US Brokerage Accounts and Americans Abroad: Fidelity, Schwab & Vanguard Restrictions (2026)

The short answer: what changes the moment your address goes abroad

What usually happens after that switch: you can keep and sell your existing holdings, and you can keep reinvesting dividends and capital gains. What you often lose is the ability to make new purchases — mutual funds especially. Some accounts go “sell-only” depending on the country. And any managed or advisory relationship generally ends; you drop to a self-directed account.

None of this replaces the broader question of how living abroad reshapes your U.S. filing obligations. If you want the full U.S. expat tax picture, start there and treat this article as the narrow, brokerage-specific piece.

Address of record vs. citizenship

Brokers key their non-resident rules to where you live, not to your passport. That is why an American who never renounces anything can still see purchases blocked simply by changing an address. It is also why closing or transferring an account is far easier from inside the U.S. than from abroad — do it before the address changes, not after.

What “restricted” actually means in practice

“Restricted” is a spectrum, not a single event. On the mild end, you keep the account, keep reinvesting, and simply can’t buy certain products. On the strict end, the account becomes sell-only: no deposits, no new securities, just liquidate and withdraw. Total closure with a deadline is the harshest outcome, and it is more reported at some firms than at others. The rest of this article separates what each broker actually publishes from what expats report.

Why brokers restrict expat accounts

Two forces drive this, and they are worth understanding because they explain why the pattern is so consistent across firms.

Licensing and solicitation rules

A U.S. broker is generally registered to solicit and advise U.S. residents. It is usually not licensed to solicit or advise residents of your new country. Once you live abroad, the firm’s simplest way to stay on the right side of cross-border securities law is to stop offering you anything that looks like solicitation or advice — which is why advisory relationships end and new-purchase capability narrows.

FATCA and compliance cost

Layered on top is the compliance and anti-money-laundering cost of servicing a non-resident. That cost pushes firms toward the path of least liability: limit the service rather than expand it. For EU residents there is a third, separate wall — the PRIIPs rules that block purchases of U.S.-domiciled ETFs entirely. We cover that in its own section below, because it is a rule about where you live, not about your broker’s policy.

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Fidelity: what its own published policy says

Fidelity is the most useful case because it actually publishes a dated Q&A for non-resident investors. The following comes from Fidelity’s own policy for investors who reside outside the United States (consulted 25 September 2026).

New accounts vs. existing accounts

Fidelity does not open accounts for any new customer residing outside the United States. That is the headline. Existing self-directed accounts, however, are generally not liquidated when you move — the restrictions apply to what you can do going forward, not to what you already hold.

Mutual funds, dividends and reinvestment

As of 1 August 2014, customers residing outside the United States are not allowed to purchase shares of mutual funds. Two things soften that: Fidelity states it will not liquidate your existing mutual fund holdings, and you can continue to reinvest dividends and capital gains. So you keep what you own and it keeps compounding — you just can’t buy more fund shares from a foreign address.

The same document confirms there is no discretionary asset management for non-resident customers. Representatives are limited to ministerial and administrative help — no asset-allocation, income-planning or portfolio discussions. And you cannot open or keep contributing to 529 Savings Plan accounts or Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as a non-resident.

Country-by-country limitations

The catch is that Fidelity’s rules are country-dependent. Depending on your country of residence, you may be limited to selling existing holdings and withdrawing proceeds — no deposits, no buying new securities. In most other countries the limitations are lighter; features such as margin lending or options trading may simply not be permitted. There is no single answer here, which is exactly why you confirm your destination country with Fidelity in writing.

Charles Schwab and Schwab International

Schwab handles this differently. Rather than restricting a domestic account in place, it directs residents outside the U.S. to a separate offering, Schwab One International, opened through its international site.

Schwab One International vs. a domestic account

Schwab One International is its own product, aimed at foreign-resident clients, opened on the international platform rather than the U.S. one. In practice this is the reason “Schwab International” comes up so often in expat conversations: it is a route to keep U.S.-domiciled investment access from abroad, rather than a domestic account that has been grandfathered.

Eligibility and documentation

Eligibility is residency-based and country-dependent, and opening requires identity and proof-of-residence documentation (passport, proof of residence). Beyond that, be careful with figures you see online. Schwab’s international pages were not readable to us during research, so we are not quoting a minimum deposit or an eligible-country list here — any specific dollar minimum circulating on forums is third-party, not official. Confirm the current minimum and the eligible-country list on Schwab’s own international pages before you rely on them.

Vanguard: the strictest of the three

Vanguard is, by reputation and by the tone of its own notice, the least accommodating of the three.

What the Special Notice actually says

Vanguard’s Special Notice to Non-U.S. Investors states that each investment product and service on its U.S. site is intended to be made available to U.S. residents, and it directs persons residing outside the United States to its global site. That is the published position: U.S. site, U.S. residents.

Reported closures vs. published policy

Beyond that notice, a great deal of what circulates about Vanguard — specific closure deadlines, “90-day notice” figures, particular cut-off years — comes from expats reporting their own experiences, not from a dated Vanguard policy page. We treat those timelines as reported experience, not as published Vanguard policy. What is safe to say: the direction of travel is toward restriction and closure for overseas residents, and the practical takeaway is simple. If you hold assets at Vanguard and you are moving abroad, plan a transfer before you go, while you still have full access.

Interactive Brokers and other paths

The landscape is not only the big three fund houses.

IBKR for U.S. citizens abroad

Per its own educational material, Interactive Brokers opens and maintains accounts for U.S. citizens living abroad in most jurisdictions, subject to restrictions on sanctioned or high-risk countries (for example Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria). Because that comes from IBKR’s “Campus” educational pages rather than a single binding policy page, confirm current jurisdiction eligibility in the account-opening terms before you rely on it. We name IBKR to describe the landscape, not to recommend it over anyone else.

