Hi

We have lived in Canada for nearly 10 years, but now need to open a UK bank account.
We have looked at Barclays but the part of the webpage we checked out states you have to keep 25,000 UK pounds in the chequing account at all times!

Any input would be awesome!

Thanks Guys

I don't believe you can open a UK account from here as one has to go into a branch with ID. You may be better to open a GBP account here with HSBC.

Aviator is correct - it can't be done due to Money Laundering controls.

HSBC might be your best bet.

Why do you need a UK account? Inheritance or moving or something?

We had trouble opening a bank account *in* the UK after we moved back there from Canada! We had a bank draft to deposit but couldn't provide proof of address as we'd just moved back and were staying with family. One bank suggested we ask a family member to write a letter to prove that we lived there. I wasn't having that so in the end we went to a bank that a friend worked at and had her vouch for us with the bank manager who let us open an account on the spot. We learned our lesson and kept that account open when we moved to the US.

Technicalities of opening a UK account from abroad (they usually require UK residency to open, but not to continue) are you sure you haven't been looking at off shore accounts (which you can open outside the UK) which sometimes require minimum/high balances?

Hi Guys

thanks for all your replies. BristolUK...yes it was an off shore account with Barclays....

Then here's a link I saved previously