Ex-Pat credit help

Daphne33

I have recently returned to the UK with my husband and kids after 25 years away. We are trying to navigate life in the UK and could use some practical advice. I am a British Citizen and my husband is American. I moved away in my early 20s.
I need a credit card, bank account, and eventually a mortgage. I have no idea where to begin. Our children are very young and I haven't worked for three years, so I don't have my own income. My husband has a good job in the US that he is keeping and will work from here.
I have a UK driving license and a NI number and we are staying with my parents, so I don't officially have an address of my own, though I am in my childhood home so I have had the same UK address all my life.
Help!
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks much

[Deleted User]

Start with a bank account and go from there. But you'll need some sort of income - even if only from your husband - for a credit card.

cymruchris

If you're planning on staying where you are for more than a couple of months - get yourself added to the electoral roll. As above, get your first bank account, although it won't come with an overdraft facility, then a few weeks after opening the account (and it's registered on the CRA reports) you can apply for a sim-only mobile phone contract. Once these have been running a few months, and you've got yourself on the electoral roll, you can try the eligibility checkers for sub-prime cards such as Vanquis and Aqua - but to do so you'll need an income. Are you planning on working in the UK now you're here?

[Deleted User]

cymruchris said:

If you're planning on staying where you are for more than a couple of months - get yourself added to the electoral roll. As above, get your first bank account, although it won't come with an overdraft facility, then a few weeks after opening the account (and it's registered on the CRA reports) you can apply for a sim-only mobile phone contract. Once these have been running a few months, and you've got yourself on the electoral roll, you can try the eligibility checkers for sub-prime cards such as Vanquis and Aqua - but to do so you'll need an income. Are you planning on working in the UK now you're here?

What the bank chooses to offer is totally down their risk profile.

A friend's sister literally walked off the plane (non-UK/EEA national) and got a full current account with small overdraft and credit card. She now works part time but was and is primarily still a home keeper.