor at a Spanish or Turkish bank has never heard of PFIC and never has to file your 8621. You do.
Trap two: PRIIPs — the European wall. If you're a US citizen resident in the EU or UK, retail investor protections there (the PRIIPs regime and its key-information-document requirement) block brokers from selling you US-domiciled ETFs — the exact funds PFIC forces you toward. Yes: one rulebook forbids what the other demands. I live inside this contradiction in Spain, and the honest menu is limited: individual stocks and bonds trade freely; some brokers permit US ETF exposure via options exercise; qualifying as a professional client waives the protections for those who meet the thresholds; and beyond that, structure — retirement accounts, a US-based spouse, or planning around the residency itself. What is not on the menu is the workaround every forum eventually whispers.
"What if I just use my parents' address?" — read this before you convince yourself
The tempting shortcut is to keep a US address on file — a relative's house, a mail service — and let the broker believe you never left. Here's why that's a bad trade, mechanically rather than morally. Brokers are obligated to know where their customers actually reside, and the detection surface is enormous: the IP addresses you log in from, the foreign phone number on your 2FA, the debit card used abroad for years, transfers to and from foreign banks, even the FATCA and CRS data flowing between tax authorities. When the mismatch surfaces — and the pattern is when, not if — the standard outcome isn't a warning; it's a frozen or force-liquidated account, potentially at the worst possible market moment, plus a broker relationship you can never repair. And the prize for running that risk is an account whose legal protections, tax reporting, and insurance were all issued on facts that weren't true. Meanwhile the honest path costs almost nothing: two brokers openly welcome US expats. Misrepresenting your address to a financial institution is the rare shortcut that is simultaneously unnecessary, detectable, and ruinous. Update the address; keep the account you're actually allowed to keep.
The Turkey angle: a small, real advantage
Here's a corridor-specific fact that surprises people arriving from Europe: Turkey sits outside the EU's PRIIPs regime. A US citizen who becomes a Turkish resident steps out from behind the European wall — US-domiciled ETFs become purchasable again as an ordinary retail customer, and the PFIC problem stays solved the way it always was (buy US funds). Combine that with Law 7582's treatment of foreign investment income — exempt from Turkish tax for qualifying new residents, with the filed on time — and the investment mechanics of the Spain-to-Turkey move are, for once, a simplification: fewer rulebooks in conflict, one brokerage relationship that travels, and dividends that Turkey has statutorily agreed not to touch for twenty years. (The US, as ever, still taxes them — the American asterisk applies to everything on this site.)
Practical footnotes for the corridor: keep the brokerage account and the Turkish bank account as separate tools — invest from the former, live from the latter, and let a low-cost FX conversion (this is where IBKR's near-interbank rates earn their keep) bridge them. File the W-9 your broker asks for as a US person, keep your address current as you move, and expect an entity or paperwork update when your country of residence changes. None of it is hard; all of it is easier done before the move than during.
FAQ
Can US expats still open new brokerage accounts from abroad?
Yes — Interactive Brokers and Schwab International both onboard US citizens with foreign addresses, honestly declared. Opening is smoother with your documentation in order: passport, proof of foreign address, US tax ID, and a funding path from a bank account in your name.
What happens to my 401(k) and IRA when I move abroad?
They stay US accounts under US rules — the move doesn't collapse them. Some custodians restrict foreign-address retirement accounts, though, so confirm your provider's policy and be ready to transfer custodianship rather than liquidate. Never cash out a retirement account just because you're moving; that's a tax event nobody ordered.
Should I invest through a Turkish broker instead?
For a US person, almost certainly not for your core portfolio: local funds are PFICs, local reporting doesn't feed your 1040, and you'd trade a solved problem for an annual 8621 ordeal. A Turkish account is for living in Turkey; a US brokerage is for owning the world.
Does Turkey tax my US dividends and capital gains?
For qualifying new residents under Law 7582, foreign investment income is exempt from Turkish tax for twenty years — provided the three-year lookback is clean and the İstisna Belgesi application was filed by the end of your first residency year. The US taxes it regardless of what Turkey does.
Sources
- Interactive Brokers and Schwab International — current country and product terms
- Account-closure landscape — expat brokerage surveys and 2026 closure tracking
- IRS — Form 8621 (PFIC) · EU PRIIPs Regulation 1286/2014
- Turkish tax treatment — our Law 7582 guide and Communiqué No. 333
Analysis and documented experience, not investment, tax, or legal advice — full disclaimer. Some pages on this site contain partner links, disclosed per our affiliate disclosure; this one currently has none.
Leave a Reply