I've moved countries. How do I convince Paypal that a state outside the US actually exists?

[sandypurins · Accepted solution]

Here is the PayPal Help Center answer to your question...

Can I change my PayPal address to another country?

No.  Due to banking regulations, you can not change your address to a country that is different from the country you used when you opened your account.

If you're moving abroad, you’ll need to close your existing account and open a new account. If you maintain residences in 2 countries, you can have 2 PayPal accounts as long as only one is a Premier or Business account.

[PayPal_Wayne]

Well done sandypurins Great answer

[Steveh]

What is so great about having to create two Paypal accounts?  This is hugely inefficient and a duplicitous waste of time.  I think Paypal is behind the times, e.g. we all live in the age of "globalization" where obviously people move abroad for work, school, etc.  

Paypal should work with this reality just like my bank does, e.g. my bank still allows me to deposit or withdrawal cash–and live abroad in a different country than the bank is based in.  

Making Paypal users create separate Paypal accounts for each country they live in flies in the face of reality for millions of U.S. military servicemen living all over the world, for business executives based in China, for ESL teachers in far away lands.  Paypal is externalizing onto its customers the burden of creating entirely new Paypal accounts–instead of stepping up to the plate and accommodating global Paypal users in a truly global marketplace.

[mkoontz]

Ok, I understand the fact that we can't change the address on any bank account to an address outside of the country of origin for  where that bank account was registered.  However, why is it that we can't add a foreign address along with a foreign bank account to our U.S. based Paypal account of vice versa?

I have recently moved to Greece and still have a U.S. based address and bank account and would like to be able to add my foreign address and bank account to make it easier for me to transfer funds between the 2 accounts as I still do business inside the United States and can only pay with a U.S. based bank account and I don't want to open a Greek based paypal account only to "pay myself" so I can exchange money between the 2 bank accounts.

If I have 2 seperate Paypal accounts, one foreign and one based in the U.S., is it possible for me to exchange money between them without any paypal fees and without having to accept payment from myself  from one account to the other like I'm 2 seperate people?  I ask this because if I had 2 U.S. based bank accounts in my Paypal account I could transfer money between the 2 accounts free of charge because they both belonged to me simply by pulling the money in to my paypal account from one account and then depositing it in to the other account with the 2 or 3 day waiting period.

[Steveh]

@sandypurins - you say in your reply that-

"No.  Due to banking regulations, you can not change your address to a country that is different from the country you used when you opened your account."

My USA based bank has had no problems with my moving abroad and updating my address to a foreign one.  I could still conduct all types of bank business and be based in a foreign country.  On the other hand Paypal cannot accomodate my moving abroad and having a foreign address. The wording in your post is a bit confusing and could be construed to mean banks don't allow people to move out of the country they are based in ("banking regulations"), when in fact they do allow customers to live in foreign countries all the time.  Of course this varies bank to bank, but mine 

[LPent]

I am having the same problem here.

I am Dutch and I have a bank account in The Netherlands. My bank had absolutely no problem with the fact that I now live in Turkey. PayPal however does.

I don't want to open a second paypal account so I must juggle my money around just to order something online. I usually just fill out my old Dutch address on the order form and then mail the company after I paid my Turkish address. So far none of them complained.

But really, they should just abandon this oldfashioned type of "protection" and let us use our account regardless of where we live and have our bank accounts.

[M-saba]

Agreed. I have the same problem. I recently moved, myself and my business, from a US Territory to another non-US island. I've used Paypal for credit card processing and would like to continue to do so. I have a US address so I can still order items from the states and have them delivered here. I can't associate my US paypal account with my local bank here. So, according to paypal's rules. I need to open a new account here, to receive payments for my business, but that I can not receive US shipments to. And keep my US account, to make purchases, but that I can not receive payment into. So, to receive payments, then make US purchases, I have to transfer funds from my foreign PP account to my local bank, then from my local bank to my US bank, then from my US bank to my US PP account, to pay for purchases. That's ridiculous.

I have lived abroad before and always been able to change my address with my bank to show my "actual" address, US or non-US without trouble. I've already updated my new address with my US bank, no problem. But Paypal makes this confusing mess because foreign banks have a different routing number system?

 I would like to know, as a previous poster asked, can I transfer funds between my two accounts, US and non-US, without paying paypal fees for the privilege of moving my money to an account from which I can actually make purchases?