Collecting social security

Dont know about the US Social Security collecting aspects. Perhaps the US embassy's citizen services might be able to give you additional pointers

But opening a bank account is very easy - pop into any branch of any bank and in 15 min you can open a US / EUR / RON checking account or all 3 of them. Perhaps a foreign bank might be a better choice like ING.

Here are some links that you may find useful:
http://romania.usembassy.gov/acs/banking.htmlhttp://www.banking.ro/banci.php

Cheers

Thank you.

I'm in a similar situation. I live in Pitest, Romania. Currently my SocSec is auto-deposited in my account in Florida. To my knowledge there is no direct deposit agreement between USA-Romania that would allow Soc Sec to direct deposit to a Romanian Bank...or to a Euro/USA bank in Romania.  I can receive my monthly check at the Embassy in Bucharest...but then I have a paper check and last time I checked with the bank I use...BRD...they said they would accept the check to my accunt but would noit make funds available for maybe 6 weeks.Currently I use my debit card to withdraw from my Wells Fargo account in Florida...inefficient but it works.
I'm in process of looking for possibly an international/internet bank. no luck to date. I also plan to spend some time talking to banks in person.  I doubt I'd have this problem if I was General Motors, hahaha.  Let me know what you find out? Thx!

Depending on the amount of your check, it might be less costly to have it wire transferred.  Bk of America charges 3% + a fee for atm debit.  But $40.00 for a wire transfer up to several thousand.  ING does not bank in USA as I recall.