Joint Account - Different Countries

DavidCRHopkins

Morning all, I hope you're all well. 
I have a question about joint bank accounts - I have been seeing my partner now for some time and we have discussed getting a joint bank account to pay bills from in preparation for her applying for a visa to move to the UK where I am resident, she is a German citizen. 
Looking online extensively that vast majority if not all accounts both applicants have to be resident of the UK or am I missing something here? I realise it is not a 'conventional' way to open a bank account.
Any advice or links to suitable products would be brilliant. 
Thanks

tightauldgit

I'm not aware of any UK bank accounts that can be opened without actually being resident in the UK as pretty much all of them are going to require proof of address. There are expat accounts and things but I think most of them come with fees and minimum income requirements etc and not sure if they can be done as joint accounts.

How far ahead is the likely future move? Could you get her name added to a bill to provide a proof of address? 

DavidCRHopkins

tightauldgit said:

I'm not aware of any UK bank accounts that can be opened without actually being resident in the UK as pretty much all of them are going to require proof of address. There are expat accounts and things but I think most of them come with fees and minimum income requirements etc and not sure if they can be done as joint accounts.

How far ahead is the likely future move? Could you get her name added to a bill to provide a proof of address? 

It's not likely to be before this time next year, I mean she will be here intermittently but a permanent move is not likely till the visa application is process which as she's not doing it within the UK takes 26 weeks as opposed to 8 weeks if applying in the UK. 

Adding her to a utility bill is something we're likely to do anyway as we need proof that we are paying bills together in the UK and this evidence is specifically mentioned but I'm not sure it would act as satisfactory proof of address with a bank, especially if she does not have a visa?

PRAISETHESUN

DavidCRHopkins said:

tightauldgit said:

I'm not aware of any UK bank accounts that can be opened without actually being resident in the UK as pretty much all of them are going to require proof of address. There are expat accounts and things but I think most of them come with fees and minimum income requirements etc and not sure if they can be done as joint accounts.

How far ahead is the likely future move? Could you get her name added to a bill to provide a proof of address? 

It's not likely to be before this time next year, I mean she will be here intermittently but a permanent move is not likely till the visa application is process which as she's not doing it within the UK takes 26 weeks as opposed to 8 weeks if applying in the UK. 

Adding her to a utility bill is something we're likely to do anyway as we need proof that we are paying bills together in the UK and this evidence is specifically mentioned but I'm not sure it would act as satisfactory proof of address with a bank, especially if she does not have a visa?

As above, the issue will be residency. The banks will be more than happy to accept a utility bill as proof of address (usually a hard copy bill rather than one printed from an online account), but declaring they live in the UK when they don't would technically be fraud and I wouldn't recommend it.

Daliah

What advantages are you/she hoping to get from a joint account?