Ten days to go….got my ToR1 and ready except I am still nervous about banking issues. It may be some time before I can open a bank account apparently so in the meantime I will have to rely on my Wise card. I have added money to it and hope it will be enough to live on. I assume I can just use it like a debit card to pay for accommodation, food etc. I won’t have my US phone number available…will this make it impossible to transfer from my bank to the Wise card online? So confused about this….and late in the day! How much can I put on the card, it doesn’t say on the website. What did you do? Should I take cash too. I think I may have to delay my flight. Also the porting of my number seems very complicated and my bank says they won’t use google voice. Aaargh.
Any help much appreciated.

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Any reason you can't just use your US bank card? And maybe keep your US number alive for at least a couple of months so that you can still get texts etc on it?

There is no problem adding cash to Wise card , and I have never had bank or WISE text me for approval. I have used WISE in UK and Europe with no problem withdrawing cash or purchasing. I do not think if there are any stated limits for amounts you can credit WISE.

For US accounts the issue of telephone number for two-factor authorization or other messages from financial institution can be an issue- some will send text to a VOIP service, some will not- though usually an incoming phone call can be made. When I had Skype I had USA number I could answer via app or online , when Skype closed I ported over to Sonetel which hives a US number, though I find it less easy to use.

Google Voice was my solution to the mobile number issue but you MUST start this process while still in the US
(1) Get a Google Voice number now, while you are still in the US. Activate it, use it to make a few calls and texts while still in the US, so you are comfortable that it actually works.
(2) Keep your US mobile number active while you do all this and definitely while you are still in the US.
(3) Get a new UK provider. It can be a cheap monthly account (I pay 5GBP for 3GB and unlimited voice/text), don't worry about setting up a two year contract with whoever. You just need a plan that has data so you can use your Google Voice.
(4) KEEP the new Google Voice number you set up before leaving the US but ALSO port your US mobile number to Google Voice. So you'll now have two numbers on the same Google account. Google will charge you to port your number over. I did this step after I had already been in the UK for a few months and I had absolutely no issues with the process.

Since doing this I have received SMS messages from my US bank, credit card and brokerage/401k provider with absolutely no problems - because from their perspective it is the same number they already had for me. Because the number I ported was originally assigned by a traditional mobile provider, it is not tagged as being a voip number In whatever database that info is in (so I've been told) and as a result financial institutions have no issue sending messages to it. It seems to have worked ok until now. As long as I have a data connection I can receive alerts from my US bank etc and I also use that number to text and call friends back in the US (at no cost as long as I'm on wifi.) This was incredibly useful when I had to make long calls to my brokerage about taxes earlier this year. Just remember to only use it for US numbers otherwise Google will charge.

Good advice above. When my daughter moved back in 2022 she stayed with us initially and during her first week opened an account with Chase.co.uk. It only took a half hour and I was able to send money from my UK account directly to her new UK account immediately. (I sent her a fiver to test it). No proof of address needed. She also used Wise with a debit card and was very pleased with it.

Hi, I dont know when you are leaving ,but if you have time go online HSBC you can from US,I set this up in 2023 use it all the time when I transfer from US bank thru wise to HSBC, also Mint mobil is about the cheapest do you have dual sim,set up mint then get Gif Gaf sim sent to you for UK

2nd thought ,my US bank will email for codes instead of calling ask if they have that choice

Before we moved back to the UK I checked with my existing US bank and they did not support overseas residents at all so before we moved I opened an account with HSBC US and transferred my account to there. I’m sure there are plenty of US banks that do support overseas customers, for example my daughter still uses her Chase US account. (She moved to England 3 years ago)

I didn’t think a pay as you go phone with ATT could be used in the UK?

That's exactly what I do. Have an e-SIM from Mint Mobile for my US number, and a physical SIM for my UK number. So both on my phone and switch between them easily depending on which country I'm in, and can always get texts etc from the other provider no matter where I am. Plus can phone the UK for free when I'm in the US, which I find very useful as I have businesses there still, so need to call quite a bit.

You could switch to a provider that will work in the UK (as above, I use Mint Mobile - $15 a month).

Dual sim is great just go back and forth