Wife has just arrived in the UK - We have questions!

Hey all, hoping some of you can provide some advice here!

Q1) My wife doesn't want to keep carrying her passport around for ID.  Is there any other forms of ID that are acceptable?  I seem to recall hearing about getting her a provisional driving licence.

Q2) We went to Barclays (my bank) today and tried to get my wife added to the account as a joint account holder.  We were told that although they could do this, they wouldn't be able to issue her with a contactless debit card.  To be able to issue her with a debit card of her own they would need to downgrade my own card to a 'normal' debit card so that both cards were on the same 'level'.   This is because she does not have any credit history here.  I can't understand what credit history has to do with debit.. Has anyone else experienced this?  Is there a way around this or another bank someone can recommend?

Q3)  While my wife is here on the initial entry clearance, am I able to get her added to the mortgage on our home?

Q4) Does my wife still need to file taxes in the US?  If so, how does she go about doing this?

Thank you for any help you can provide and best wishes.

Well, you aren't required to carry ID on you in the UK.  So she can leave the passport at home.  But yes, getting a provisional license is a great form of ID if she wants to have one.

Banks are awful.  I'm surprised they wouldn't let you add your wife though.

I highly doubt you can add her to your mortgage.  Is there a reason why you want to?

Yes, she still needs to file taxes with the US.  Unless she has assets in the US or investment accounts, its unlikely she will owe anything.  Most people continue to use Turbo Tax or their favourite tax filing software.  She can do the forms the old fashioned way still if that's what she prefers.  The IRS website has the address (in Texas) where those filing from abroad send their returns.  She also has until June 15th to file, versus April 15th.

Q2) We went to Barclays (my bank) today and tried to get my wife added to the account as a joint account holder.  We were told that although they could do this, they wouldn't be able to issue her with a contactless debit card.  To be able to issue her with a debit card of her own they would need to downgrade my own card to a 'normal' debit card so that both cards were on the same 'level'.   This is because she does not have any credit history here.  I can't understand what credit history has to do with debit.. Has anyone else experienced this?  Is there a way around this or another bank someone can recommend?

As KFdancer said, banks suck.  When I first arrived, my wife and I went into a Lloyds branch and after a lot of soul-searching and guarded looks, the rep agreed that despite my status as a dirty immigrant, we could have a joint bank account (my wife had not banked with them before).

I couple of years ago we switched to First Direct, and they've been cool, but I don't know how they would've been back before I had UK citizenship.

Q3)  While my wife is here on the initial entry clearance, am I able to get her added to the mortgage on our home?

We couldn't get a joint mortgage until I was on ILR.  Not from a bank, not from a mortgage broker, not anywhere.  I don't know if they'd add your wife to an existing mortgage, but my guess is no.

Q4) Does my wife still need to file taxes in the US?  If so, how does she go about doing this?

Yes. I have a tax person in the US that handles it for me, so I can't tell you the specifics.  Sorry I don't have a better answer.

There are a few stories on here of banks being jerky to expats trying to open accounts. I went with TSB because I read that was an easier one to open an account with. They are OK, just the last three years I can only use a TSB/Lloyds ATM (or in store debit machines). If I use an ATM that says they will take TSB cards it won't work. I don't even have a TSB branch in my town. A bit irritating. After citizenship I may try another bank.

I'm not sure if it's still the case with banks these days, but a few years ago, it was pretty normal to have A LOT of trouble opening a bank account.

Generally:

- It was almost impossible to add a foreign spouse to an existing account or to open a joint account

- It was much easier for the foreign spouse to open their own separate bank account than to try to get added to their UK spouse's account

- It was fairly normal for it to take up to a few months before a bank would allow a new account to be opened by the foreign spouse

- The banks generally required utility bills etc. in the foreign spouse's name, which could take a few weeks/months to get sorted out first (especially if they were living with family members and couldn't get their names on bills).

I banked with Yorkshire Bank since I was 16.

At the age of 35 I returned to the UK with my US wife of 10 years. Went to Yorkshire Bank and was told we could open a joint bank account but no cheque book.

