I relocated from South Africa to the UK. I was advised to try and set up a bank account before I left. I purchased the Kickstart package from 1st Contact in order to do that. I was under the impression that they would have started the paperwork before I left so it would just be a formality of appearing in person at the bank. But all they do is include an application form in the pack to be sent to London by the local branch. The local branch didn't know anything about it and told me I would need a local address (not a hotel) where I was staying before they could open an account for me. Whereas, 1st Contact assured me that a friend's address would be sufficient (my friend was in London and I was in Manchester - clearly I wasn't staying there). In the end I went to a different bank, did the whole thing from scratch. So I needn't have bothered with the Kickstart package at all.
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