dylan&helen

Hi guys

I am sure you have been over this hundreds of times, but...

Can I transfer money into a US bank account while living in the UK?

Do I need a SS number to open the account in the first place?

Or is there any other way? (I am going to Florida Dec & Jan to look around– would be great to get the ball rolling)

Thanks for the advice in advance.

Dylan&Helen

Patrick

You can't open the account remotley without an SSN but if, when you are there in December, you go into a bank in person with your passport you can physically open a bank account.

Once you have opened the account you can transfer money to it.

Patrick

dylan&helen

Thank you for that Patrick.

Do you think I could open an account with, say, a £5000 cheque from my own account in the UK (written in $ or £’s).

Then maybe transfer money bit by bit, when I arrive back in England

(This would obviously be the account I would use when I move there)

Thank you

Dylan

Patrick

Your bank can write you a cheque in dollars so you can put it in the account. Personally I would open the account with a dollar then put the cheque in. Be careful not to exceed $10,000 in any one transaction (less money transfered electronically between banks) as this raise flags and you will have to prove where you got the money from.

I transferred all my money electronically once I had opened the account.

Patrick

dylan&helen

Thank you.

It all sounds very easy, just walking in with my passport

I have noticed past threads with people struggling to open an account.

Dylan&Helen

Patrick

Only if they try to do it remotley. If you walk in off the street and have proof of who you are then you can open one - its a business and they want your money.

Patrick

dylan&helen

This is very good to know.

Can you recommend a bank? (with internet facilities, would be even better)

Thank you very much

Dylan&Helen

Patrick

I use internet banking through Wachovia, I have found them to be good for both my home and business accounts. They also gave us a mortgage while we where still living in the UK

http://www.wachovia.com/

Patrick

dylan&helen

Wow... that site really opened my eyes, didnt know too much about the closing costs of a mortgage (unless i got something wrong)

Thanks for the link.

Dylan&Helen

Pulaski

No its worse than that. If you open a new account and start making regular transfers into it there is a very good chance that the bank will file a "suspicious activity report".

It would be better to transfer money in larger sums when you have it or need to, rather than trickling it is, not least because you can get a significantly better exchange reate on sums over £20-£25,000.

Patrick

I did say unless you do it electronically

Emm

Even money transferred between banks will be investigated it if is over a specific ammount.

They all have to do this to prevent money laundering, we came across it in England when we had a large amount of money to put down as a deposit for our first house (from an inheritence) and again when we transferred money from England to Sweden to buy our house there (the proceeds from the first house).

As long as you have a normal reason for having that amount of money, and can prove it, it is no problem but sometimes your money can be held by a 'holding' bank in the process, until you can provide the proof that they require. This happened to us when we transferred the money between banks form England to Sweden.

Emm.

Pulaski

No, Emm is right. A bank has the right, no, the [/i]obligation[/i] to file an SAR for anything that might reasonably cause them to suspect that something is "odd".

There doesn't even need to be any obvious connection to criminal activity, merely that it is, as the report name states "suspicious".