UK HSBC account from US - not primier/offshore

Wow--this is really great!  You can really open a UK account from here and be all set with debit card and cheques when you arrive there?

Is it necessary to do this in person?  I live in Baltimore, so I could go in to the DC branch without too much problem.

Thanks for this information!

Oh, when you set up the account, is there a transfer from an existing account as part of the set-up?  What I mean is, I assume you have to set up the account with some money--can this be done through a transfer from a US (non-HSBC) account?  And if so, is there a transfer cost for this?  Or is the account set up empty (which would seem weird to me) and then you have to put money into it?

One other question--is it necessary to have a US HSBC account first?

Not positive, but I believe you do need to have a US account for a certain period of time first.  But again, I'm not entirely sure. 

We set up our account about 4 weeks before my husband left and got the cards and account details in the mail the day of his flight.  The cheques arrived about a week later. 

We did not have to transfer any money to open the account - that part was kind of weird.  They opened the account, then, since Gavin was on his way there by the time the account was set up he just transfered some money from his other UK account to the HSBC account. 

The other thing that was a little weird was that they didn't need to see a visa to put my name on the account.  They just took copies of his UK passport and my US passport and we explained in the letter that I would be traveling on a spousal visa with ILE. 

Thanks!  Okay, I will open a US HSBC account soon.  We have 6 months before the move, so I hope a having the US account for few months will be enough to allow us to open the UK account.  If anyone managed to open a UK HSBC account from the US without having a US HSBC account first, I'd be glad to hear about that.

Ok guys just ot off the phone wih HSBC and posted on the banking site. Here it is  hope it helps..

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=30089.0

and Liz they require a US account before opening a UK account

thanks for all your help!

Kath

Thanks, Katadina!  I did open a US account back in Aug or Sept in preparation for this.  I posted on the other thread as well.