guys im a bit surprised by all these posts complaining about problems getting usa bank accounts

I set up a us bank account years ago from australia (I've never been into the USA). no issue at all. fee free, no interest chequebook.

only thing it cost me was the couple of greenbacks for an actual chequebook to be mailed to australia (mandatory) and the $5 or so change from my US$20 I gave them for the chequebook postage was the "opening balance"

Ive also had no issue depositing us$ cheques into my normal australian bank account as long as its a us$ value cheque issued by a us bank ….
the $10 fee to deposit a "foreign currency cheque" at the CBA isnt that steep although they do regularly forget to take the "hold" off the cheque after 20 working days / 4 weeks / one calendar month (depends on the teller)

a warning though: never accept a cheque in a different currency to the banks address eg someone from the uk buying you a greenback "bank draft" is accidentally setting you up for a huge cost (A$140 from NAB for a 120 greenback cheque)