Bank Account and amount required for Residency

[euphony]

Hi guys,

Just a very quick one as I've got confused (again).
As I understand it, to show that my wife and myself are economically self sufficient we can show our funds in a foreign bank account, it doesn't have to be a Maltese bank account.
Now, with this in mind, we were thinking about opening one of the HSBC internation accounts, so that we could have a HSBC account in the UK (for our rent to be paid into from our tenants), an international one, and a local one in malta (So we can transfer over and withdraw for relatively low fees or none, if I read it all correctly). I need to look into it fully, but my main quesiton is that in order to keep the international account open we need to keep £60,000 in there (which we can just about do, at least in the short term), will showing this balance tick the economic self sufficiency box?
I'll be joining the premium board as soon as I can (once I'm nearer to knowing when i can move over), so I'm hoping there's plenty of info in there, in case there's a much more cost effective alternative.
I had a look at some of the Maltese banks too by doing a load of searches. Are any of these any good and does anyone recommend them?
My mind is melting knowing what direction to take

Many thanks

Chris

[Playbyte]

Hi Euphony

We know how you feel having gone through this process for the last 12 months.

Now we are within 3 weeks of completion on our house but not moving out to Malta until mid Dec because of work commitments, we have done a lot of research and you are right there is a lot of information available by being a premium ember.

All the questions you have asked, and a lot you haven't even thought about, are answered within the premium lounge which we have found to be very helpful.

An additional pert of being a member is that it would give you access to other members for private conversations that perhaps you don't wish to have read on the forum.

We have been advised that having €23300 (£18500) capital for a married couple or a weekly income of €93.10 (Pensioners fall under this category).

If you do become a premium member then feel free to PM me to pick over what I have found out in the last 12 months.

As the time is getting nearer our excitement level is growing especially as our belongings are leaving the UK on 8th Aug to go to a place that we are going to rent in Gozo.

Roger

[euphony]

Ok, thanks Roger, I'll certainly do that. Any advice would be amazing. We can't cut our ties to the UK completely as we'll need a UK account to have rent paid into, as we're renting our house as part of our income. The rest is initially topped up from our savings and then shortly after that my wife's pension, followed by my pension. It's going to get confusing!
I'm waiting to hear some definitive news about what is happening with my job here before I can join the premium part as it makes sense to join that when i know exactly what is happening and time frames involved.
We'll also be in Gozo..still haven't decided 100% on what village yet, we're back over in September for the next phase of elimination!
Many thanks again

Chris

[Playbyte]

Hi Chris

We too will have UK accounts, International bank services and Maltese accounts, and my wife will be going back and forth periodically to see her mother and do some work in during that time as she is a freelance trainer.

A good accountant in Malta is also worthwhile having (not expensive), details of which can be found in the Premier Lounge.

Our next visit is 4th - 10th Sept to hopefully receive our goods in Sannat.

Roger

[chris green]

Hi guys,

My mind is melting knowing what direction to take

Chris

Payment of the small fee which gives you Premium Membership and helps the animals at Gozo SPCA is known to be efficacious in preventing mind meltdown.

[euphony]

It shall soon be done

[gozomark]

but my main quesiton is that in order to keep the international account open we need to keep £60,000 in there (which we can just about do, at least in the short term), will showing this balance tick the economic self sufficiency box?

yes

[MikeLavin]

€60,000 is a very high minimum for HSBC to ask for. Many offshore accounts have very low minimum balances so you may be best looking at other options. In addition, although HSBC may not charge explicitly for transfers from HSBC-HSBC, they will really cost you on exchange rates, if you are moving between Sterling and Euro. You would be better using a foreign exchange company for currency bank transfers as the rates are so much better and as they actually make the transfer on your behalf you should not pay a bank transfer fee.

[Playbyte]

5 weeks away from arriving in Gozo and our excitement is gaining momentum.

Everything is now in place with our house sold, house contents now in Gozo, bank accounts sorted, Maltese accountant onboard, car insurance for car in airport car park (see other post on UK car insurance), flights booked, work in the UK for next year planned and flights booked.

Currently living in a holiday let in the UK while we wait for Marion's sons wedding and the departure date shortly afterwards and for the new life as a retired pensioner living the life in the sun.

We are looking forward to meeting new people and getting involved in lots of activities not least of which is walking to get our weight down.

Roger

[gozomark]

great news

[PeaCakes]

€60,000 is a very high minimum for HSBC to ask for. Many offshore accounts have very low minimum balances so you may be best looking at other options. In addition, although HSBC may not charge explicitly for transfers from HSBC-HSBC, they will really cost you on exchange rates, if you are moving between Sterling and Euro. You would be better using a foreign exchange company for currency bank transfers as the rates are so much better and as they actually make the transfer on your behalf you should not pay a bank transfer fee.

The £60,000 may be for an HSBC Premier account. In fact in Malta
the requirement is €70,000 to be held for a Premier account.
But then one can apply for an ordinary account instead I suppose.

[stroppy knickers]

I have to tell you guys, don't ever have a joint account with HSBC Malta. If something happens to one of you it's not like in the UK where you can still access 50% of the balance while waiting for probate (and they demand probate here even when it's not required in the UK).. they freeze the lot, then it takes about 8 MONTHS before they deign to release your funds. No apologies, no interest paid and no closing statement on the account so you can't even tell if they filched anything. I've had an absolute nightmare with HSBC Malta and will never use them again. I do all my banking with Banif in 2 accounts, one for sterling and one for euros.

[Kay]

Crikey, that sounds pretty bad. You can always expand on the story in the Premium Lounge and post your bank experiences on the RS.

It's nice to see you have a new avatar too, so we're able to put a face to the name.

[PeaCakes]

Just to clarify a point. There is no probate in Malta. I know this from dealing with both my parents wills following their passing away here in Malta, with locally registered wills.
The problem with the release of funds from the banks is that all the entitled legatees have to sign together for anyone of the legatees to obtain their entitlement. In other words if one persons cannot or does not want to sign the release then no one gets their share......unfortunately I know this.
I appreciate joint accounts wold probably add further "complications"

[stroppy knickers]

I'm still going through this now. Mum was a British Citizen, and as such had to have a Grant of Probate issued in the UK in order to release funds held in Malta. She left a small sum, not a huge lump, it amounted to under 4K euros but I had to spend 685.00 sterling to get a grant of probate issued in the UK even though she was well under the threshold. To add insult to injury, once they'd received the grant of probate it took them a further 7 weeks to release the funds. I was her sole beneficiary and also the executor of her will, but I had to spend 1,000 euro's to get all this sorted out here with a Notary acting on my behalf.
When we first moved here permanently, I aded my Mum to my HSBC account so she would have a little sense of security and a week before she died, knowing the time was close I transferred 10k sterling into it to pay for funeral costs etc. From MY account in the UK, by bank transfer on the internet. This was frozen the moment I told them that Mum had passed away. Every last penny I had here in Malta was frozen for 8 months while they mucked me about. If I had been left on my own here, with no access to any funds I'd have been in big trouble, but luckily I have a Husband who has a job here.