I was so insulted we went straight to Natwest and we immediately opened a joint account with a chequebook no problems.

Now I know that chequebooks are 99% useless these days but it was the principle. I showed long-standing loyalty to them but they didn't care about any of that. Long gone are the days when people had personal relationships with the local bank manager. Now it is just mindless jobsworths carrying out rules that don't put the customer first.

I opened a bank account w HSBC within days of arriving in the UK, and it was no problem at all. Not sure why banks are so annoying!

We've been here one year and was asked for ID three times in various scenarios. Each time I produced my passport showing my visa. No further questions were asked. Personally, I prefer to carry my passport/visa but each person will have their preference.

We opened accounts with Barclays soon after our arrival and had no issues. However, we did not receive our contactless cards until recently.

You may have to refinance your mortgage in due course should you wish to add your spouse. It takes longer to establish credit when you are no eligible for the electoral roll so this will give you time to consider your options.

Good luck and wishing you all the best!

I was put on my husband's bank account with First Direct once I got a NI number back in 1996, about a month after I married and was named on the account of our mortgage with Birmingham Midshires. I started a small business in 1997 and I opened my own account with HSBC with no problems. In fact, I STILL have that account open after 11 years living in the US. My MIL puts £ in it for my children's birthday and Xmas. I wonder why it's become so much harder now.

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HSBC and Citibank are global banks

the drawback is that there aren't many branches/teller/atm services throughout the UK

I have been with Citibank for 20years. Even though Manchester does not have a branch, London does.  I will start with one there and look into HSBC and ING as options as well.

HSBC is a British bank... they are everywhere here!

There are over 1,100 HSBC branches in the UK compared to approximately 425 in the US... 400 of which are in New York State only and the other 25 I believe are in California and Florida.


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And HSBC UK and HSBC US are separate companies.  You can't use an HSBC US account in the UK or vice versa. 

Q2) We went to Barclays (my bank) today and tried to get my wife added to the account as a joint account holder.  We were told that although they could do this, they wouldn't be able to issue her with a contactless debit card.  To be able to issue her with a debit card of her own they would need to downgrade my own card to a 'normal' debit card so that both cards were on the same 'level'.   This is because she does not have any credit history here.  I can't understand what credit history has to do with debit.. Has anyone else experienced this?  Is there a way around this or another bank someone can recommend?

My wife (who is british) has an account with Nationwide, so she set up an appointment for me and the day after I arrived we went down to the bank and they gave me my own account, and a joint account for the 2 of us, with contactless cards with no trouble at all. I'm not sure why everyone is saying they've had issues with banks, Nationwide has been great to me!

Hey all, hoping some of you can provide some advice here!

Q1) My wife doesn't want to keep carrying her passport around for ID.  Is there any other forms of ID that are acceptable?  I seem to recall hearing about getting her a provisional driving licence.

I've been here 3.5 years and still don't have any sort of UK picture ID.
I do not carry my passport around everywhere, only bring it when specifically required.
A bankcard is usually enough, which was weird for me, at first.

Q2) We went to Barclays (my bank) today and tried to get my wife added to the account as a joint account holder.  We were told that although they could do this, they wouldn't be able to issue her with a contactless debit card.  To be able to issue her with a debit card of her own they would need to downgrade my own card to a 'normal' debit card so that both cards were on the same 'level'.   This is because she does not have any credit history here.  I can't understand what credit history has to do with debit.. Has anyone else experienced this?  Is there a way around this or another bank someone can recommend?

We've had no trouble at Lloyds.

Q3)  While my wife is here on the initial entry clearance, am I able to get her added to the mortgage on our home?

Like others stated above, we could not get me added to a mortgage until I was granted the ILR, so I would say probably not.

Q4) Does my wife still need to file taxes in the US?  If so, how does she go about doing this?

Unfortunately, yes. America is the only country on the planet to tax its citizens living abroad. There is an entire section for advice on that.


Good luck!

America is the only country on the planet to tax its citizens living abroad.

Eritrea does too.