U.S. online brokerage options are limited for foreigners

— -- Q: I'm a citizen of Columbia living in France. Can I open a brokerage account with a U.S.-based online brokerage firm?

A: Thanks to global finance and communications, the world is getting smaller. But that's not the case when it comes to opening brokerage accounts.

Most online brokerages have restrictions, based on citizenship or residency, when it comes to offering accounts. Your particular situation, for several reasons, is especially limited.

For instance, at Fidelity, the company says only U.S. citizens may open an account.

At Schwab, it's a little more complicated. If you were living in Columbia, you could open an account with Schwab's international unit. However, Schwab cannot open new accounts for residents of several countries, including France. So you're out of luck there.

Over at TD Ameritrade, investors do not need to be a U.S. citizen to open an account. With that said, the stipulations and requirements vary dramatically based on the country the resident lives in and the potential customers' nationality, the company says. There are some countries TD Ameritrade does not do business in, including Canada, due to its relationship with TD Bank. Prospective clients should call TD Ameritrade's new accounts staff (800-454-9272) with questions.

Similarly at E-Trade, the brokerage has different rules based on the country. It maintains different business units to handle foreign customers, including branches in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. The rules vary widely based on the nationality of the person wanting the account, so again, customers will need to contact E-Trade with their particulars to get a detailed answer.

TradeKing requires investors, including U.S. citizens, to be U.S. residents to establish the account. It makes an exception for customers who are living abroad and have a valid U.S. military or government address. Investors who are not U.S. citizens, yet reside legally in the U.S., may open an account if they have a Social Security number and aren't from 27 specific countries, including France, that are prohibited. Columbia is not on the prohibited list; however, you'd need to reside in the U.S. to open an account.

Business may be going global. But so far, many U.S. online brokerages don't have a unified worldwide offering and it will take some research by investors before signing up.

Matt Krantz is a financial markets reporter at USA TODAY and author of Investing Online for Dummies and Fundamental Analysis for Dummies. He answers a different reader question every weekday in his Ask Matt column at money.usatoday.com. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.com. Follow Matt on Twitter at: twitter.com/mattkrantz