An Expat’s Guide to Opening a Bank Account in Ireland

One of the first things you will want to do once you make your move to Ireland is to open up a bank account with an Irish bank. Irish bank accounts can be opened by anyone, both residents and non residents. You will need to open up your bank account in person as most Irish banks will not open an account for you until they see you in person. If you are unsure of where to go to open up a bank account for yourself, you can try asking neighbors or colleagues for recommendations of financial institutions near you.

In order to open up an Irish bank account you will need to be at least 18 years of age and provide two forms of identification. One piece of identification must include a picture, such as a passport. If you are living in Ireland you will need to have proof of residence, which simply means something like a utility bill that has your name and address of your residency on it.

If you happen to be in Ireland before you are to take up residence, it might be a good idea to go ahead and open up an account so that you can easily transfer money from your current account to your new Irish bank account. To do this, you will need to get an application form from a foreign branch of the Irish bank. This is most easily done in a place like New York City if you are living in the United States. You will need to send in proof of where you will be living in Ireland with your application as well as proof of where the funds you are depositing originated if you are depositing a large amount of money.

You should know that credit ratings are done differently in Ireland than in the United States. The Irish Credit Bureau is the company over credit histories in Ireland and offers access to your own Irish credit file for a fee. They do not send any information to other countries credit bureaus.

If you are thinking that you will not need to open up an account in Ireland because you can use your account in your home country you are likely wrong for one reason. You must pay Irish utility bills and tax bills through direct debit of an Irish bank account.

The procedure for opening up a bank account in Ireland is the same for both residents and non residents. The only difference is that residents are taxed on any interest that is earned on deposits while non residents are free of Irish tax on interest earned.