Use Florida Form HSMV 71120 with your lease and one additional address document in your name to help her obtain a Florida ID, then use that ID as her bank address document.
“I am a US citizen in Florida trying to open a joint bank account with my non-US citizen spouse. She doesn't have an SSN, and our landlord won't add her to the lease. Utilities will only add her as 'c/o', which banks reject. How can we get acceptable proof of address for her?”
Summary
You do not need the landlord to rewrite the lease to create a valid Florida address trail. Florida has a specific household-certifier process for this exact problem, although her immigration/work-authorization category decides whether she must obtain an SSN first.
You have three practical routes, and the best one depends on her immigration and work-authorization documents.
If she is a nonimmigrant whose status does not authorize work and she has the required passport/I-94 and any class document such as an I-20 or DS-2019, use HSMV Form 71120. You, as the person she lives with, supply one household document in your name—such as your lease, deed, mortgage, property-tax record, or recent mortgage statement—and one supporting document in your name; you must appear with her or sign before a notary. Florida says this no-work-visa branch does not need an SSA refusal letter.
If she is an immigrant or a work-authorized nonimmigrant, obtain her SSN first because Florida requires proof of it for that branch. A lawfully present applicant can start with SSA online, then complete the process at an SSA office within 45 days using original or issuer-certified identity, age, passport, and immigration/work-authorization documents; the SSN application is free. Then use the same route.
If she is employed, Chase’s own nonpermanent-resident ID list accepts a passport as primary ID and an employer pay stub, paycheck, or employer letter with her name and U.S. address as an alternate document; one primary or secondary ID must contain a U.S. address. This can solve the address-document problem, but it does not guarantee account approval. A bank may also use —contacting her, checking a database or financial-institution reference, or obtaining a financial statement—under its .
Do not use Form W-7 merely to manufacture a bank identifier or address document. The IRS says an is for federal tax purposes only and normally requires a federal return unless an exception applies.
A bank’s federal identification minimum does not override that bank’s stricter risk-based account-opening policy.
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Next steps
These steps turn your documents into address proof in her own name and then use it for the joint account.
First
Match her DHS document to the correct branch
If she is an immigrant or a work-authorized nonimmigrant, continue to the SSN step. If she is a nonimmigrant whose status does not authorize work, skip the SSN step; Florida says that branch does not need an SSA refusal letter. If she has none of FLHSMV’s listed immigrant or nonimmigrant identity documents, the Florida-ID route is not available from the fetched rules, so use the direct bank-verification step instead.
Requirements
Immigrant or work-authorized branch only
Obtain her SSN if Florida requires it
Start the first-number application at https://www.ssa.gov/number-card/request-number-first-time. Complete it at an SSA office or Card Center within 45 days; if she cannot start online, use Form SS-5 and call 1-800-772-1213 to schedule the visit. The SSN application is free.
Requirements
Before the Florida ID visit
Prepare Form HSMV 71120
Download https://www.flhsmv.gov/pdf/forms/71120.pdf. Enter her real residential street address in Part A and your information in Part B. Bring one household document plus one supporting document in your name. Sign in front of FLHSMV issuance personnel when you attend with her, or sign beforehand in front of a notary.
Requirements
After the form and any SSN step
Apply for her Florida identification card
Submit the package in person at a Florida tax collector office or driver license service center listed at https://www.flhsmv.gov/offices/. The statutory original ID-card fee is $25.
Requirements
After her Florida ID is issued
Open the joint account in person
For a nonpermanent resident who fits Bank of America’s published cohort, its page says no SSN is required but requires a foreign TIN, two IDs, and both foreign and U.S. addresses. If using Chase, its published list accepts a passport and state ID; if she is employed, a pay stub, paycheck, or employer letter with her name and address is another listed option. If a bank still rejects the set, request manual under its using her passport number and actual residential street address; the bank may use customer contact, databases, financial-institution references, or a financial statement, but approval remains subject to its risk-based policy.
Requirements
Legal sources
This answer is based on FinCEN’s bank-identification regulation, FLHSMV forms and guidance, Florida law, SSA and IRS instructions, and the cited banks’ own published document rules.
