How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK account?
 

Will be moving back to the UK after 23 years in the USA.
How do you get your money from a US bank account into the UK, when you don't have a UK account and can not open one from the USA?
I am thinking of using a site like XE to transfer the money, but am worried about a catch22 situation (being in USA cant open uk account, being in UK dont have US address for my US bank account, etc).

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Open an account when you get there, then transfer money into it. It shouldn't be that big a deal and I think you are worrying about nothing. I hear that generally banks will open accounts quite easily for "returning customers" even if you closed your account 20 or thirty years ago, so if you had an account previously with a British Bank, that would be a good place to start.

I don't believe US banks generally have the same hang-up about customers with a UK address as some British banks seem to have about customers with an address in the US.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Can you not take an international bank draft from the US and deposit it into your UK bank account once it has been set up.

To open UK bank account easily, have a UK address, two forms of ID (passport, drivers licence).

Alternatively you can transfer money from your US bank account to UK account, electronically.

Go to your US bank tell them that you will be transferring funds from your account to a UK bank. Then get swift code for your US bank and any other information your US bank gives you for international electronic money transfer.

To the UK bank provide all the information that your US bank gave you for the money transfer.

If you have a HSBC account in the US (which is not possible across the US, since their network is limited in the states) then life is 100% easier.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

We opened an HSBC Premier account in the US online with no problems. We were given a dedicated banker with whom we could discuss or needs. As soon as we arrived in the UK we were able to open a UK account with HSBC and transfer funds without fees. All our accounts are now linked. Easiest thing we've had to do so far, to be honest.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

This is what I've advised our son to do. He now has a Premier HSBC account and I've told him to get their credit card which is a cash rewards card and has no foreign transactions fees, and is also contactless and chip and PIN. We got one a couple of months back and it works great.

Hopefully when he gets here in September he will be able to open a UK HSBC account easily enough.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

This is what we did too. (HSBC Canada first then accounts in France and the UK opened from Canada). Highly recommended.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

He can do it before he arrives, using his US address, if he wants to. Tell him to instruct his Premier relationship manager to expedite it.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

He has tried that but has to go in to sign some documents and be interviewed, which is what we had to do here in England to open our HSBC US account. Problem is they've told him that would have to be in LA, since they can't do it close to where he lives. He lives close to Houston and told me that initially that he was going to have to go downtown to do this. He is visiting his sister in Santa Monica in August which is why they said LA but then they told him it would take two trips downtown.

I told him not to worry about and that he can do it from here. He can use his HSBC credit card to spend money and he can use Transferwise to send money to our account which we can either give him as cash or buy stuff for him. He should only take a few weeks at most to get his account set up after he arrives.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

HSBC expat account can be opened in Jersey from most countries, which is equivalent to a HSBC UK account, if this helps anybody.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Thanks everyone. It's nice to have people answer the actual question asked with useful information.
Both "international bank draft" and "HSBC Premier account" are viable options.
I was looking at opening a sterling account with Llyods bank (Jersey/Isle of Man), but that is not allowed for US residents at this time.
A follow up question for those that have used HSBC Premier account: Are the HSBC USD to GBP exchange rates good/bad/ok?
I assume people would compare rates before exchanging large amounts.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

HSBC jersey has multicurrency accounts (premier). Open USD and Pounds accounts.

You can transfer between USD to Pounds accounts online when the exchange rate is good.

Dont exchange large number of dollars to pounds in one go. Only the amount you need for a year.

Keep most of your money in USD because its stable global currency.

The pound value is going to fluctuate in exchange rate as brexite progresses.

As far as HSBC exchange rate is concerned they are competitive.

When you get to UK mainland open HSBC account and you can transfer pounds online from HSBC Expat Jersey to HSBC UK mainland.

HSBC in UK do no have USD accounts or they are very difficult to open.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

:thumbsup: Great reply. I did not even consider keeping USD. And the brexit thing makes sense. The exchange rate when I left the UK was around 1.5 now it is fluctuating in the 1.2 - 1.3. I am in the middle of selling my house in the USA, so my mind is occupied with that. This thread has been very useful to me. Thanks.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Sorry, I think that might be good generic advice but IMO it is very bad specific advice under the current circumstances. ..... Generally, in the long term, holding dollar funds makes sense, but the likelihood is that the value of the pound will strengthen as the uncertainty of Brevity is eliminated, ..... so the number of pounds you get for your dollars will decline, perhaps quite sharply over the next 2-4 years. In other words, if your goal is to have most of your assets in pounds sterling within 5-10 years IMO there is unlikely to be a better time to make the conversion than within the next 18 months.
Not reallly! Get your head on straight! As a holder of dollar assets who is planning an exchange to sterling assets, when the pound fell from $1.50 to $1.20 you were handed a 20% windfall - grab a load of that windfall ASAP before the pound recovers!

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Fair enough. HSBC branches are numerous where I used to live in the Toronto area.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Even as an HSBC Premier customer the exchange rate is better with Transferwise except when transferring large sums such as more than $100k, which I've done while buying a house this year. You can get a quote using both Transferwise and HSBC the click "submit" on the better rate and "cancel" on the other.

An advantage of doing HSBC is that the money is exchanged and in your account the same day.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

The advice may be generic but on the other hand nobody can predict the value of the pound in the long term.
The value of the pound is likely going to be linked to the health of the UK economy/brexit. The trajectory of the UK economy is not going to be clear for many years. So there may be even better opportunities to get better exchange rates.
Your advice may be right or I may be right.
I am comfortable with my advice, unless you can predict the future.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

40 years of history says that the average value of the pound is $1.60. You'd need a compelling argument to suggest that the pound has permanently lost 25% of its value, when most of the economic data points to an economy as strong or stronger than most countries in Europe.

if it was my money and I was looking at a permanent move back to the UK I would move at least 50%-75% back to the UK now, not least because once you are back in the UK the $/£ rate has very little relevance to day-to-day life in the UK.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Let the OP decide between our views since we are offering advice on limited information regarding the OP circumstances.

