U.S. citizens can generally keep their Fidelity accounts when moving overseas, though the account will work differently once a foreign address is on file. You can hold existing investments, trade stocks and ETFs in most countries, and keep IRAs and 401(k)s open. What you lose is the ability to buy new mutual funds, access advisory services, and, depending on the destination, use features like margin and options. Non-U.S. citizens returning to a home country face tighter rules and may be required to close the account entirely.
What Fidelity’s Policy Actually Says
Fidelity’s customer agreement gives the firm broad discretion once you register a foreign address. It may “terminate that relationship, or modify your rights to access any or all account features, products or services” at any time.1Fidelity Investments. Updated Fidelity Account Customer Agreement In practice, automatic closures are rare for U.S. citizens. The account stays open with reduced functionality, and Fidelity continues reporting your holdings to the IRS under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.2Internal Revenue Service. Summary of FATCA Reporting for U.S. Taxpayers
Non-U.S. citizens are treated differently. If you built a Fidelity account while living in the States as a green card holder or foreign national and then moved back to your home country, Fidelity may require full closure if the firm lacks the proper licensing in that jurisdiction. In heavily restricted countries, you may only be allowed to sell existing holdings and withdraw the proceeds.3Fidelity. Investors Who Reside Outside the United States
One change surprises many customers: Fidelity will not provide discretionary asset management or investment advice to anyone living outside the United States. Representatives are limited to administrative tasks and won’t discuss asset allocation, income planning, or portfolio composition.3Fidelity. Investors Who Reside Outside the United States If you worked with a Fidelity advisor, you’ll need to go self-directed or find someone licensed in your new country.
What You Can and Can’t Trade Abroad
The biggest practical change is losing the ability to buy mutual funds. Most U.S. mutual funds are registered for sale only within the United States, and foreign countries generally prohibit residents from buying funds that aren’t registered locally. Once a foreign address is on file, Fidelity blocks new mutual fund purchases, including money market funds many investors use as a cash parking spot. Existing mutual fund positions can be held or sold at any time.3Fidelity. Investors Who Reside Outside the United States
Dividend reinvestment is an exception. Fidelity allows overseas customers to keep reinvesting dividends and capital gains from existing mutual fund holdings.3Fidelity. Investors Who Reside Outside the United States In countries with the most severe restrictions, even reinvestment may be blocked, so confirm with Fidelity before assuming it will continue.
ETFs and individual stocks remain available in most countries. They trade on public exchanges between investors rather than being sold by a fund company, which sidesteps the registration problem that blocks mutual funds. For most expats the workaround is straightforward: shift new investments into ETFs that track the same indexes your mutual funds did.
Depending on the destination country, Fidelity may also disable margin lending and options trading. You won’t be able to open new 529 college savings accounts or Health Savings Accounts, and contributions to existing 529 and HSA accounts stop.3Fidelity. Investors Who Reside Outside the United States
Cash Sweep Changes
With money market funds off the table, cash in your Fidelity account won’t sweep into the higher-yielding options available to domestic customers. Uninvested cash typically lands in a basic FDIC-insured deposit sweep program.4Fidelity Investments. Cash Management Account The yield may be lower than what you earned before. If you carry substantial cash balances, consider short-term Treasury ETFs or other liquid investments rather than letting cash sit idle.
Extra Blocks in the UK and EU
Expats in the European Union or United Kingdom run into a second layer of restrictions beyond Fidelity’s own policies. EU regulations under MiFID II impose costly disclosure and reporting requirements on financial providers serving EU residents. The UK’s PRIIPs regulations require a Key Information Document for any packaged investment product sold to retail investors, and most U.S.-domiciled ETFs don’t produce this document, so UK residents are blocked from buying them even through a U.S. broker. Moving to the UK can effectively freeze your Fidelity account at its current holdings, limiting you to selling positions and withdrawing cash.
Retirement Accounts After the Move
IRAs and 401(k) plans stay open regardless of where you live. The tax-deferred or tax-free status of these accounts doesn’t change when you cross a border. Fidelity continues to hold them, and the normal IRS rules for required minimum distributions and early withdrawal penalties still apply.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 877A
Contributing while abroad is where things get tricky. IRA contributions require taxable earned income that hasn’t been excluded from your gross income.6Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – IRA Contribution Limits Many expats claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), which lets you exclude up to $132,900 of foreign earnings for the 2026 tax year. If you exclude all your earned income through the FEIE, you’ve technically zeroed out your eligible compensation and can’t contribute to an IRA that year.7Internal Revenue Service. Individual Retirement Arrangements If your total earned income exceeds the FEIE limit, the excess remains eligible for contributions up to $7,500, or $8,600 if you’re 50 or older.
Rolling a 401(k) from a former employer into a Fidelity IRA may be restricted while you live abroad. Fidelity’s rollover process is designated for U.S. persons only.8Fidelity Investments. 401(k) Rollover and IRA Transfer If a rollover is on your list, complete it before your address changes.
