I have been busy recently joining a couple credit unions. I have one more in my sights, NASA FCU. If you read some previous posts of mine, you'll know that I had trouble joining both SDFCU and PenFed, primarily because I am an expat. I live in Africa. This complicated the address/residence verification for both. I applied for SDFCU membership first, and I used my foreign address. I couldn't verify it, so they told me to reapply and use my US address. That worked, and I was not asked for verification.
Soon after that was complete, I applied for PenFed membership. Based on my experience with SDFCU, I used my US address. Well, it turned out that that didn't work. I could not verify it with a utility bill, so they rejected me. They said they would accept a lease agreement at my foreign address. I came up with one, and I was accepted using my foreign address.
I went to apply for NASA FCU online, and I was going to use my foreign address. However, the online app does not seem to accept foreign addresses. I hesitate to use my US address, because I cannot verify it with a utility bill. I tried to contact NASA FCU via email to ask how I should proceed, but I have not received a reply. I don't like to call from here, but I can try that if necessary.
I'm looking for DPs if anyone has any experience with this. How can an expat become a member of NASA FCU? Can I just use my US address and hope that they do not ask for verification? Or will they accept something like a bank statement for verification? Can I use my foreign address in the app by using the US address form and matching the fields as closely as possible? I use my US address for all mail. Bank, credit cards, IRS, Amazon, eBay, everything really is addressed to my US address. In real life, my US address is the home of my Power of Attorney.
I have an update:
I have not yet been denied, but aside from a miracle, I will be. Both SDFCU and PenFed have options for expats. NASA FCU does not. They do not accept foreign addresses at all. I have a couple documents with my US address, but nothing they accept. They want a utility bill or a lease agreement, or a couple other things, none of which I can provide.
I'll see what happens...