# First move to UK. How can we open a UK bank account



## Kitara (Nov 29, 2011)

How do you guys first open a bank account when you don't have any bill show your billing address?

Thanks


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Kitara said:


> How do you guys first open a bank account when you don't have any bill show your billing address?
> 
> Thanks


Letter from your employer, leasing/rental agreement, statements from previous bank accounts , first salary check????

Depositing money usually helps to "oil the wheels"


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## Kitara (Nov 29, 2011)

I dont have UK Employer, leasing/rental agreement or first salary check. 

I will be moving from SG to UK.. All my billing address is in Singapore.


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## mistbound4england (Dec 26, 2011)

I would maybe wait until you get a piece of mail at your address in UK?


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. You simply have to get your name on the council tax bill or some other bill because banks want to see that you actually live here. 

HSBC has account called the Passport Account which allows you to open an account. I believe there is a fee and a monthly service charge so you might want to check into that.


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## Kitara (Nov 29, 2011)

thanks! 

just found out that lloyds does it too..


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Kitara said:


> thanks!
> 
> just found out that lloyds does it too..


Some Singaporean banks may be able to open an account with their associated bank in UK.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

If your UK spouse (or fiancé) has a bank account, you can usually open an account in the same bank or have him add you to his account. (Aren't you there on a fiancé or spouse visa?) If he hasn't been living in the UK for a while, perhaps his parents could introduce you to their bank (especially if they are sponsoring your visa application).

Otherwise, you have to wait until you have some kind of document with your current address on it. If he has the necessary documents (say, utility bills in his name) and you have your marriage certificate to show that you are married to him, that should work.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Kitara (Nov 29, 2011)

Do you know the name of the sg bank? 

I have citi, standard chartered, uob and posb/DBS in Singapore. 

I tried to go to standard chartered bank Uk website, it seems like they do not do consumer banking in Uk. Kindly correct me if I am wrong.


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## Kitara (Nov 29, 2011)

Bevdeforges said:


> If your UK spouse (or fiancé) has a bank account, you can usually open an account in the same bank or have him add you to his account. (Aren't you there on a fiancé or spouse visa?) If he hasn't been living in the UK for a while, perhaps his parents could introduce you to their bank (especially if they are sponsoring your visa application).
> 
> Otherwise, you have to wait until you have some kind of document with your current address on it. If he has the necessary documents (say, utility bills in his name) and you have your marriage certificate to show that you are married to him, that should work.
> Cheers,
> Bev


 

Thanks! I am on spouse visa. Flying to Uk on 26 April. My spouse is a Uk citizen.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Kitara said:


> Thanks! I am on spouse visa. Flying to Uk on 26 April. My spouse is a Uk citizen.


With the current "know your customer" rules in banks all over the world, you may find that it's easier just to wait until you get to the UK to open your bank account(s). 
Cheers,
Bev


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Kitara said:


> I dont have UK Employer, leasing/rental agreement or first salary check.
> 
> I will be moving from SG to UK.. All my billing address is in Singapore.


????? Think you are coming in on a spouse visa. 

Doesn't your spouse have any of the above either? or a *prospective employer *letter?


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## Kitara (Nov 29, 2011)

Crawford said:


> ????? Think you are coming in on a spouse visa.
> 
> Doesn't your spouse have any of the above either? or a prospective employer letter?


My husband who is a Uk citizen would have a job with his existing employer. He is british, he already has an existing bank account.

Unfortunately for me, my existing employer said there is no opening for now. Therefore, I would have to quit. I will be new to everything in Uk. I would have to start everything from scratch. Since many of you have move over. Therefore, I wonder if anyone happen to know something useful. 

For example: hsbc passport account. 

Friday will check out citi..


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

> Friday will check out citi..


Citibank does have a presence in the UK, however they have just a few branches (I think it is actually 3) in London only.



> If your UK spouse (or fiancé) has a bank account, you can usually open an account in the same bank or have him add you to his account.


This is worth a try, but not all banks will automatically add you to your spouse's account. They may after you have been in the UK for several months, but not always right away.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Kitara said:


> My husband who is a Uk citizen would have a job with his existing employer. He is british, he already has an existing bank account.
> 
> Unfortunately for me, my existing employer said there is no opening for now. Therefore, I would have to quit. I will be new to everything in Uk. I would have to start everything from scratch. Since many of you have move over. Therefore, I wonder if anyone happen to know something useful.
> 
> ...


Why would the bank with whom your husband already has a bank account not open an individual one for you? Especially if you have funds to deposit into it?

If they would not open an individual account why not convert your husband's account into a *joint account*. That will give you access to funds/cheque book/deposits.

I don't really see the problem.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Crawford said:


> Why would the bank with whom your husband already has a bank account not open an individual one for you? Especially if you have funds to deposit into it?
> 
> If they would not open an individual account why not convert your husband's account into a *joint account*. That will give you access to funds/cheque book/deposits.
> 
> I don't really see the problem.


You obviously haven't lived in the UK in a while. It's just not that simple anymore.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

nyclon said:


> You obviously haven't lived in the UK in a while. It's just not that simple anymore.


True, things have got tighter regarding banking these days.

However, once the OP is in the UK where, presumably, she will have an address and her husband already has a bank account by all accounts, she will be able to either open an individual account or partake of a joint account at his bank.

I will agree that she is unlikely to be able to do much until she is in the UK.


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## Liz in UK (Jul 31, 2011)

Banks here now have very specific documents that they can accept as your proof of address, and most banks will require the same proof of address, identification, etc. to be added to an account that they need to open an account. Because my husband and I are currently living with his parents, council tax wasn't really an option, and adding me to a utility bill was virtually impossible. I found the easiest way for me to open an account was to leave my American account open, and change the address on the account to my new UK address as foreign bank statements are accepted as proof of address. When the statement arrived in the UK I had the proof of address I needed.

Alternatively, I have a friend who married a UK citizen and moved to the UK a year before I did. He managed to open an account using an American bank statement with the same address as the one on his driving license. So the account was opened with his American address, then he changed it to the UK address. So if you have a bank statement from your bank in Singapore and some form of identification with the same address, that may be an option for you.

I have also heard a rumor that someone applied for a bank account in the UK and was rejected. They then took the letter that the bank sent explaining why they were rejected to another bank and used that as their proof of address to open an account. But I'm not sure how accurate that is.


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## Lorelli (Jan 6, 2012)

My husband (American) had a devil of a job in getting a UK bank account. We approached the bank I've been with for 15+ years - Barclays. However, although we could provide all the relevant verification documents, because his passport was stamped with his fiance visa (at that time) and not ILR, they refused, saying that he couldn't open his own account as he wasn't a permanent UK resident.
In the end, I added him as a joint account holder to my personal account and one week later, we closed that joint account down and he opened his own account at the same time - this time without a glitch and this time after being prompted to by the advisor we had that day! 
I can't quite figure out how that was allowed, but perhaps my husband inherited some of my banking history with Barclays during the brief time we held the joint account together. It seemed the advice we got about it from that bank changed from advisor to advisor. From that situation, I gleaned that bank staff are perhaps not the most well informed when it comes to the status of new UK residents.


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