AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Chat Area Bank account in Belize

Hi guys,
I wanted to ask if someone could give me a good suggestion. I am Spanish national, but have been living in Mexico (Cancun) for the last 4 years. I would like to open a bank account in Belize, but still living in Mexico (at least for now, planning on spending more time in Belize in the near future).I have read about Heritage Bank. Would that be a good choice? I would like a regular account with a debit card/ATM card and online banking. Can anyone suggest me if Heritage is a good choice or if I better choose another bank? Moreover I read it's not complicated to open an account as a non resident, can anyone confirm that? I can travel down to Belize personally to open the account, since it is not too far from Cancun.
Hope someone can point me in the right direction.
Thanks so much
Mel

Another quick question, how long can I live/stay in Belize without a resident Visa? 3 months or 6 months?

I believe you will not get a bank account here, if you do not live here. You can come for a month then you will need to renew your stamp every month, I think it is US$25 a month. You can do this for 6 months then they will want to know why you do not have a work permit.

As the above post says, you enter Belize as a tourist and are allowed to stay 30 days (not 1 month). On the last working day before the 30 days is up, go to the nearest Immigration office and get a new stamp for BZ$50 -- good for another 30 days. After 6 months, you can continue getting monthly stamps, but the price goes up to BZ$100 per stamp. You should be able to continue this up to 12 months at which point you might be asked if you intend to apply for permanent residence. If you say yes, you can continue with the monthly stamps, but you might have to prove that you've actually applied for PR. If you say no, your next stamp might be for less than 30 days and you might be told that you have to leave Belize. No problem -- leave, re-enter and go through all that again.

Also sent you a private message.

Note - it is not even 30 days. They get you one less day each time as it is not "through such and such" but "TO such and such."
It is the same with the bridge pass.

Unless you are getting an international visa credit card thru Atlantic Bank, the ATM cards we have here for accessing our accounts, can only be used WITHIN Belize. I can not take my Atlantic Bank debit card (that has a visa logo on it) and cross the border into Chetumal and go to an ATM machine and access my money there. I don't know what other banks are offering as far as international debit cards, but I know for sure that Atlantic Bank does not offer that service.

Problem solved, bank found. Thanks guys for your help.

Best
Mel