Offshore Bank Account

Amnesia180

Hi All,

Just a question regarding offshore bank accounts.
I'm due to take up a position in Abu Dhabi (near Dubai) and will be getting paid in AED.

Now, I will have a bank account in Abu Dhabi (probably just transfer my current Lloyds TSB One, if that's possible).

But what about when I come back to the UK? Or want to buy things and have them delivered to the UK, and brought over by friends when they visit. For this, it will work out better to buythings in GBP...

So, are offshore bank accounts simple enough to set-up, and will they work for this purpose?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Thanks,
Amnesia

97trophy

Keep your UK bank and CC accounts open.

Checkout British Expats forum for recommendations on local banks etc

td_007

How long will you be away? Normal bank accounts require that you be a UK resident.

alanclarke

I have worked outside the UK for about 20 years.

I kept my UK bank accounts and credit cards and opened a local bank account in the country I was working in.

Savings I sent to an offshore account in Channel Islands or Isle of Man, check out http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/money/offshore/1/offshore-fixed.aspx for best rates.

Lloyds TSB will try and sell you their International account http://www.lloydstsb-offshore.com/ - when I looked a couple of years ago the fees were high for very little benefit and so I stayed with my UK Lloyds account.

mr113

I am emigrating to Canada later this year and was thinking about the same sort of thing. I am switching the currency that I will be taking with me into CAD, and opening a separate bank account when I get there. I will still be keeping funds in the UK in case I need to come back at short notice, either temporarily or permenantly. For most purchases between the point of my arrival and first pay cheque where I can't use the cash that I have taken with me, I will use my British credit card (Amex Green - so no conversion fees), and use my British account to pay it off at the end of the month.

Perhaps I'm over complicating things slightly but this seems like a cheap way of doing it.

PS. In relation to the point you have to be a UK resident, does this relate to being a habitual resident in the UK (which means you have not lived outside of the UK for four or more years?)

Kavanne

td_007 wrote: »

Normal bank accounts require that you be a UK resident.

....in order to open them. Once they are open, if you move, you just give your bank your international address.

td_007

Kavanne wrote: »

....in order to open them. Once they are open, if you move, you just give your bank your international address.

And dependent on the bank they "could" point you to their offshore a/c. For eg Nationwide do not care when you provide them with an international address, but Citibank pushes you to the offshore a/c