Hey all,
So my husband and I are moving to London in October. Not really sure how to go about getting AUS funds into a London bank account unless we withdraw from Citibank plus card. Are there any banks that have have ATMs and branches in both countries?
Also any tips on renting? We haven't got jobs lined up, so may make things a bit difficult. Planning to stay with sister in law for the initial stages.
Any other general tips would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers
Thanks for the tip! We will certainly look into that :)
We're both physiotherapists so hoping to just do short term contracts so we can do some traveling in between
Wouldn't opening a CitiBank account in Australia (which most people would have if they've traveled O/S before), then opening a CitiBank UK account (with the use of a recommendation letter from CitiBank Aust) be the best option? Then it would be easy (and free?) to transfer funds from your CitiBank AUS account to CitiBank UK account?
i don't know if still the same as i haven't been in the uk for 3 years now but banks generally don't charge for atm withdrawals at ANY banks ATM. apart from those mini private ones you find in convenience stores etc
Unless it's changed (I left UK is 2002) ATM's aren't as specific as here. If your card has "visa" or "mastercard" on it, it's usually easy to use them. Don't know if there's any kind of ties or not but Westpac bought into Lloyds bank. Also look at http://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/global-locations/wes…
I'm with Barclays, they were pretty good when I transferred from UK to Australia. There is a Barclays in Australia but only for businesses.
Rent in London? A fortune! Better if you can find somewhere outside and commute, you'll be communting anyway and travel around London (on roads) is SLOW. We spent 2 years living in Luton in the early 70's whilst my dad worked in Streatham & Chiswick in London.
I stayed at Bayswater, London on and off in the mid 80's.
There are lots of "hostels" in those 4 storey walk ups where you rent a bed in a (keyed)room - and share the bathroom down the hall, and have communal breakfast downstairs and use the kitchen at night to cook.
I'd take off to Europe for a few days or weeks, leaving my stuff in the storeroom. When I returned, the same (my) bed was still available. (There were only 2 beds in my room and the other "lodger" was an optometrist from Australia working full time so I hardly saw him.) The longer you stay the more likely you'll "get in" again when returning, if that makes sense. Full of aussies, kiwis, south africans.
Anyhow, there is lots of budget accom - Tripadvisor would be a good source of info and TNT magazine online.
Subscribing to this as my gf and I are planning on doing this next year.
I found this blog extremely helpful with information for everything you will need when it comes to moving and living in the UK.
http://www.theaussienomad.com/travel-tips/moving-to-london/
You can also try HSBC for a bank account. They have a International Banking Centre that helps people open bank accounts in countries where HSBC has a presence.
From what I've read so far, finding accomodation to rent is one of the most hardest things to do in London and a lot of people have thrown in the towel to come back home. It helps if you have a family or friend you can stay with initially while you look for your own place.
I believe there are 4 main zones, zone 1 being Central London and most expensive. Zone 4 being the cheapest I think but also the furthest from the main city area. I guess you should consider which part of the city you want to work in, if you end up getting a job in central London, it might be cheaper to just rent a place in Zone 1 than pay transport costs from other areas.
Thanks for the tips and the link
Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I've settled in London now and thought I'd just update to give any future expats some tips:
1) Banking
Much easier to get it sorted when in London. There was the option of HSBC organizing an international account from Melbourne, however that would cost $200 and 3 months to organize and most of their branches only open weekdays. So we opted for Lloyds bank which (along with HSBC) are the only banks that can open an account for you with just a passport, all other banks also request a proof of UK address in the form of a bill addressed in your name
2) Renting
We were fortunate enough to have a Aussie friend who was also looking for a place to rent, we're all physios btw. Neither my husband or I had a job ready for us which made it quite difficult. So long story short our friend managed to convince our physio recruitment company to say that I had a job already which then allowed us to rent. So tip is, if you can find a job from Australia it would really help with getting a place!
Banking:
I would recommend to open a Citibank account in Australia if you don't have it already. Then open one in UK, you can instantly transfer money without fees between the accounts.
As already mentioned above no atm fees in UK if you use a different Bank atm.
Yeah thats a good idea, unfortunately Citibank screwed me over, after 5 months of calling them repetitively they never sent me out a card - even the people on the phone didn't know why
Thought i might contribute to this as the wife and i just recently moved to London:
Banking - we found that Lloyds bank had the most lax critieria for opening an account. All we needed was a passport. Other banks asked us for proof of address (eg, utilities, bills) which was silly because we just arrived.
Phone - Three and Giffgaff are good starting points for PAYG services. We're signed up with three, and paying £15 for 300 mins, 3000 text and unlimited data
Job - My wife is also a physio :) its mega easy to find a job for aussie physios to find work in London. I'm in financial services, found a couple of contracting roles (slow over festive period, but job market is picking up now).
