I do find when I ask out of the ordinary questions to my UK bank they answer 'no' even when something is possible! I asked Halifax (who I bank with) about remortgaging my house in UK as my DH (UK property lawyer) told me that he has a number of clients who aren;t based in UK who are taking out mortgages with Halifax even though they aren;t residents. Halifax call centre told me that they don't grant mortages to non residents in any circumstances. So I went through a broker over here who are now in the process of arranging my remortgage with, yep, you guessed it!!
aaah you gotta love the banks.
So Dh got a call on Tuesday from someone in the UK (it was a UK number) and the guy was keen to talk about a new bank account with HSBC, but Dh was busy and asked for a number to call him back. When he called the number back, he got through to a general customer services department and everyone there was confused "But you cant open a bank account unless you are living and working here, so come and see us after you arrive. etc" So mixed messages. I think it it is still possible as the HSBC guy at MOE branch said it is, and that we need to go back to Jebel Ali to push it along.
Update
I had a very interesting chat in the HSBC this morning where I was advised that it is possible to open a UK (or any country really) bank account from Dubai. The HSBC customer services guy had to put in a computerized request to the HSBC IBC (international banking centre) and then I have to follow up with them in a few days. All that is required is a passport and visa copy, Emirates ID card and Dewa or other utility bill. Sounds straightforward but with banking one never knows.
Standard Chartered, however, needs the client to have 1m USD to invest. Sounds perfectly reasonable !
Hi Hilsbils
Do you have any further news on the above?
Update
I had a very interesting chat in the HSBC this morning where I was advised that it is possible to open a UK (or any country really) bank account from Dubai. The HSBC customer services guy had to put in a computerized request to the HSBC IBC (international banking centre) and then I have to follow up with them in a few days. All that is required is a passport and visa copy, Emirates ID card and Dewa or other utility bill. Sounds straightforward but with banking one never knows.
Standard Chartered, however, needs the client to have 1m USD to invest. Sounds perfectly reasonable !
We returned to UK 8 years ago and it was 'impossible' to open a bank account straight away. They cited money laundering rules. Luckily I had an old account and for 6 months my husband's salary got paid to me until we could get a joint account set up. It then took another few months before we could get credit cards - we also kept getting told that it would be quickerto get an account if we went and bought stuff on hire purchase. Until we had several bills for eg council tax no banks would entertain us despite fact we had money in an HSBC in Malaysia
Ten months earlier we had opened one in New Zealand in the space of thirty mins.
Wouldn;t an offsore sterling account suffice? Have you tried Lloyds and HSBC as they have operations in UK? I don't think Standard Chartered have a retail business in the UK, only wholesale (although I could be wrong), Citi have a very small retail business in the UK.
Hi ladies
Has anyone opened a bank account in the Uk from here, despite not being a resident there? I have an offshore account but my Dh needs to open a mainland bank account. I wonder if approaching Standard and Chartered would work?
If you did manage, what documents and data did you have to provide?
Thanks
I dont think you can i know my friend tried recently and they couldnt produce proof of residency/utility bill from UK
Hi ladies
Has anyone opened a bank account in the Uk from here, despite not being a resident there? I have an offshore account but my Dh needs to open a mainland bank account. I wonder if approaching Standard and Chartered would work?
If you did manage, what documents and data did you have to provide?
Thanks