£2800 Balance

[bred]

My Ukrainian girlfriend is a prospective applicant for a Tier 1 (General) visa. She works for KPMG but does not typically have £2800 or more in her bank account. She is interested in opening an account abroad (in the UK if possible) in which I can deposit £2800, from which she will not make any withdrawals for a period of 3 months (as per Tier 1 [General] requirements) but will theoretically be able to withdraw money from at any time. I would welcome any advice concerning this matter as UK banks such as RBS seem to require UK residency.
Best Regards.

[republique]

Why do you need a UK acct at all?

[bred]

Would prefer to put my money into a UK bank. With Ukraine recently ranked as the world's second most vulnerable emerging market I could do without a Ukrainian bank with my money going under. Would put it into a Ukrainian account if it comes to that though.

[sien]

Would prefer to put my money into a UK bank. With Ukraine recently ranked as the world's second most vulnerable emerging market I could do without a Ukrainian bank with my money going under. Would put it into a Ukrainian account if it comes to that though.

Please note that all evidence for maitenance fund has to be dated 7 days before submit the application. If you have a bank statement from UK, you have to arrange to get the statement from bank and send to Ukraine, this process might took you more than 7 days to receive the statement. If i were you, i will deposit the money in Ukraine for 3 months and then once the visa approved, just transfer the money to UK bank.. hope this help

[bred]

Ok, thanks for your advice.

[Frontier Mole]

As the account has to be in her name or your joint names you are going to have a problem. You will need documentation to be presented in the UK to prove who she is. Without the passport you are up a gum tree. The banks are not interested in copies.
Best bet is to open a UK bank account in her own country with whatever UK bank(s) exist there. You can have a GBP account in most countries.
Euro or US$ accounts are just as good or even better as the GBP sinks into the mire

[bred]

If you have a bank statement from UK, you have to arrange to get the statement from bank and send to Ukraine, this process might took you more than 7 days to receive the statement.

Sorry for back-tracking, but couldn't you just go online and print off the bank statement while in Ukraine?

[Frontier Mole]

They do not like internet banking or online statements as they are so easy to "adjust" so they require evidence from the bank to state that the figures are accurate. So you are back to square one.
One way or another she will have to get her name on a bank account that can be put forward as evidence of funds. There is no easy solution to this.

[bred]

She has opened a Visa account in euros as well as an account in pounds. The account in pounds however, is not a Visa card account so she will only be able to take this money out directly from the bank in Ukraine. Should I transfer the money to the account in euros (£3200 in case the pound strengthens) or do you think it is ok to have the money in this Sterling account?
My feeling is to put it into the account in euros as the pound is unlikely to strengthen against the euro much, if at all, and perhaps it is more likely to get weaker.
Thanks in advance.

[bani]

She has opened a Visa account in euros as well as an account in pounds. The account in pounds however, is not a Visa card account so she will only be able to take this money out directly from the bank in Ukraine. Should I transfer the money to the account in euros (£3200 in case the pound strengthens) or do you think it is ok to have the money in this Sterling account?
My feeling is to put it into the account in euros as the pound is unlikely to strengthen against the euro much, if at all, and perhaps it is more likely to get weaker.
Thanks in advance.

I think either account will be fine. And I agree that the pound is unlikely to strengthen much against the euro in the next 3 months so £3200 is a safe amount if you go with the euro account.

[bred]

An account in euros was opened in early December following a £3200 transfer I made. However, my girlfriend is not making withdrawals from this account. I thought this would not be a problem but http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... nt#9820759 seems to contradict my assumption.
"the receipt of funds along with regular withdrawals from the account" is the questionable sentence I am referring specifically to.
Is it necessary to make regular withdrawals from the account with the >£2800 balance?

[push]

An account in euros was opened in early December following a £3200 transfer I made. However, my girlfriend is not making withdrawals from this account. I thought this would not be a problem but http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply ... nt#9820759 seems to contradict my assumption.
"the receipt of funds along with regular withdrawals from the account" is the questionable sentence I am referring specifically to.
Is it necessary to make regular withdrawals from the account with the >£2800 balance?

The guidance note says:

Personal bank or building loan statements
These should clearly show:
your name;
your account number;
the date of the statement (dated no more than 1 month prior to the date you submit your application);
the financial institution’s name and logo;
transactions covering a three month period;
that there are sufficient funds present in the account on a regular basis. The balance should not fall below the required minimum at any time during the 3 month period;
the receipt of funds along with regular withdrawals from the account

Now this should be interpreted to mean that the statements should show receipts and withdrawals from the account (as in all the transactions should be captured). The note does not prescribe anything about the operation of the account but defines what the statement should capture without fail.