Is work in Guernsey considered work in the UK ?

sanfairyanne

This is a bit of an odd one. I've been an investor with Lloyds for some years, just before Christmas they contacted me asking me to send in my passport. Initially I thought it was a scam letter, however, when I called Lloyds they told me it wasn't a scam and that they were checking I was a UK resident. This I was told was common practice to check I wasn't money laundering. After a brief chat I was assured I did not need to worry. I then left the country on a 6 month trip. My sister checks my mail and she told me that Lloyds had sent another letter demanding my passport. Anyway to cut it short my trading account is frozen until I return. I'm now aware that in order to qualify as a UK resident I have to have ties to the UK. The government website is quite clear (in fact it's extremely clear). One of the so called ties is known as a work tie. If I work for 40 days or more in the UK this qualifies as a tie. I happen to have a friend who is able to give me temporary employment in Guernsey, but I don't know if Guernsey qualifies as work in the UK. If anyone can advise I would greatly appreciate it and I hope this is the right branch of the forum.

SiliconChip

I'm willing to be corrected but as Guernsey is not a part of the UK I would doubt if working there qualifies as UK work (it has it's own tax system).

Marcon

Guernsey is a Crown Dependency and not part of the UK.

What's puzzling is the idea your passport would prove residency. It can be used to prove various things - nationality and age usually - but not where you are resident. There are some exceptions (e.g. a stamp in your passport showing you entered the UK), but it's more common to ask for things like bank statements or utility bills with your name and address shown.

sanfairyanne

SiliconChip said:

I'm willing to be corrected but as Guernsey is not a part of the UK I would doubt if working there qualifies as UK work (it has it's own tax system).

I suspect you're right. 

sanfairyanne

Marcon said:

Guernsey is a Crown Dependency and not part of the UK.

What's puzzling is the idea your passport would prove residency. It can be used to prove various things - nationality and age usually - but not where you are resident. There are some exceptions (e.g. a stamp in your passport showing you entered the UK), but it's more common to ask for things like bank statements or utility bills with your name and address shown.

I suppose in this day and age they can look at a chip in a passport to gain more information. Personally though, I would think that would be data that the bank should have no right to look at, but as money laundering is taken so seriously I suspect they might have a right. The bank did also ask for me to send in bank statements showing my employment status but as I'm not working this wasn't possible. 

Andy_L

sanfairyanne said:

Marcon said:

Guernsey is a Crown Dependency and not part of the UK.

What's puzzling is the idea your passport would prove residency. It can be used to prove various things - nationality and age usually - but not where you are resident. There are some exceptions (e.g. a stamp in your passport showing you entered the UK), but it's more common to ask for things like bank statements or utility bills with your name and address shown.

I suppose in this day and age they can look at a chip in a passport to gain more information. Personally though, I would think that would be data that the bank should have no right to look at, but as money laundering is taken so seriously I suspect they might have a right. The bank did also ask for me to send in bank statements showing my employment status but as I'm not working this wasn't possible. 

AIUI the chip only contains the biometric information about the user. i.e. it won't tell them anything more than just looking at the passport. 

sanfairyanne

Andy_L said:

sanfairyanne said:

Marcon said:

Guernsey is a Crown Dependency and not part of the UK.

What's puzzling is the idea your passport would prove residency. It can be used to prove various things - nationality and age usually - but not where you are resident. There are some exceptions (e.g. a stamp in your passport showing you entered the UK), but it's more common to ask for things like bank statements or utility bills with your name and address shown.

I suppose in this day and age they can look at a chip in a passport to gain more information. Personally though, I would think that would be data that the bank should have no right to look at, but as money laundering is taken so seriously I suspect they might have a right. The bank did also ask for me to send in bank statements showing my employment status but as I'm not working this wasn't possible. 

AIUI the chip only contains the biometric information about the user. i.e. it won't tell them anything more than just looking at the passport. 

Thank you I always assumed it held historical travel information.

DullGreyGuy

sanfairyanne said:

SiliconChip said:

I'm willing to be corrected but as Guernsey is not a part of the UK I would doubt if working there qualifies as UK work (it has it's own tax system).

I suspect you're right. 

I think you need to back up a little bit as you are in danger of going down irrelevant rabbit holes.

What has the bank actually asked you to provide/prove?

Whilst banks have to operate within regulations there is a notable amount of interpretation available and there are varying shades of white that they can aim to be. If you've ever run your own company you will know very well that for certain things banks have a totally different interpretation of your position than the law or HMRC would. Try applying for a mortgage and you will be treated as a self employed person despite you legally being an employee of the company and HMRC not requiring you to fill in the self employed section of a self assessment tax return.

As others have said, your passport only proves your nationality and gives some indications of where you may have traveled to but some countries no longer apply physical stamps (eg Israel) or just dont stamp at all.

If they subsequently ask you to prove your residency then ask them what they accept as proof... it may be materially different to what the government considers acceptable. 

Sarahspangles

Many UK banks have closed accounts for people who are not British citizens and/or no longer allow British ex-pats to hold their UK bank account.  So if either of those apply to you it may be time to move your investments.  Is staying with Lloyds really so important that you’d base decisions about residence and employment on this?

Momanns

You might be overthinking this. Lloyds may just be seeking to update your KYC/CDD information (which is a legal and regulatory requirement). If you opened your account many years ago this would certainly be the case.

Your passport is not used to determine your residency so it is odd they have just requested this. 

Guernsey would not count for UK residency purposes but I think cross that bridge when you get to it. Go through the passport update and see what happens before panicking.

DullGreyGuy

Sarahspangles said:

Many UK banks have closed accounts for people who are not British citizens and/or no longer allow British ex-pats to hold their UK bank account.  

Who's closed their accounts to non-British residents of the UK?

Thanks to Brexit banks have lost their ability to provide services into EEA countries by default and so absolutely they've withdrawn services from ex-UK residents that are now resident in the EEA (again not due to nationality)