UK Bank Account for Irish Newlywed moving to the UK?

Maelwys

So I've recently upgraded my Girlfriend to a Fiancee (Yay!) and we're due to get hitched shortly before Christmas 2016.

My better half is from Dublin and she will be moving up to my house in Belfast after we get married in Dublin. I'm pretty much on top of the stuff I need to do from my end (Apostille Stamps for Marriage Registration, etc)

At the moment I'm working through a checklist of stuff that we'll need to sort out for her moving into the UK: Applying for a National Insurance Number, Registering with the NHS, and Opening a Sterling Bank Account being the main ones... followed by applying for a Credit Card and porting over her driving license.

She'll probably end up commuting for a few weeks (~90 mins drive each way!), then giving up her existing full-time job and starting to look for work shortly after Christmas. So there's a bit of wiggle-room before she actually needs National Insurance to kick in. But we'd obviously like a Bank Account set up ASAP - ahead of her moving up if at all possible.

1.) Regarding the Sterling Bank account, what's the best way to go about opening a new account for her? Am I correct in thinking that some banks (such as Lloyds) don't require proof of UK address to open an account? There aren't any Lloyds branches in Northern Ireland, but there are Halifax branches which are in the same group...

If proof of address is definitely needed then I can try and change a utility bill to her name ahead of time (but should I do this in her current maiden name or going-to-be married name?), or get her to try and swap the address on her (Irish) car insurance to the Belfast address.

2.) Alternatively, since she already has an account with Bank Of Ireland (Irish branch, account is in Euros) then might Bank of Ireland (Belfast branch) be able to set her up with a new Sterling Current account? I can always get her to port this across to a better interest-paying UK Account later.

3.) Finally... credit ratings. I assume that she'll need to build up a UK Credit rating from scratch. However she has a Tescos.ie credit card (in Euros) - might it be worth trying to get a Tescos.com (GBP) card since they might be able to see her previous usage history internally instead of starting her out on a credit builder like the Aqua card? Or do all/most Credit Cards require proof of living for X Years at a UK address?

If it makes any difference, joint account(s) or adding her name to my accounts/bills etc wouldn't be out of the question, (although I'm intending to leave the mortgage untouched for now so that she can stay a "First Time Buyer" for the purposes of the new Lifetime ISA). It's sort of been decided that I'll be the one looking after our finances...

The other bits should be grand. Applying for a National Insurance number and registering with an NHS doctor is just a few forms, and transferring her Drivers License over shouldn't need to happen for at least 3 years (apparently she can drive on her Irish license until it expires in Northern Ireland, or for up to 3 years in the rest of the UK) so it's really just the initial Bank stuff that I could use a few helpful pointers on.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments!

agrinnall

Ulster Bank operates in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, if she opens an account with them in the Republic they may make it straightforward to open an account when she is in the UK.

eDicky

You may find that she can open a NI bank account using her address in Dublin, especially with BoI as she is already banking with them (it's possible the other way round). Then later update her address details.


As an intermediate solution, look at Revolut, their smartphone app and prepaid MasterCard. She can load funds from her euro bank debit card, spend or withdraw in pounds at the perfect interbank exchange rate, no charges (except 2% for ATM withdrawals in excess of £500 monthly). It can also be used to escape bank charges transferring funds northward, and on your exotic foreign honeymoon...

System

Just ask BOI to open a Sterling account, get the NI number etc

You made it sound like a big deal but it's essentially someone moving from the Irish Republic to Northern Ireland - the move will be different than to GB.

Maelwys

Thanks folks.

I was intending to use something like Transferwise nearer the time to change the bulk of her balance into Sterling whilst minimizing loss to poor conversion rates/fees. But Revolut might be another option...

@HengLeng The moving itself isn't much of an issue (my house is currently filling up with her stuff!) - and if she was coming from Newry to Belfast it'd be perfectly fine. But because she's been living South of the border all of her life a lot of her day-to-day stuff (mobile contract, social security contributions, credit cards etc.) will need to change as those providers have no presence in the UK and/or operate in a different currency. And I'm not sure about how much effect (if any) her Irish Credit history will have whenever it comes to applying for UK bank accounts or credit cards.

Ideally I'd like to get her a TSB [STRIKE]and a Tescos[/STRIKE] Current Account, along with a random donor account that she can switch into a Halifax Account for the £100 switching bonus. I'm leaning towards a Bank of Ireland Sterling Account being the donor account since that would appear to be the most straightforward one to open initially. After that I can start to worry about Cashback Credit Cards...

[Edit: Scratch the Tescos Account - the small print says it's only available to England/Scotland/Wales, not NI... TSB it is then!]