31
votes
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How to open up your first UK bank account without proof of address?
The Simplest Way
See the note by ppumkin below this answer for what seems like the simplest solution. It wasn't possible at the time I arrived in the UK - though perhaps things have changed. If you ...
- 1,497
16
votes
How to open up your first UK bank account without proof of address?
What I went through
I've been researching this for a number of months ahead of my move and didn't come up with much info, until I actually got to the UK and started 'shopping around'.
Tried and ...
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14
votes
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How to go about building credit history in the UK?
Having done the reverse - moved to the USA from the UK, I feel your pain. I moved in 2008 when banks were crashing.
The primary way I found of doing this was to use a Secured Card, and I found an ...
- 491
13
votes
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How to open bank account in France if I don't have address of residence yet
It's illegal for a bank to refuse you as a customer, even if you are illegally on french territory for example. If a bank do so, you can call the Banque de France that will enroll you in a random ...
- 250
13
votes
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My foreign bank is requesting I fill out a W-9
The form is pretty simple. You put your name, SSN and address and confirm that you're a US tax person, and give it to the bank.
What's probably a surprise for you is that you are a US tax person. You ...
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11
votes
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If I have several foreign accounts, only one of which is >$10k, do I need to report all on the FBAR?
The $10K limit is aggregate. You might have had a filing obligation in prior years as well, if the total of all of your accounts together in any one day was $10K or more.
If you have more than $10K ...
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10
votes
How to open bank account in France if I don't have address of residence yet
This is indeed a pretty tough question and I know a lot of people to whom it happened.
There are no easy answer and as far as I know, you will need some trick. The solutions I heard of were to have ...
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10
votes
How to open up your first UK bank account without proof of address?
There are two ways that I and other fellow Kiwis (New Zealanders) found:
Open it from our home country. I went to Travelex and they were able to open an account with HSBC in the UK from New Zealand, ...
- 3,896
10
votes
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Can't use my Dutch bank account in Germany. Is SEPA a total lie?
What you have found here regarding direct debit is called IBAN discrimination and is against the law. Specifically, against article 9 of EU Regulation 260/2012:
A payer making a credit transfer ...
- 670
10
votes
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Deutsche Bank rejected Amazon's bill on my account, and now I must pay Amazon EUR 3.00 more for "Rücklastschriftentgelts"?
Some details:
Amazon charged you 189€. Your bank refused that for reasons they did not share with Amazon. If that happens (somebody trying to charge you and your bank refusing for whatever reason) ...
- 1,969
9
votes
How to open up your first UK bank account without proof of address?
I've opened it with my work address and my passport. As long as they have an address where to send you correspondence (and debit card, etc), you should have no problem.
So I used my work contract as "...
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8
votes
How to open up your first UK bank account without proof of address?
The way they handle customers can change a lot, and not just between banks, but between branches as well. From what me and some of my friends went through I think the following apply:
It is easier to ...
- 7,429
8
votes
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Canadian bank claims that a joint account requires two W-9 forms
I am really not an expert and barely understand this, but I think you need to give them the two W9's. The reason for this is that the Canadian bank uses the information in a slightly different way ...
- 1,786
7
votes
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Opening a Bank Account in Hong Kong as a new arrival?
You will require the following
Your travel document (passport)
Your HKID Card
A paper bill addressed to your name, with your home mailing address OR a lease agreement in your name.
This is an ...
- 331
7
votes
Expat-friendly local bank in the Philippines?
"Expat friendly" is a bit vague. What specific features are you looking for, and what negative aspects are you looking to avoid? All banks are governed by Bangko Sentral, so some of the red tape is ...
- 556
7
votes
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International money transfer online from a French bank
What you describe is not universal, but it is not unheard of either. Remember that France is still a country which makes heavy use of cheques - this is somewhere with some very modern banking features,...
- 3,659
7
votes
Does a U.S. citizen have to give up his credit cards and bank accounts when he moves abroad?
There is no reason to keep your move secret or to engage a lawyer. And there is no standard name for the service other than 'moving'.
I know from personal experience that American Express, ...
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7
votes
Withdrawing money to buy a car in Japan
I am a happy user of Transferwise. I use it to transfer CHF and GBP to EUR, but they do USD to JPY too.
It is not entirely fee-free, but they use the mid-market rate for foriegn exchange, and then ...
6
votes
How to open up your first UK bank account without proof of address?
Be flexible, since going by other answers in this thread different banks (even different branches of the same company) apply different rules.
In my case, a UK bank refused to accept my home address ...
6
votes
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Bound accounts in France and Canada
Although HSBC operate in both countries, they are getting out of retail banking in Canada, and have quite a small presence in France (mainly the old CCF branches in the Paris area). I'm not aware of ...
- 2,457
6
votes
Open a Canadian bank account without being present in Canada?
RBC allows creating a "Non-Resident account for immigration purposes", as far as I know at no-cost, and they don't require you to apply in person in Canada. However the process is not simple and there ...
- 161
6
votes
Does a U.S. citizen have to give up his credit cards and bank accounts when he moves abroad?
I personally use my parents place as my US address. Then I go paperless and pay my accounts through a bank that I transfer money into from where I am now. Anything important is mailed to me by my ...
- 61
5
votes
As a new arrival in France, will I have problems using a non-French Euro bank account?
I have been using my non-french EU bank account in France without any problem while residing there in 2003 and 2004. I was able to pay at all terminals with the CB (carte bleue) logo as much that I ...
- 2,299
5
votes
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Getting a bank account without a Norwegian fødselsnummer
It should be possible to open a Norwegian bank account using a D-number. This is basically a temporary (dummy) ID number for foreigners. There may be other requirements such as country of residence ...
- 307
5
votes
How should I keep track of my financial assets across borders and currencies?
There are certainly better ways to keep track of your finances than a spreadsheet. Personal financial management software is a broad category and offers a wide variety of choices, from free to paid.
...
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5
votes
How to go about building credit history in the UK?
There are services that will produce a credit history report based on the country you used to live in. Experian or credit safe, as a couple. They cost quite a bit, about £50~£250 per search, based on ...
- 1,498
5
votes
How can I find an affordable first credit card in Mexico?
Mexico doesn't yet have "affordable" credit cards, by US standards.
Every card I've seen has an annual fee (200 MXN/year is among the lowest), and very high interest rates (APR around 30%).
If you ...
- 2,457
5
votes
How to go about building credit history in the UK?
For buying property, not having indefinite leave to remain (equivalent status to a green card) will mean many mortgage deals aren't available to you, so you'll end up paying a higher rate of interest ...
- 226
5
votes
How to open up your first UK bank account without proof of address?
It depends from bank to bank.
My brother come to UK from South Africa as a Polish national. I went to my bank that I have been with for several years, Natwest. And they told him they want a bank ...
- 1,498
5
votes
How to open up your first UK bank account without proof of address?
It is possible to open a bank account without proving your address. For example, HSBC provides a helpful service
The HSBC International Banking Center provides customers options to open personal ...
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