Opening a bank account in ireland
posted by Colleen Mitchell in Ireland forum
It is really tough opening a bank account when you first arrive in Ireland. Bank of Ireland was willing to let us do this using a foreign address, but they won't post anything to your Irish address until you can provide them evidence of your address - at which point you can then open it with your Irish address. We ended up arranging to collect our bank cards from the bank to avoid the issue of them being posted to our foreign address. However, don't expect the process of opening a bank account to be quick, it can take several weeks!
Sometimes a letter from your employer alongside your work contract can help as well. Sometimes it really depends on who you happen to get at the bank and how flexible they are willing to be. To learn more about opening a bank account and Irish banking in general - visit http://relocatingtoireland.com/irish-essentials/banking-in-i
reland/