The EU ETF limitation applies everywhere

One warning that cuts across all of this: if you are resident in the EU or EEA, you hit the PRIIPs wall on U.S.-domiciled ETFs regardless of which broker you use. That is not a broker choice you can shop around. It is the next section.

The EU catch: PRIIPs and U.S. ETFs

This is the rule that surprises Americans in Europe most, because it survives even when the broker is willing.

What the KID requirement means

Under EU Regulation No 1286/2014 (PRIIPs), effective 1 January 2018, U.S.-domiciled ETFs can no longer be marketed to retail investors in the European Economic Area, because their issuers do not produce the required Key Information Document (KID). No KID, no retail marketing. That is why a U.S. index ETF that is trivial to buy from a U.S. address becomes unavailable to a retail buyer resident in the EU.

Why it’s separate from broker rules

The key point: PRIIPs is a rule about the residency of the buyer, not about the broker’s own policy. It hits an American resident in the EU/EEA even where a U.S. broker would otherwise be willing to transact. Lawful routes exist for some investors — professional-investor status is the one most often cited, and in some cases the mechanics of how an order is placed matter — but these are situation-specific and easy to get wrong. This is exactly the kind of thing to take to a professional rather than to a forum.

Brokerage vs. local bank: why the rules differ

People often lump “the bank won’t take me” and “the broker restricted me” into one complaint. They are two different problems.

Two different problems, two different fixes

Local banks reject Americans mainly because of the FATCA reporting burden — the paperwork and liability of reporting a U.S. person. Brokers restrict mainly because of cross-border securities licensing — the rules on soliciting and advising residents of another country. Different cause, different fix. For the banking half of the setup — which local banks still accept U.S. citizens — we keep that on its own page so this one can stay focused on brokerage licensing.

How to keep investing legally and avoid PFICs

Here is the strategy that ties the whole article together, and it is where the tax stakes are highest.

Why U.S.-domiciled ETFs avoid the PFIC regime

Keep your U.S.-domiciled ETFs and funds inside a U.S. brokerage that serves foreign-resident customers. U.S.-domiciled funds are not PFICs. Foreign-domiciled funds — including the EU’s UCITS funds that a local adviser may push at you — generally are PFICs, and PFICs carry punitive U.S. tax treatment. The distinction is about where the fund is domiciled, not where it invests; a U.S.-domiciled fund holding international stocks is still a U.S. fund. We explain the mechanics of why U.S.-domiciled ETFs sidestep the PFIC regime in full on the PFIC page.

Sequence: set up before you move

Sequencing is the whole game. Set the account up before you move, while you still have a U.S. address and full access — including the ability to buy the U.S.-domiciled ETFs you want to hold for years. Trying to build the portfolio after your address is foreign is when you run into the new-purchase blocks described above.

Do you have to report a U.S. brokerage account? (FBAR / Form 8938)

A common worry, and the answer is reassuring on this specific point.

U.S. account vs. foreign account

A U.S. brokerage account is a U.S. account. It is not a foreign account for FBAR purposes — a U.S. brokerage isn’t a foreign account for FBAR. That is true even of Schwab One International, which is a U.S. account.

What still needs reporting

The opposite case is what triggers reporting: foreign brokerage or securities accounts — an account you open with a broker in your new country — do count toward the FBAR and possibly Form 8938. So the reporting burden is one more reason to keep your investing on the U.S. side rather than opening a local brokerage abroad. The thresholds and the difference between the two forms are on the Form 8938 vs. FBAR guide linked above.

The address question — a risk, not a workaround

This is the section where we part ways with a lot of the internet.

Legitimate mail forwarding

Keeping a U.S. address to receive mail — statements, tax forms, correspondence — is legitimate. Plenty of Americans abroad use a U.S. virtual mailbox for statements and correspondence for exactly that reason, and there is nothing wrong with wanting a stable U.S. mailing address.

Why misrepresenting residency backfires

But there is a bright line. Giving a broker a U.S. address in order to conceal that you actually live abroad is a different thing entirely. It is a misrepresentation. It can be treated as a false statement, and it can itself trigger account closure — the opposite of what the person hoped to achieve. We are covering it here strictly as a risk, never as a tactic. Do not use a relative’s address or a mailbox to evade residency-based restrictions. If a firm’s rules don’t fit your situation, the answer is to find a firm whose rules do — not to misstate where you live.

A note on your local tax bill

One thing a U.S. brokerage does not do is shield you from tax in your country of residence. Your investments stay U.S.-side, but if you are, say, a Spanish tax resident, Spain still taxes your worldwide investment income. If Spain is your destination, Spainguru covers how Spain taxes your worldwide investment income from the Spanish side. Treat that as background, not advice, and pair it with a professional who works both countries.

Before you move: a practical checklist

1. Confirm each broker’s current policy for your destination country in writing — do not rely on a forum post or on this article at publication time, because these rules change.
2. Consolidate to a broker that actually serves your destination, and do it while you still have a U.S. address and full access.
3. Move into U.S.-domiciled ETFs before you go, so you are never blocked from buying the funds you want to hold long term.
4. Line up local banking separately — it is a different problem with a different fix.
5. Build a compliant reporting plan and take your specific facts to a cross-border tax professional. This article is a map, not personalised advice.

Frequently asked questions

Disclaimer: general information for U.S. citizens living or planning to live abroad — not tax, legal, financial or immigration advice. Thresholds, treaties and visa rules change and depend on your situation; confirm with the IRS, the relevant authority or a qualified professional before acting.