Wife has been in the UK for 2 months and still no bank documents

Hi All,

My wife has been in the UK for 2 months now. We have been having difficulty applying for bank account since we cannot prove her address.

I live in an all inclusive flat so I do not pay for any bill at home. Just the rent to my landlord.

Can anyone please advise ways of getting proof of her address in the U.K. so she can have a bank account.

Thank you

Regards,

JS

Did you try to get her National Insurance number?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/intro/number.htm

Also register her to a local clinic and dentist. When they send her a letter, this would be enough proof of address.

Hi,

Thank you for responding to my message.

Yes, she got a national insurance number and she has been registered with the doctors but none of the banks are accepting this.

Some said apply for a provisional licence but I wanted to make sure first that there are other ways since that would cost me £50

Which bank did you go to? Is there any Metro bank nearby your area? They are the best. You can use your ATM card around the world without charges and it's not difficult to open with them.

Try a 30 days rolling contract SIM card. They will send you bills to your existing address. If not get her the cheapest contract which is £10 a month.

When I say National Insurance, did you show the letter that came with it showing her address?

Metro bank in the UK?

We're in Birmingham

Yes! Metro Bank indeed!

https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/?gclid=COT7of_NnroCFQOW3godJBcADw

I understand your plight. We had to do the same but we got our landlord to confirm my wife's name on the lease. Is there anyway you can do that?

https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/Our-Stores/OurStores/

If there's no Metro bank near your area try Halifax.

HI,

We have already tried getting a letter from my landlord but they didn't accept the letter as well as the agreement.

We have already tried halifax. I told her to try using the letter from jobcentre confirming her national insurance number

Why the banks in UK nowadays are so mean? very demanding with credit score! who needs a damn credit?

What we did was to simply add my wife to a new account that I started. Have you tried that? It is a joint account but it worked.

They are more relaxed with a joint account.

Hi,

She is included in my joint savings account but even with my bank, she cannot open an account

This is so stressful

My son was born in Manila. He went to Natwest to open an account - he is on the Electoral Roll. His Philippines Birth Certificate was refused. He renewed his British Passport and that was OK but the bank insisted on sending his cheque book, debit card and PIN to the address where he was on the Electoral Roll - which we have just moved from...

Whilst he was actually opening the account I went to the bank with him; as I was waiting a gentleman walked in and was obviously well known to the cashiers. He wanted to record a change of address. No Photo ID, no deal - he was told to come back with his passport. I said that I was waiting for my son who was trying to open an account - he said "I used to be the Manager here!"

I think you will the Co-op bank pretty accommodating if your wife goes for a basic bank account. You can also do banking with the Co-op via Post Offices branches.

Do you not even have have a landline phone at home, on which your wife could be included? And what about including her on the Council Tax bill?

I know the syndrome. We were told that if the banking staff know you personally ( eg live in same village ) then they dont ask for all this stuff.

But despite being the ex-boss of the branch he still had to come back with his passport because the computer form that the cashier was trying to fill out required "photo ID".

It's madness!