International Student query

chrisofle

Hi,
We have a chinese international student staying with us for 1 year, she is 16 years old and needs to open a bank account.
She has approx £6000 that she will spend gradually through out the year.
We are after the best savings account + a current account (with debit card).
I believe an ISA is not possible as a NI number is required.
She will probably be transferring money on a monthly basis.
We went in HSBC yesterday and they were pretty much clueless and I've spent the best part of this morning looking at various different websites and now I have a headache!!
Thanks in advance for any help.

Chris

jonesMUFCforever

Please confirm what you mean by a 'best savings account'?

As you have become aware some of the best savings accounts are not available to non nationals.
She should open a basic bank account which offers a debit card - ( or even an under 19 account) and link a savings account to that.

eagleeye

halifax everyday saver might be a better option .
it gives 2% ( before tax) and includes unlimited withdrawals and deposits.
http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/accounts/everyday-saver/

hermante

I'm making some assumptions here, but I think it's reasonable to believe that your student is attending a private school. I expect the fees for that are going to be around £15000 or more, and will come from her parents. With £6000 spent during a year, a savings account at 3% would give you about £90. Is it really worth it to bother getting the best rate?

I'm surprised that her parents would just send her over without doing some preparations - why didn't she open an account in HSBC UK from HSBC in China? That's what most Chinese students do when they go to boarding school for A-levels. You get a debit card, and the interest rate is abysmal or even just 0%, but you need to be quite wealthy to go to boarding school in the first place, so they don't care. They also tend to have lots of cash around.

I'm not sure why you were looking at ISAs. These are meant for long-term UK residents to build up savings, not for regular spending, as you lose the tax benefits when you withdraw. Not that your student would be paying tax anyway.

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

As you have become aware some of the best savings accounts are not available to non nationals.

That's complete rubbish.

A 16-year-old student from China will probably be on a Tier 4 (Child) visa, which allows 10 hours of work per week during term time, and unlimited work in the holidays. Thus she could potentially be liable to PAYE and NICs, and would be required to get an NI number. Of course most students from China don't work, they enjoy themselves and contribute to the economy as tourists during their holidays.

You do need to be a UK resident to qualify for most bank accounts here. The HMRC definition is presence in the UK for more than 183 days in a tax year. The UKBA definition is a visa valid for more than 6 months. A Tier 4 (Child) visa holder is a resident as the visa is valid for up to 3 years or until the student finishes school; as opposed to a Student Visitor visa which is only valid for up to 6 months.

AFAIK, there is no UK bank account which is restricted by nationality, only residence. However to apply for the Halifax student account online you need to be a British National (which includes British National (Overseas) students from Hong Kong), but it is possible that other nationals can get this in a branch.

jonesMUFCforever

No national insurance number = no ISAS for a start.
I did not say that there was restrictions on bank accounts just some savings accounts.

Believe me if what you said about overseas students being eligible for student accounts (I have worked in an University city) then it would freely known on forums like this one - it isn't.