Hey Reyemad,
I feel your pain brother. I found myself in a very similar situation.
I've recently done extensive research on this myself and it's not as easy as you would hope setting up an international bank account. However, there is a way that I have discovered.
Somebody else mentioned Germany... German bank accounts are just as hard to open as a bank account in the UK or USA. Also, you must have a valid reason for setting up an account i.e you live or work in Germany. If you was lucky and they did approve your account, you would need to visit Germany in person to prove your identity, address and employment status. If you done this, they wouldn't offer you any credit facilities until you had built up a respectable credit score.
It's only ever going to get harder and harder to open up an international bank account so now is the time to act.
There is one country that I know of that will let you set up a current account online and over the phone without ever having to visit the country to prove your identity. You can actually have this account while living abroad and best of all, they offer excellent credit from day one in the form of an over-draft facility. Also, once you have been a customer for a while and you have a regular proven income through your account, you could potentially get a mortgage if you wanted. This country has it's own credit reference agencies so any poor credit you have accumulated over the years in your home country will not be checked. From what I can gather, this country is giving out credit much like the UK and US was in the mid 1980's early 90's.
The country to get your international bank account is Belgium.
They have a dedicated process for people living abroad and who are planing to possibly move to Belgium as an Expat in about a years time. They allow people to open a bank account while still living abroad to help with a smooth transition to Belgium when you do move. However, it also says, if you decide not to move to Belgium, our account will not be at risk. You will still have a bank account with them. The expat options just allows them to offer an international banking service. The bank is a well know Belgium bank called IMG. IMG are not allowed to view your credit score back in your home country because personal data is a heavily guarded secret. However, Belgium has their own credit agency that your will get a new account with.
The IMG bank/Current account is set-up over the telephone and your identification can be posted. I live in the UK so if I wanted to take my ID into the bank I could be there and back in 8 hours.Once your account is set-up you will have full online banking and even without any credit rating IMG will give you an overdraft facility. It's best to respect this overdraft so you can build a good score in Belgium While speaking to the bank over the phone, it's important you tell them you are planning on moving to Belgium within the year and they will get your account up and running.
IMG has a very strong reputation as a bank so it's a no-brainier if it's only costing you one phone call.
On their website, the Expat info page even talks about the possibility of taking out a mortgage. I assume without any credit score, you would need a large deposit and proof of income.
Anyway, I hope this helps you.
