englishnurse

am i right in saying that you cannot open an american bank account from the uk? the halifax inform me that to transfer the proceeds of our house sale to the usa we must have a bank account open there, but must be in this country to initiate the transfer! am confused! by what other means can we take the money there without having a suitcase full of readies as hand luggage.
i know it sounds stupid but all this is completely new to me

Manc

go and see your local edward jones investor.

open a money market account.

move to USA

go see local Edward Jones investor.
expalin you have £'s in a edward jones money market acct in the UK.
tell him you'd like it in the USA.

doesn't have to be with Edward Jones, but you get my drift.

fatbrit

Generally, you can't open a US bank account without being physically present in the US.

Since you are moving to Arizona, Citibank and HSBC aren't going to be much use to you.

You could bring a cheque drawn in USD [US:check] -- Barclays do 'em, I'm sure other British High Street Banks will do them too. Alternatively, use a UK bank that has a little more flexibility.

Remember to bring a sizeable amount of cash, too. It will take time for your US bank account to be open and functioning with the money transferred.

englishnurse

thanks i think a bankers draft is probably the way forward. will ask nursing agency i am signed up with for advice also

Englishmum

*Yes* you can open a US bank account if you're not in the US - but almost certainly not with one of the local neighbourhood banks.

We opened an account with Chase Manhatten (Worldwide Consumer Banking department) when we were still in Singapore. It's even easier now as you can go to their website (see link below) and download the application form. The bank merged with the investment bankers JP Morgan and is now called JP Morgan Chase.

I don't know where Englishnurse is intending to live, but once she has moved to the US she could close her account with Chase if it is inconvenient and open an account with a local bank.

Here are the links and step-by-step directions on how to open an account. By the way - a current account is called a 'checking account' in the US....and you have to pay for your own chequebooks to be printed LOL!:


http://www.chase.com/cm/cs?pagename=...ctopening/faqs


http://www.chase.com/cm/cs?pagename=...nk/acctopening

http://www.chase.com/cm/cs?pagename=...anking/intbank

fatbrit

No Chase in AZ -- but they have recently bought Bank One. Dunno if it's still possible through B1

Englishmum

Oh, and another thing.

It takes *ages* for cheques to clear here unlike the 3 working days for inter-bank transfers in the UK; anything over $10,000 is reported to the IRS (I guess they're checking for money laundering and if people declare all income on their annual tax returns).

We thought it was weird when we first moved here that if we banked a cheque of say, $12,000 parts of the deposit would 'clear' in instalments.

Chase is well-known worldwide (they've had a prescence in London for many years although for investment banking only) which is why we opened an account with them as they're very used to dealing with expats .....as previously stated if EN opened an account with them she could always open up an account with a more convenient bank when she's settled in the US and close down the Chase account. They are mostly in the North Eastern parts of the US - but to be honest we do almost all of our banking with them online these days for paying bills etc.

woodsey

we opened our US bank account ( Wells fargo)whilst still living in th UK, we were in the US for a couple of weeks when we opened it (although aren't you in the US at the moment?) but they let us open it with a UK address, once our house had sold, they money was paid into our UK account then transferred to the US one, my understanding is that you do have to physically go into your back to transfer money, if you are already going to be in the US when your UK house is sold then surely you can get your solicitor to advise you on how to proceed?

englishnurse

am presently in the uk will give solicitor a ring in the morning as ask her what the best option is we are hoping to sell the house before we leave so that should simplify things hopefully

bored-silly

We did the same thing as Woddsy - HSBC have some sort of arrangement with Wells Fargo which allows you to open one while you are still in the UK.

mandpete

My Dad was our Power of Attorney until we were settled over here. The cheque from the proceeds of our house sale was made payable to my Dad. He opened a separate high interest account specifically for our money. We didn't bring it over all at once just called him when we needed lump sums of cash. The money was wired from HSBC in England to our Fleet (now Bank of America) account with no problems. I don't know how much each transfer cost but I think we were charged by HSBC and then charged by Fleet.

By the way we still have a UK bank account with 'emergency money' in just in case we ever have to leave the US quickly (job loss, visa problems etc.).

englishnurse

wouldnt give money to my dad he would probably rob it!
although mum would be a better option
thanks
x

sibsie

If you have Citizens' Bank in the area you're moving to they are well worth contacting. They are owned by Bank of Scotland and don't charge any fees at all if you are transferring from a B of S UK account. They have a great international department too. Pop into a B of S and ask them about it.

preet

I know that all banks in USA need a social security or tax ID number to open account. How do they open your account then without having those numbers. I am trying to open one but they ask for those numbers and wont open one for me. please help.

woodsey

We managed to open our bank account without a SS number, which ones have you tried, we are with Wells Fargo, we already had a pre-approved mortgage with them though so maybe this made a difference..