Getting a bank account...

Right then... having been approved a fiance visa and now living in the UK, my Fiance would like to have a bank account in preperation for getting the FLR(M) and being able to work.

I spoke to my bank on Saturday in regards to her opening an account (or even me opening a joint account and adding her name) and the very unhelpful woman i spoke to told me that i would need a utility bill in her name to be able to open an account.

We are living with my parents, so even *I* don't have a utility bill to open a new account. I asked about opening a new account in my name only, for which i could then give my fiance the cash point card for and the woman said that my girlfriend couldn't get paid for work in to that account as the account is in my name the remittance would have her name on it so they couldn't process it.

So... without a utility bill she can't open a bank account, but without a bank account she can't pay a utility bill (or earn any money with which to pay a utility bill).

When i also pointed out that I opened a bank account myself at the age of 16 with no utility bills to my name, she just stared blankly back at me and then said "we don't make the rules, we just have to follow them".

When I said "so what you are telling me is that no immigrant has ever opened a bank account in the UK", the woman replied "Yes".

Since this is blatantly a lie, can anyone tell me of a bank that is a little more helpful than Nationwide when it comes to opening a bank account for recent immigrants?

Well my partner got a fully-fledged bank account with, u guessed it, Nationwide! They were very helpful and efficient - Leeds Albion Street branch tho it was actually on Commercial Street then.

Again all this fuss has been made necessary because of the abusers, in this case the Money Launderers.

Try other banks but only ask for a basic account - I think the Nationwide equivalent is called 'Cashbuilder' - no chip and pin, no credit card, no nothing except ATM....

Why not just add her to u existing account? I did that too.

We were also successful with Nationwide (hint: they still don't charge you when you withdraw money anywhere in Europe) ... at the end. Shop around. Do not give up on a specific bank immediately (if you really want to bank with them) but rather try another branch if necessary. You may encounter many less than useful bank employees on your "journey". There may be alternative methods of address proof. Banks usually advertise this on their web pages.

86ti wrote:We were also successful with Nationwide (hint: they still don't charge you when you withdraw money anywhere in Europe) ... at the end. Shop around. Do not give up on a specific bank immediately (if you really want to bank with them) but rather try another branch if necessary. You may encounter many less than useful bank employees on your "journey". There may be alternative methods of address proof. Banks usually advertise this on their web pages.

Anywhere in the world, they didn't charge me when i was in Singapore and Indonesia a few weeks back, neither Vietnam or Borneo when i was there earlier this year.

Have a look at Nationwide's website and see what they say on there, if no joy with Nationwide then try another bank. I'm sure Lloyds and RBS will be more than happy for an extra customer right now!

meats wrote:

86ti wrote:We were also successful with Nationwide (hint: they still don't charge you when you withdraw money anywhere in Europe) ... at the end. Shop around. Do not give up on a specific bank immediately (if you really want to bank with them) but rather try another branch if necessary. You may encounter many less than useful bank employees on your "journey". There may be alternative methods of address proof. Banks usually advertise this on their web pages.

Anywhere in the world, they didn't charge me when i was in Singapore and Indonesia a few weeks back, neither Vietnam or Borneo when i was there earlier this year.

Have a look at Nationwide's website and see what they say on there, if no joy with Nationwide then try another bank. I'm sure Lloyds and RBS will be more than happy for an extra customer right now!

That's why we went Nationwide, free withdrawals worldwide, works in both European and Asiatic Russia....

Having said that I've been a customer for theirs for years, I've got accounts with them in Bolton, Dumfries and Leeds - everywhere I've lived in fact!

meats wrote:

86ti wrote:hint: they still don't charge you when you withdraw money anywhere in Europe)

Anywhere in the world, they didn't charge me when i was in Singapore and Indonesia a few weeks back, neither Vietnam or Borneo when i was there earlier this year.

Last information I have on that is that they changed the world wide loads (excluding Europe) last year in June or July to 1%. Well, I certainly don't mind if they still don't charge.

meats wrote:Have a look at Nationwide's website and see what they say on there, if no joy with Nationwide then try another bank.

They told us at a local branch that they would require 3 year's residence minimum. Same on their help line. So we decided to visit together another branch that had open Saturdays. Turned out that is wasn't a branch but a Nationwide agent. Not sure what they actually do but there was little problem getting the account though no debit card (interestingly, about 6 months later my wife got an offer from them for a credit card...).

86ti wrote:

meats wrote:

86ti wrote:hint: they still don't charge you when you withdraw money anywhere in Europe)

Anywhere in the world, they didn't charge me when i was in Singapore and Indonesia a few weeks back, neither Vietnam or Borneo when i was there earlier this year.