How Your Destination Country Changes Things
Where you move matters more than anything else. Fidelity’s restrictions range from minor inconveniences to complete account shutdowns, and the dividing line is largely set by U.S. sanctions law and foreign financial regulation.
The most extreme restrictions apply to countries under comprehensive U.S. sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). These currently include Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. Federal law requires financial institutions to block assets held by persons in sanctioned countries. The account is frozen and funds are held in a segregated interest-bearing account until the sanctions are lifted or OFAC issues a specific license.9FFIEC BSA/AML Manual. Office of Foreign Assets Control This is federal law, not a Fidelity policy choice, and it applies to every U.S. financial institution.
Countries outside the sanctions list but with heavy financial regulation, including much of the EU, the UK, and Australia, fall into a middle tier. The account generally stays open, but the combination of Fidelity’s own restrictions and local rules like MiFID II or PRIIPs may limit you to holding and selling existing positions. Countries with lighter regulation tend to allow continued stock and ETF trading with fewer disruptions. Fidelity doesn’t publish a country-by-country chart, so contact them directly about your specific destination before you move.
Paperwork When Your Address Changes
Update your address with Fidelity proactively. If Fidelity discovers a foreign address through other channels before you report it, the compliance review may be less forgiving.
U.S. citizens living abroad submit IRS Form W-9, the same form used domestically, to certify their Taxpayer Identification Number and confirm they aren’t subject to backup withholding. Without a valid W-9 on file, Fidelity must withhold 24% of interest and dividend payments under standard IRS backup withholding rules.10Internal Revenue Service. Form W-9 – Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification
Non-U.S. citizens provide Form W-8BEN instead. It establishes foreign status and can reduce withholding below the default 30% if a tax treaty applies between your country and the United States.11Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-8BEN The W-8BEN expires on December 31 of the third calendar year after you sign it, so a form signed in 2026 remains valid through December 31, 2029. Miss the renewal, and Fidelity reverts to the 30% default withholding rate on all U.S.-source income in your account.12Internal Revenue Service. Publication 515 – Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities
Non-resident aliens also receive Form 1042-S each year instead of the familiar 1099 forms. This form reports all U.S.-source income paid to foreign persons and any tax withheld, and Fidelity must issue it even if no tax was actually withheld because a treaty exemption applied.13Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1042-S
Your Own Reporting Obligations Abroad
Keeping the account is only half the picture. Moving overseas creates reporting obligations that didn’t exist while you lived in the States, and the penalties for ignoring them are disproportionately harsh.
Filing U.S. Tax Returns
U.S. citizens owe taxes on worldwide income regardless of where they live. You must file a federal return every year, same as before, though you get an automatic two-month extension to June 15 when your tax home and residence are both outside the United States.14Internal Revenue Service. Publication 54 – Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad Interest on any balance owed still runs from April 15, so the extension is for filing, not for payment.
FBAR (FinCEN Form 114)
If you open a bank account in your new country, and you almost certainly will, you may trigger FBAR reporting. Any U.S. person with a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts must file FinCEN Form 114 if the combined value of those accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year.15Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) The FBAR is due April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15, no request needed.16FinCEN. Due Date for FBARs
Skipping this form carries steep penalties. Non-willful violations reach up to $10,000 per account per year. Willful violations jump to the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the account balance. These penalties can exceed the value of the accounts themselves, and the IRS enforces them aggressively.
Form 8938h3>
Separate from the FBAR, you may also need to file Form 8938 with your tax return if your foreign financial assets exceed certain thresholds. For expats filing as single, the trigger is $200,000 on the last day of the tax year or $300,000 at any point during the year. For joint filers, the thresholds double to $400,000 and $600,000.17Internal Revenue Service. Do I Need to File Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets The penalty for not filing is $10,000, with additional penalties of $10,000 for every 30 days you continue to ignore an IRS notice, up to a maximum of $50,000.18Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8938
The FBAR and Form 8938 are not duplicates. They go to different agencies, have different thresholds, and cover slightly different categories of assets. Many expats need to file both.
An Estate Tax Warning for Non-Citizens
Non-citizen account holders face a serious estate tax problem that U.S. citizens don’t share. If a non-resident alien dies while holding U.S.-situated assets, which includes stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds held in a Fidelity account, the federal estate tax exemption is just $60,000.19Internal Revenue Service. Some Nonresidents With U.S. Assets Must File Estate Tax Returns Compare that to the $15,000,000 exemption for U.S. citizens and residents in 2026.20Internal Revenue Service. Whats New – Estate and Gift Tax A non-citizen with a $500,000 Fidelity portfolio could expose heirs to a substantial estate tax bill. Some tax treaties reduce this exposure, but not all countries have estate tax treaties with the United States. Non-citizens keeping Fidelity accounts open after leaving the country should review this risk with a cross-border tax professional.