Joint Account with Japanese Girlfriend

mwarby

roadrunnertwozero15 wrote: »

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

Please get over it and stop diverting every single thread to this, it is really pointless and getting really boring (even speaking as a LBG basic account user)

Jfph

Hello all, I have a related query that I thought folks might be able to help with. My sisters and I would like to set up a joint bank account to manage income and payments for some jointly inherited property. However I am resident in the US and they are resident in the UK. Does anyone know of a bank that has a bank account that we could use? Barclays and Lloyds only allow UK residents on their UK accounts. It looks possible that HSBC's basic account might cater for us, but I wondered if anyone knows of others?

xylophone

I think that you might have a problem with this.

You and your sisters have been left a property jointly?

Might it be easier for all of you if your sisters bought you out and simply remitted your share to your US bank account?

Otherwise I can see difficulties in their setting up an account with a non-resident, especially a US resident.

If this is not possible, you and your sisters will be landlords?

What is the tax situation for you all - have you checked?

Archi_Bald

Also check out FATCA (google it) if a US resident is involved.

TheTracker

iainmcb wrote: »

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 don't believe this is accurate at all.

As you say, you need to prove you've been together for some time, and you need to prove you have joint financial responsibilities.

Having a joint account is but one way of helping to demonstrate that proof, but it is not proof itself. Any organised fraudulent attempt to show connectedness may equally go through the steps to create such an account with no more scrutiny than you as a bonafide couple would. It may help, but it is not proof.

Just as useful are items like historical airline ticket receipts, old emails between yourselves, telephone call history, gifts, affidavits from family and friends, and so forth.

Similarly for joint financial responsibilities, you can show that you pay some utilities out of your Japanese bank account, and she hers. And you transfer say 50% of the rent each month to her. Maybe show an excel spreadsheet demonstrating how you spread financial commitment. Simply throwing it into a joint account doesn't really prove anything other than a commitment to enter debt together.