For the last 40 years the UK was also in the EU, which it is leaving.
In the long run UK may prosper after the exit, but in the short run it may be a roller coaster ride for the economy and thus the exchange rate.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Stop worrying. Be happy.

I transfered over $Cdn1m from Canada to the UK a couple of years ago. The exchanged rate was rubbish in July 2015 but I don't give a shit. I'm well enough of for my needs anyway.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

:goodpost:

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

There are two banks in the U.K., which shall open bank accounts for people living overseas;
HSBC and Barclays. I opened accounts with both whilst living in the USA and have since ditched HSBC in favor of Barclays. Opening an account with Barclays was relatively painless; application, supporting documentation, phone call interview and voila.
With HSBC, I had to open a US account first and then apply for an international account, supporting paperwork and a visit to an HSBC bank to have the paperwork validated. This part was a pain for me as There are no banks in Texas and I had to take time off work to fly to Washington DC. HSBC process took more than 8 weeks, whereas Barclays was less than a month and I had a debit card, credit card and could easily move money pay bills etc.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

How long ago was this? :unsure:

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

We used TorFX to transfer our money from Australia, and my husband opened a bank account with Lloyds after reading online they dealt with UK Expats returning home. We got a bank account with them no problem at all and have been out the country 15 years.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

At the end of the war the £ was $3.50. Labour devalued and it became $2.80. Late 60s Wilson devalued and it became $2.40. Early 70s the £ was floated but it didn't float it slowly sank, $2.20, $1.60, $1.40, now it is $1.28.
It may fluctuate a bit but long term I see no reason for the trend not to continue.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Go look at a chart - the last 40 years have seen many ups and downs, but the best fit line is close to horizontal at around $1.60. And anyone who understands anything about either politics or economics can see that the uncertainty over Brevity has depressed sterling significantly below where it would otherwise be.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Why are you looking at the last 40 years? The last 70 years show a downward trend and I see no reason for that not to continue. Every time there has been a big drop, and Brexit is one of many, it has never recovered fully. It ratchets down.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Why do you think what was happening in the immediate post-war period has anything relevance to what is happening today? :confused: The further back you go the less relevant the data and the £/$ rate has been $1.60+ within the past three years, and close to $2 within the past decade or so.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

GBP was over $2 several times in 2008. I converted funds then and got over $2 on net proceeds.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Exactly? So let's extrapolate that, and the $1.60 rate three years ago. So sterling is losing 40c every 3-5 years, which means in about 12 years from now the pound will have zero value. :rofl:

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Not sure what you are asking or saying. I was just stating the facts of what I did.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

I was making the point that if you cherry pick a few data points you can validate almost any best fit line, not picking on you personally. .... So contrasting your observation with Winston's.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

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Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

I had to open an account when I got here, then initiate the transfer from the UK. The main delay is in getting proof of address in the UK, because you can't open an account until you have it. Speak to your US bank about how you can initiate a large wire transfer from abroad, Wells Fargo really screwed me by giving my bad advice so I had to the slower route of writing a check and waiting for it to clear. Also, if it's a significant amount of money look at using a specialist foreign exchange company rather than letting your bank stick you with the tourist rate.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

This is good advice, but for significant amounts, over say $100k you should be asking the bank for a "dealing desk rate", which will likely be competitive with the rates offered by the specialist on-line FX broker-remitters, so there is no need to be "stuck with the tourist rate.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

This is the kind of post I don't like. Talks about bad advice, but does not tell us what that bad advice is. Says speak to your bank (the one that gives you bad advice). Then says look at using a specialist foreign exchange company instead of your bank, but again no specifics about which one(s) are good/bad/ok. Then tells us he did the dumbest thing ever by writing a check and waiting for it to clear, with bank exchange rate & hidden fees of SURPRISE.
3 weeks until my house sale closes. Then during the week after closing: I will pay all final bills, cancel anything that needs to be canceled, book first class ticket to UK on BA (using my AA miles), book hotel at heathrow (using my American Express points), get 2,000 GBP in cash, get rest of money in cashiers check (USD), close bank account. When I get to UK I will set up a HSBC/Barclays account with both USD & GBP. Still have to make a list of all the things I need to do and what order when in the UK (drivers license, bank, doctor, NI, etc). I got my American Express card because of a post I saw on britishexpats many years ago that said you can transfer the credit history to the UK. Hopefully I can get an American Express card in the UK with a similar spending limit as my current card.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Amex will use their proprietary data to issue a card in another country, but that is not the same as "transferring the credit history".

Also, unless your cashiers check is for $100k or more then by carrying a USD check to the UK you are locking in a poor exchange rate, because you have significantly reduced your options for exchanging the funds for sterling. You will likely do better with a smaller amount by using an FX broker-remitter such as Transferwise or WorldFirst. If you take a USD cashiers check back to the UK you may also have to wait a week or longer, potentially much longer before your account in the UK is credited.

Re: How do you get life savings from USA bank to the UK when you can't open a UK acco
 

Wow, sorry I wasn't specific enough for uou.

1. Make sure you understand what requirements you're US bank has to authorize a large wire transfer without you being able to present yourself in person at the bank. Wells Fargo requires you set this up an advance and gives you an RSA authorization device to use. The problem is that my branch didn't know this.


2. I'm using InternationalFX.com who are based in London


2. Don't assume I'm stupid. The check I wrote was a dollar check cashed by IFX to a dollar account, they then do the exchange, so no additional charges or bad exchange rates.