Liobam

Spouse and I are heading down under soon (official work start date is technically September 4th but none of the visa paperwork has been submitted yet so... yeah, "Soon"). I've spied a few banks who let you open accounts before you go, but I can't figure out how to open a joint one. My tentative bank of choice, Westpac, just kind of sends you in circles implying that you need to have an Aus residential address if you try opening a joint account in advance. Will the best thing to do here be open an individual account in the primary visa holder's name for now then add the secondary person to it once we get down there?

Pollyana

ANZ, Commonwealth and Westpac all definitely have accounts you can open before moving. The usual thing is that you can deposit money before leaving the UK but need to visit a branch here in order toacivate the account for withdrawals.
It certainly possible with Westpac to open an account with no settled Aussie address, have a friend who did it only a year or two ago, don't see why a joint one should be any harder - have you tried phoning their UK branch?
https://www.westpac.com.au/about-wes...-to-Aus-or-NZ/

moneypenny20

We opened our Commonwealth bank account from the UK 13 years ago, it's a joint account. As Pollyana said you can pay in what you want but you can't withdraw until you're here, and have 'activated' the account. I can't imagine there's an actual issue with Westpac opening a joint account for you, it's just names after all.

If they're being idiots, maybe open an account with Commonwealth and then when you get here, transfer to a Westpac one. I wouldn't, if I was being messed about they'd lose the chance of having my business but that could just be me.

Jilliebee

You can open a joint account online with NAB too - although they (and I) advise you not to transfer any money into it until you have your visas granted x

moneypenny20

+1

jon111

do you get decent exchange rates if you open over here then transfer money? or do the banks sting you a bit??

over here meaning uk lol

rammygirl

We opened a joint account with Westpac from the Uk and with our uk address years ago. There should be a bit on the website about migrant accounts. I will add the link if I can find it.

Regarding transfers you should use a forex company as the rates and charges from banks are generally not favourable. Register with a few and pick the best rate. You can also set forward deals to activate when the rate hits a certain point.

Here it is at the bottom of the home page

https://www.westpac.com.au/personal-banking/bank-accounts/moving-to-australia/banking/

Beoz

Might be worth popping into a HSBC in the UK and see what they can do. That's what I did and they sorted out the Australian end.

HSBC and I have now parted ways. They would not do a couple of business things for me but for a standard account, I thought they were pretty good.

DanSolihull

I opened my ANZ account from the UK before moving (mover 5 years ago now though), from memory they sent me some paperwork etc. and I could transfer money into my account while I was still in the UK and then when I got to Australia I visited the local branch and could access my money using my passport while they sorted my cards etc. out, again from memory it only took a few days for those to arrive which I picked up from the branch again while I was sorting accommodation out, I found them very helpful to be honest and they're my bank to this day.