“Non-Resident Alien: An individual who is not a citizen and who does not have his permanent (tax) residency in the United States. A nonresident alien is subject to 30% NRA withholding on some types of U.S. income, and he must file a nonresident tax return on that income. The U.S. has tax treaties with many countries allowing a resident of any of these countries to claim reduced rates of withholding. A nonresident alien is required to file an original W-8BEN with the payer or he will be treated as a U.S citizen and be subject to backup withholding according to TEFRA rules.

Here is a list of countries that the U.S. has sanctions against, with the date the sanctions were instituted. Residents of these countries may not have an American investment account:

OFAC Country Sanctions Programs Program Last Updated:
Balkans Sanctions 05/22/2006
Belarus Sanctions 02/27/2007
Burma Sanctions 05/22/2006
Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) 09/19/2006
Cuba Sanctions 05/23/2007
Democractic Republic of the Congo Sanctions 03/30/2007
Iran Sanctions 04/04/2007
Iraq Sanctions 07/21/2005
Former Liberian Regime of Charles Taylor Sanctions 05/23/2007
North Korea Sanctions 02/02/2007
Sudan Sanctions 04/04/2007
Syria Sanctions 08/15/2006
Zimbabwe Sanctions 05/22/2006