# Bank account for UK citizen working in Italy for max one year



## L1berty (Mar 1, 2011)

Sorry if this has already been done to death in the forums, but: 

I'm going to be working in Italy for some months, perhaps longer. I'll be paid in euros. I need some kind of current account, and I need to be able to transfer the money into my UK account when I eventually move back to England.

Can anyone advise about what I should do in this situation? Would it make any sense at all to apply for residency, or must I open a foreign account, or what? (Any ideas about which bank charges least for foreign accounts would also be much appreciated.)

Thanks!


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## L1berty (Mar 1, 2011)

Maybe also worth mentioning that my account in the UK is a Barclays account -- anyone know if this would entail any advantages to an Italian Barclays account?


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## irish_in_italy (Mar 4, 2011)

For just a few months or a year I would advise against opening an account as they can be quite expensive in Italy and there are always more cases of "signoraggio" on accounts (extreme interest rates, overcharging etc) If you don't want to have problems you could open an online account with IWSmile which is a free online account or open a paypal rechargable account (with relative credit card), both are free but you would need to be resident in Italy before being allowed to open them.


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## L1berty (Mar 1, 2011)

irish_in_italy said:


> For just a few months or a year I would advise against opening an account as they can be quite expensive in Italy and there are always more cases of "signoraggio" on accounts (extreme interest rates, overcharging etc) If you don't want to have problems you could open an online account with IWSmile which is a free online account or open a paypal rechargable account (with relative credit card), both are free but you would need to be resident in Italy before being allowed to open them.


Thank you, that's really helpful.

The thing is, I need a bank account for language schools here to pay money into, and I'm not sure if getting a new account here would actually be more expensive than keeping it with the UK account and switching between pounds and euros whenever I withdraw money or am paid...


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## irish_in_italy (Mar 4, 2011)

L1berty said:


> Thank you, that's really helpful.
> 
> The thing is, I need a bank account for language schools here to pay money into, and I'm not sure if getting a new account here would actually be more expensive than keeping it with the UK account and switching between pounds and euros whenever I withdraw money or am paid...


_that could work out to be costly and time consuming liberty I would advise looking into the IWSmile account which costs nothing and they have a rechargable credit card included in the account

I do most of my banking with them and my direct debits are through them as well as I refuse to pay the bank for the "honour" of keeping my money!!!


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## L1berty (Mar 1, 2011)

irish_in_italy said:


> _that could work out to be costly and time consuming liberty I would advise looking into the IWSmile account which costs nothing and they have a rechargable credit card included in the account
> 
> I do most of my banking with them and my direct debits are through them as well as I refuse to pay the bank for the "honour" of keeping my money!!!


Thanks, I'll look into it!


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## irish_in_italy (Mar 4, 2011)

L1berty said:


> Thanks, I'll look into it!


No problem. You are also in Milan I see so they have a "traditional" bank where you can go and deposit your cheques. It really isn't worth paying for a bank account here as the closing costs alone after such a short time will leave you out of pocket


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## L1berty (Mar 1, 2011)

Returning to this -- I'm not sure if residency is actually an option for me? Does anyone know if proof that I have a job for the next few months will suffice to gain residency?


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## irish_in_italy (Mar 4, 2011)

L1berty said:


> Returning to this -- I'm not sure if residency is actually an option for me? Does anyone know if proof that I have a job for the next few months will suffice to gain residency?


There is no limits on residency. If you have a rented home with a contract you can get residency and then you just need to let them know when you leave Italy for good. Residency is also a legal requirement if you live here for more than 3 months


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