Joint Account with Japanese Girlfriend

iainmcb

All,

I need some advise relating to setting up a joint bank account. I am currently living in Japan on assignment from my UK company and have been here for just over 2 years now. I plan to move back to the UK in about a year with my girlfriend (Japanese national). In advance of us both moving back to the UK we would like to set up a joint bank account, into which we will both start making regular contributions from our respective Japanese bank accounts. Note: It is illegal to hold a joint account in Japan so must be done in the UK.

The reason for setting up the joint account is mainly to build joint savings together to fund the move to the UK, our wedding and first joint home purchase. However it is also required for visa purposes to prove that we have been together for some time in advance of moving to the UK and that we have 'joint' financial responsibilities.

I have a number of questions that I could do with your advise on:

1) Is it possible to set up a joint account with a foreign national?
2) Can it be set up when we are both currently resident in Japan (i.e. from outside of the UK)?
3) What is the best bank to go with to minimise the costs of the money transfers from Japan whilst also maximising our interest received? (This is assuming that we have a choice).
4) Assuming it is not possible to do this we could always just continue with our own individual savings. In this case does anyone have any other suggestions for proving joint financial responsibilities to help with the visa process when we do come to the UK in about 1 years time?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Ballard

I used to hold a joint account with a foreign national so that's certainly possible.

Setting the accounts up from overseas might prove troublesome but I don't suppose that it's impossible being as you intend to move back here. There are a few Japanese banks in the UK but I don't know whether they offer retail banking. If your Japanese bank has an office in London and they accept personal bank accounts then that might be the easiest way to proceed.

There are a host of funds transfer companies which would beat the standard bank tariff. I've never used one and am therefore in no position to recommend any.

iainmcb

Hi Ballard,

Thanks for your response. I have been doing quite a bit of googling and it seems that most UK banks require you to be a resident to open an account. I haven't found one yet that doesn't have this in their standard terms. Does anyone know of one that they could recommend?

Agree that a transfer company will probably be the best way of getting the money into the account. Not sure how these work exactly but once the accounts are set up will look into it.

grumbler

Ballard wrote: »

I used to hold a joint account with a foreign national so that's certainly possible.

"Used to" - how far in the past?

I think things changed a lot in the last decade and now it's virtually impossible, at least for onshore accounts.

Even prepaid cards require UK residency; so do credit cards for extra cardholders.

Ballard

grumbler wrote: »

"Used to" - how far in the past?

I think things changed a lot in the last decade and now it's virtually impossible, at least for onshore accounts.

Even prepaid cards require UK residency; so do credit cards for extra cardholders.

About 4 years ago. She was resident with me in the UK when the account was opened and we did have to jump through a few hoops by putting her name on utility bills. The question was whether it was possible to open a joint account with a foreign national rather than a non-resident foreign national.

High street banks may not like the idea which is why I suggested a Japanese bank if possible. There's no law against opening a personal account with a UK bank without being resident but it's harder to verify addresses etc. A Japanese bank wouldn't have that technical difficulty.

xylophone

Had you thought of getting married in Japan before you move back to the UK?

Marchitiello

Have you seen this? I remeber many foreign student at Uni had international bank accounts with UK banks that had been set up/ opened before they moved here.

https://wealth.barclays.com/en_gb/home/international-banking/who-we-help/moving-to-the-uk/uk-resident-non-domicile/foreign-bank-account.html

Edit: and this : https://www.bba.org.uk/customers/personal-banking/current-accounts-personal-banking/bank-account-access-in-the-uk-for-non-residents-2/

iainmcb

Thanks guys,
The barclays account looks like it could be the best option.

roadrunnertwozero15

Yes Barclays will be okay with that and help you. Go with them, but whatever you do - do not go to Lloyds, they don't care about their customers and they don't even give you a contactless card on basic accounts.

Archi_Bald

roadrunnertwozero15 wrote: »

do not go to Lloyds, they don't care about their customers and they don't even give you a contactless card on basic accounts.

This is a sweeping statement that many on the MSE Forum would disagree with. As an example, I have held several accounts for many years and have nothing to complain about.

DCFC79

roadrunnertwozero15 wrote: »

Yes Barclays will be okay with that and help you. Go with them, but whatever you do - do not go to Lloyds, they don't care about their customers and they don't even give you a contactless card on basic accounts.

Or go with Lloyds not had any trouble with them, it isn't the end of the world if you don't get a card with contactless.