Opening a Bank Account

[Camel555]

Soon I will be visiting UK to collect my BRP under Tier 1, I would like to open my Bank Account so that I can start transferring funds, but the problem I am facing is of UK proof of residence, how can somebody like me have a proof of address when I am about to start my entrepreneur journey there, I want to save the cost of travelling again and again to and from my home country to UK so would appreciate if someone could advise here on how to proceed with bank account opening without having a tenancy agreement/council tax bill etc.

I do have family living in UK but few banks I have spoken to have refused to accept any proof which is not in my name

so how can I open the account

[CR001]

You will not be able to open a bank account without proof of address in your name unfortunately.

[zimba]

What do you mean by travelling back and forth ???
You must come here first and set yourself up here. Get a UK address and a personal bank account before trying to open a business bank account. (This could take a a month or two here)
I also HIGHLY suggest to transfer the funds first to your PERSONAL UK bank account first before transferring it to the business account to avoid problems with extension down the line (this is a REQUIREMENT for a successful extension for director's loan investment)

[Camel555]

What do you mean by travelling back and forth ???
You must come here first and set yourself up here. Get a UK address and a personal bank account before trying to open a business bank account. (This could take a a month or two here)
I also HIGHLY suggest to transfer the funds first to your PERSONAL UK bank account first before transferring it to the business account to avoid problems with extension down the line (this is a REQUIREMENT for a successful extension for director's loan investment)

Thanks for your reply, I am actually talking about Personal current account, I understand opening a business account is a little more complicated and I don't need the business bank account right away. My plan is to collect my BRP now, carry out few meetings related with my propsed business activity, open a bank account, get back to home country, wind up my things, transfer the funds, and travel to UK to start working on my plans, and then open the business account.

But even the personal bank account opening is not looking possible due to the Proof of address thing

By moving back and forth I mean that if I am not able to open my account on this trip, then I will have to take another trip once I am able to open the account after getting my place to live, and will have to travel again to my home country to do the transfer, as my home country bank also requires my physical presence to execute the TT. So I would have take 3 trips back and forth to enable fund transfer....

So just trying to make my BRP collection trip as worthy as possible...

[zimba]

Banks do not open accounts for people who do not have a proof of address in the UK. I suggest the following course of action:

1- Get here asap and collect the BRP
2- Find a place to live/rent and get proof of that address (e.g for example a rental agreement or bill in your name)
3- Get a personal bank account in a good high-street bank
4- Apply for a National Insurance number
5- Register a UK company OR register as a self employed with HMRC
6- Open a business bank account
7- Transfer the money to your personal bank account and then invest as required in the business bank account

I also HIGHLY recommend to read the Tier 1E guide carefully: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... trepreneur

Good luck