Bank Account For Recent Immigrant

briankelleher

My other half moved to the UK two weeks ago from the US. She needs to open a bank account. We have her passport and a water bill with her name on it for proof of ID/address. She has a working visa. When I moved (from Ireland in 2010), I was reccomended Natwest and they gave me a basic account. Seeing as they now have restrictions on which ATMs you can use with these accounts, I don't want to reccomend her the same. Do other banks only offer basic accounts for recent immigrants? Our nearest banks are Natwest and Barclays within five minutes, with the rest at a mall about twenty minutes away.

InsideInsurance

Assume you arent the son of the person posting the other day about their kids partner coming from the US and how do they get a bank account?

Given she can pass the KYC checks with the utility bill then most banks and building societies will be able to assist as long as she isnt wanting an overdraft etc due to her lack of UK history.

HSBC do one explicitly for recent arrivals (or even re arrival) but it has a fee and is mainly about getting around the KYC issues of not having proof of address but take a look anyway http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/current-accounts/uk-bank-account?HBEU_dyn_lnk=CurrentAccount_FilterTool_Passport_FindOutMore_ProductNameLinkButton

briankelleher

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Assume you arent the son of the person posting the other day about their kids partner coming from the US and how do they get a bank account?

Given she can pass the KYC checks with the utility bill then most banks and building societies will be able to assist as long as she isnt wanting an overdraft etc due to her lack of UK history.

HSBC do one explicitly for recent arrivals (or even re arrival) but it has a fee and is mainly about getting around the KYC issues of not having proof of address but take a look anyway http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/current-accounts/uk-bank-account?HBEU_dyn_lnk=CurrentAccount_FilterTool_Passport_FindOutMore_ProductNameLinkButton

No definitely not, my mother lives in Ireland and couldn't give two whistles about bank accounts :cool:

I might get her to call to Natwest then seeing as that's where all my accounts are, if she can just get a regular current account then happy days. Thanks!

briankelleher

So I rang Natwest who said they credit score people, and without a credit history they'll more than likely just give her a basic account. Is this likely to be the same for all banks? I just want her to have an account where she's not paying money for it, and she's not restricted in where she can withdraw money.

zerog

Who did she bank with in the US?

PhenoM

Open a Lloyds Classic account. Just walk into the branch with her and her passport along with the utility bill and they will open the account.

There will be a CPD on the account so she won't get any OD, loans etc, but she'll have the account. And in time, will be able to open other accounts with better facilities.

CKhalvashi

PhenoM wrote: »

Open a Lloyds Classic account. Just walk into the branch with her and her passport along with the utility bill and they will open the account.

There will be a CPD on the account so she won't get any OD, loans etc, but she'll have the account. And in time, will be able to open other accounts with better facilities.

They were good with OH when we returned from our home country (I kept a current account and my bank refused to add her to account)

We still hold savings with them to this day.

CK

briankelleher

PhenoM wrote: »

Open a Lloyds Classic account. Just walk into the branch with her and her passport along with the utility bill and they will open the account.

There will be a CPD on the account so she won't get any OD, loans etc, but she'll have the account. And in time, will be able to open other accounts with better facilities.

Tried this but without a job/credit history they were only willing to give her a basic account with access to Lloyds' ATMs only. They said if she came back when she has a job they might be able to do better, but if she opened a basic account now, they wouldn't upgrade it when she started working.