Renting - this is our next challenge. Fortunate to be staying to family initally, but we're looking for a place to rent around Zone 2 - Bethal Green/Mile End (sort of like a grundgy Newtown/Surry Hills)
National Insurance Number - equivalent to our TFN. Sign up for one as soon as you can becase it takes between 4 - 6 weeks to arrive, and you need one to get paid.
National Health Service - equivalent to our Medicare. Once you've found a place to live, walk into the nearest GP and sign up (GP services all located based - you sign up where you live).
Hope this helps someone! PM me for anything else!
Thank for this Vietbargain! This would definitely help me and my gf moving to London in June.
Just to quickly clarify, did Lloyds bank require a residential address during account opening? Only because we'll be staying in a hotel the first couple of weeks while looking for a place to live. We don't really know anyone in London so not much choice.
Also is finding a place to rent as hard as everyone else say it is? We would be looking either Zone 1 or 2 and if necessary, I guess we can pay up to 6 months advance.
Thanks again in advance.
no problems, glad i could help.
Lloyds needed an address to send documents + visa debit card (received within the week). I've received mail/parcels from my hotel suite a couple of times before, you could try that if you know you'll be staying in once place for a while.
Renting - at the moment, it does seem a bit hard. you have to pay an "application fee" every time you apply to rent some place (around 180 pounds), so fingers crossed we get the first place we apply for. Most leases run for 12 - 18 months.
Thanks vietbargain. I also work in financial services (management accountant (CA) in a bank/ insurer). Would be keen to hear how the job search is going and your thoughts on the best way to secure work in this area. My plan is to head over in 12 months.
My accountant buddy finished up with a year long contract over christmas, and found a new gig in just over a week.
Recruiters are your best bet, but I've also been applying on jobserve and monster job sites.
Applying directly to big banks and companies have also landed me a few interviews.
Good luck!!
Thanks for the tips.
Moving to London in late March 2016 to commence FT work for ~2-5 years. How does one go about applying for a National Insurance number? Also, is it difficult to set up a post-paid mobile phone account?
Hey mate,
We're settled in London now, arrived in June last year. We stayed in Airbnb accommodation for two weeks while looking for a place.
The national insurance number you just apply over the phone, they will send out a pack by mail which you fill out. Once sent back it will take approx 6 weeks to get your NIN. But don't stress about not being able to work. You can still start working and just provide your NIN once you receive it.
To open a bank account, you usually need an address. Ive heard people using a hotel address but haven't seen that option often. We went with TSB bank as they're quite easy to open an account with. Some major banks are a pain in the ass and extremely difficult to deal with.
Regarding mobile sim, there are plenty of prepaid options available. We went with Three because they have Feel At Home option where roaming in 18 countries is included in your package. The data is also unlimited. After a couple of months, I applied for sim only plan and got approved.
You should be able to find all the detailed info online if you google.
Overall it's a great experience so far. But don't expect similar service levels as Australia specially when it comes to banking. There are tons of red tape here to jump through just to open a simple bank account in most cases. I see Aus now as a walk in the park if I want some sort of service or product.
Hey tryonthis
I've just written a blog about the things to do when moving to London, hope it helps
http://poonannsontour.blog.com/2016/02/02/the-ultimate-guide…
hsbc can organise from here, goto regent street and pick up card
this is a vague memory, but ni wait was a pain so i did the following
get a ni number, goto tooting broadway, say you have an appt at 10am, when they cant find you on the list, chuck a stink saying they confirmed yesterday and you made special trip, worked for me.
i found living where an overland train went to was better, tube stinks and is unreliable, overland train nice and not as crowded
i lived in teddington
We opened an account with HSBC as we found it the easiest bank to get things done. We also brought over copies of our utility bills from Australia. When it came to rentals, we used as a reference, friends who were already living there. In addition, our accountant was called as a reference. Trying to get internet was a pain and we had to use prepaid broadband for a few months before we could apply. If you plan on watching any television, including that streamed on the internet, you will need to purchase a TV license.
My wife and I are doing the same thing - in fact our flight for London is in 12 hrs :)
For banking, there is a service by OzForex (www.ozforex.com.au). Essentially you set up an account with them, and then once you have opened up a UK bank account, OzForex will convert AUD into GBP and transfer for you. If you transfer over $10,000 then there is no fee for the conversion and transfer. Then you just use your UK Bank's ATMs to withdraw.
What professions do you and your husband work in? We are going through an organisation called Global Career Link (www.globalcareerlink.com), which helps Aussies and Kiwis secure jobs in Finance and IT (predominately). They will help you setup bank accounts, get phone numbers, and also organise meetings with recruitment firms. Once we get there, I already have 8 appointments with recruiters organised for me.
Can't help with Rent/accomodation at this stage, we are doing the same as you and staying with a cousin for the time being, until we can afford our own place. Though it might be a bit hard with no rental history in the UK.
Good luck and let me know how things go :D