New Account for Foreign National

Iam_jon

My sons girlfriend has recently moved from Canada on a young persons visa. She has applied for and received a NI number and she has a copy of her Canadian Bank with our UK address on it. She has been to Barclays with the above documents, plus ID (Passport), but they refuse to open a bank account. Does anyone know how to get an account open in these circumstances?
Clearly she is not a home owner, has no utility bills, does not claim benefits or have any other address verification proof. Any help or advice greatly received.

xylophone

I wonder whether she'd be able to get a basic bank account from HSBC as her situation is akin to that of an international student?

HSBC have strong links with Canada.

eskbanker

Most banks will publish their criteria for ID verification, so Barclays list theirs at http://www.barclays.co.uk/validid for example (including a number to call to discuss further), and HSBC's are at https://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/contact-and-support/banking-made-easy/help-us-identify-you

Did Barclays specifically say their refusal was for ID-related reasons?

Chalkius

Is she a student in the UK or just there for other reasons? If it's the former, her passport and a letter from the university confirming her place on the course should be sufficient. My girlfriend had to do something similar as she's not from the UK and moved here for her course.

Given that you've said she has a passport and a canadian bank statement at her UK address, I'm surprised that isn't enough. I'd speak to an advisor and get them to run through their checklist and see what ticks the boxes.

Lith

Try HSBC, you'll get a better chance with them.

SnowTiger

Iam_jon wrote: »

My sons girlfriend has recently moved from Canada on a young persons visa. She has applied for and received a NI number and she has a copy of her Canadian Bank with our UK address on it. She has been to Barclays with the above documents, plus ID (Passport), but they refuse to open a bank account. Does anyone know how to get an account open in these circumstances?

Clearly she is not a home owner, has no utility bills, does not claim benefits or have any other address verification proof. Any help or advice greatly received.

I recently helped someone from the Philippines open an account with Loot.

He had to supply photo ID (he used his UK residence card) and a photo. All done electronically over the Interweb.

Loot isn't a proper bank, but does offer punters a sort code and account number and contactless debit card.

One thing to note is that is't not covered by the FSCS.

Flobberchops

I'd be interested in knowing what Barclays' reasons were as on the face of it a passport and foreign bank statement (with UK address) should be sufficient. Is she over 18? I don't believe Barclays has a definite stance on visa status but it's possible the branch policy is to discourage short-term accounts.

Iam_jon

Thanks for the replies.
So Barclays declined on two counts.
NI number is open to fraud
Canadian Bank statement was printed from Internet.

However, good news is TSB accepted the ID given.

eskbanker

Iam_jon wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.
So Barclays declined on two counts.
NI number is open to fraud
Canadian Bank statement was printed from Internet.

However, good news is TSB accepted the ID given.

Not sure why the NI number was in play at all if she had her passport but to be fair to Barclays, their ID proof page that I linked previously does specifically say "UK or foreign bank/credit card statement (less than 3 months old and not printed from the internet)", whereas TSB's criteria don't include that stipulation, which is perhaps why she went to them?