Last information I have on that is that they changed the world wide loads (excluding Europe) last year in June or July to 1%. Well, I certainly don't mind if they still don't charge.

First i've heard of that but they definitely haven't charged me for my 2 holidays this year. Maybe i was just in the 'right' part of the world as far as their fees are concerned.

meats wrote:Have a look at Nationwide's website and see what they say on there, if no joy with Nationwide then try another bank.

They told us at a local branch that they would require 3 year's residence minimum. Same on their help line. So we decided to visit together another branch that had open Saturdays. Turned out that is wasn't a branch but a Nationwide agent. Not sure what they actually do but there was little problem getting the account though no debit card (interestingly, about 6 months later my wife got an offer from them for a credit card...).[/quote]

Odd. I was away from the UK for 2 years up until Jan last year and came back and opened a Nationwide account straight away but that might be because i'm a British citizen. Although they didn't give me a debit card straightaway, had to wait 6 months for that. They were so keen to see my wages going in there that they gave me a bloody credit card at the same time!

In my experience, as an immigrant who came to UK in 2008, opening a bank account is a pain. All the highstreet banks had the same criteria. Only HSBC has something called as Passport account, which gives a debit card as well. But there is a fee of £6 per month I think.

I was in the same boat as OP; i.e. had no bank account and no address proof. Finally I managed to get a letter from the place where I work to confirm my address (even that was painful as my employers asked for an address proof to confirm my address ). Then when I took a house for rent, while setting up the council tax, I added my wife's name as well. Using that as address proof, she managed to get an account!!

andy, if council tax letter is accepted, why not get the name added by calling the council.

Oddly enough a friend of mine easily opened a basic account in the name Randall Stevens to see if it was possible.

herts wrote:andy, if council tax letter is accepted, why not get the name added by calling the council.

we're currently living at my parents house, we're in the process of buying our own place but that won't complete for 2-3 months and she was hoping to start working before then

it looks like they'll accept our marriage certificate with a letter from me stating we live together and/or provisional drivers licence as proof of address - I've not looked at what the DVLA require in terms of paper work yet though, so that's a whole other game of chance no doubt

i just couldn't believe it when the woman stated to me as fact that "no immigrant to the UK has ever had a bank account"... and that from the start she'd said we NEEDED a utility bill, when what she meant was "proof of address"

andy your wife could give your bank account details and her money can go in your bank a/c for some time, if your wife agrees to it
I had given my uncles bank a/c for few months till my a/c was opened up.

herts wrote:andy your wife could give your bank account details and her money can go in your bank a/c for some time, if your wife agrees to it
I had given my uncles bank a/c for few months till my a/c was opened up.

not according to my bank they can't

Just wondering if your wifes employer pays directly into your bank a/c how can the bank stop money coming into your a/c ? anyone can pay money into your bank a/c thats what I think.

herts wrote:Just wondering if your wifes employer pays directly into your bank a/c how can the bank stop money coming into your a/c ? anyone can pay money into your bank a/c thats what I think.

according to the bank: the remittance will have to have her name on it, otherwise if they pay the money in to my account, with my name on it, should the HMRC check, it will look like i have income that I'm not declaring

andyb123 wrote:Right then... having been approved a fiance visa and now living in the UK, my Fiance would like to have a bank account in preperation for getting the FLR(M) and being able to work.

I spoke to my bank on Saturday in regards to her opening an account (or even me opening a joint account and adding her name) and the very unhelpful woman i spoke to told me that i would need a utility bill in her name to be able to open an account.

We are living with my parents, so even *I* don't have a utility bill to open a new account. I asked about opening a new account in my name only, for which i could then give my fiance the cash point card for and the woman said that my girlfriend couldn't get paid for work in to that account as the account is in my name the remittance would have her name on it so they couldn't process it.

So... without a utility bill she can't open a bank account, but without a bank account she can't pay a utility bill (or earn any money with which to pay a utility bill).

When i also pointed out that I opened a bank account myself at the age of 16 with no utility bills to my name, she just stared blankly back at me and then said "we don't make the rules, we just have to follow them".

When I said "so what you are telling me is that no immigrant has ever opened a bank account in the UK", the woman replied "Yes".

Since this is blatantly a lie, can anyone tell me of a bank that is a little more helpful than Nationwide when it comes to opening a bank account for recent immigrants?

That happened to me, it is so annoying, isn't it? My friend just added my name to his utility bill, then I used the next bill to open my account. There is no reason why your parents can't add her name to the utility bill. Just work around it.