UK Bank Account for Thai Wife

[Son of Clouseau]

I want to open a UK Bank for my Thai wife in order for her to receive income (GBP) from different sources with the UK for various administrative reasons after I have passed on, but it is proving difficult if not impossible and I would appreciate to hear if other posters have overcome this.

 

My wife has never lived in UK as a resident.  She does not have a National Insurance Number or HMRC Tax Reference since she has never worked in UK.  I do have a UK Account but that will close upon my passing.

 

Maybe this a non starter and it will not be possible, but any useful info relating to UK accounts for Thai Nationals in a similar position would be appreciated.

 

Thank you

[torturedsole]

I reckon pretty much impossible.  I recall the days when I was a teenager and could walk into any bank without ID and open an account there and then.  But with KYC and money laundering regulations so tight now then this will prove almost impossible.  Back to the drawing board for you, OP.  Sorry.

 

Edited December 5, 2019 by torturedsole

[dabhand]

Maybe give the Transferwise Borderless account a try.

 

https://transferwise.com/gb/borderless/

[lungbing]

I added my wife to my HSBC current account thus making it a joint account.  This was 7 years when we were in England for a funeral.   As far as I recall all we needed  was her passport.   They knew we were not UK resident. I asked at the time what would happen when I died and they said that on receipt of a death certificate they would just remove my name from the account leaving it in the name of my wife, which was our intention.

[Kwasaki]

5 hours ago, Son of Clouseau said:

I would appreciate to hear if other posters have overcome this.

Maybe try opening an account with FD online banking a member of HSBC group bankers.

My Thai Mrs and I have a joint a/c. 

[Son of Clouseau]

13 hours ago, lungbing said:

I added my wife to my HSBC current account thus making it a joint account.  This was 7 years when we were in England for a funeral.   As far as I recall all we needed  was her passport.   They knew we were not UK resident. I asked at the time what would happen when I died and they said that on receipt of a death certificate they would just remove my name from the account leaving it in the name of my wife, which was our intention.

Very helpful - thank you.  In fact after posting my question I received confirmation from my UK Bank that proof of address (UK) and passport is all that is required.  So it's not the problem I thought it was going to be,    As for the suggestion of another OP to try a Transferwise Borderless Account, I had intended to do just that but to open such an account requires an opening balance of 20 pounds which must come from a UK account in the wife's name, so that was a non-starter.

 

My thanks to all who replied.