31 CFR 1020.220
Federal law allows a qualifying foreign passport or other listed government-document number to serve as a non-U.S. customer’s identification number; it does not universally require an SSN.
§ 1020.220(a)(2)(i)(A)(4)(ii)
(ii) For a non-U.S. person, one or more of the following: A taxpayer identification number; passport number and country of issuance; alien identification card number; or number and country of issuance of any other government-issued document evidencing nationality or residence and bearing a photograph or similar safeguard.
31 CFR 1020.220
A bank’s written CIP may verify identity without relying only on lease or utility documents.
§ 1020.220(a)(2)(ii)(B)
For a bank relying on non-documentary methods, the CIP must contain procedures that describe the non-documentary methods the bank will use. These methods may include contacting a customer; independently verifying the customer's identity through the comparison of information provided by the customer with information obtained from a consumer reporting agency, public database, or other source; checking references with other financial institutions; and obtaining a financial statement.
HSMV 71120, Certification of Address (Rev. 12/24)
Florida provides a formal address-certification solution when the applicant has no approved address documents in her own name.
Parts A-B
If the applicant cannot provide two approved Florida residential address documents in their name, this affidavit must be used along with the documents provided by the individual whose name is on the proof of Florida residential address documents. Must provide one (1) household information document with the residential address in the name of the certifier: Deed/Mortgage Property Tax Recent Monthly Mortgage Statement Rental or Lease Agreement. Must provide one (1) supporting document with the residential address in the name of the certifier:
FLHSMV Non-Immigrant What to Bring
The certifying spouse must either attend the Florida ID appointment or notarize the form beforehand.
Proofs of Residential Address
The person the customer lives with must be present at the issuance office or must sign a Certification of Address form in the presence of a notary.
FLHSMV Non-Immigrant What to Bring
A nonimmigrant without a work visa does not need an SSA refusal letter for the Florida credential process.
Proof of Social Security
Non-immigrants in the country without a work visa are not required to obtain a letter from the Social Security Administration stating that they were never issued an SSN (also known as an SSA refusal letter).
FLHSMV What to Bring FAQ
Florida’s SSN rule forks between immigrants/work-authorized nonimmigrants and nonimmigrants who are not work-authorized.
SSN FAQ
U.S. Citizens and Immigrants must obtain proof of a social security number issued by the Social Security Administration. Individuals with a non-immigrant status must also provide proof of a social security number, unless their immigration status does not authorize them to work in the U.S.
Chase Acceptable Forms of Identification
Chase publishes an employer letter/pay document as one possible name-and-address document for a nonpermanent resident.
Non-U.S. permanent resident (without a Green Card)
Primary or Secondary ID must contain a U.S. address. Employer Pay Stub / Pay Check / Letter with name & address. Utility Bill w/name and address <60 days.
Bank of America International Professional Requirements
Bank of America publishes a no-SSN route for its nonpermanent-resident international-professional cohort, but still requires address proof, two IDs, and a tax identification number.
Required documents
Bank of America does not require a SSN to open a bank account in the U.S. You’ll need to provide both a foreign and U.S. address, as well as two forms of ID and a tax identification number. A U.S. TIN/ITIN is not required unless you’ve been issued one.
Instructions for Form W-7 (12/2024)
An ITIN is a tax identifier, not a general-purpose bank or address credential.
General Instructions—Purpose of Form
Individuals applying for an ITIN must include a U.S. federal tax return unless they meet an exception, and the required documentation. The ITIN is for federal tax purposes only.
SSA Publication 05-10096 (Feb. 2026)
SSA provides the exact first-SSN process for a lawfully present noncitizen who is eligible.
Applying for an SSN
To complete the application process, you must visit your local Social Security office or Card Center with the required documents within 45 days of starting the process. Applying for an SSN and card is free.
Fla. Stat. § 322.21(1)(f)
Florida law sets the original identification-card fee at $25.
§ 322.21(1)(f)
An original, renewal, or replacement identification card issued pursuant to s. 322.051 is $25.
These are the official rules and issuer requirements as published on the cited dates; rules and provider policies change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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