Congratulations on your big move to the UK! Now that you’re here it’s time to start settling in. Moving to a new country really gave me an appreciation of how much easier it is to open bank accounts or find a place to live when you have a permanent address or were born there. There are a lot of hoops to jump through and a specific order to do things in it seems. So I created this guide to help you get settled in the UK.
Getting a Phone Number
Honestly, getting a phone number was the easiest part. The great thing about the mobile networks in the UK is that they have what are called SIM only plans and they are ridiculously cheap. You can go into any cell phone provider, or even your local grocery store, and purchase a SIM card with data, text and voice minutes preloaded for usually between 5-25£. You then top up your card each month and can cancel whenever. There’s no contract, credit checks or having to sit in the store for an hour while they set up your account. I ended up going with Vodafone and their new network VOXI. Ultimately I chose VOXI as it is a network for under 30’s that provides you with unlimited use of social media. For 10£ a month I get unlimited text, calls, 6GB of data and endless use of social media (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp and many more) which doesn’t count towards my data. Also included is unlimited roaming so I can use my phone across Europe at no extra charge. There’s plenty of options for different providers and each company offers something a little different so definitely see what your options are. I just provided them with the address for my Airbnb, which I later changed online, my ID, and paid for the first month and I was good to go.
Picking Up Your BRP Card
You’ll want to try and pick up your biometrics card as soon as you can because you will need it to register for a lot of other things. Your BRP card is your visa. It says you’re allowed to be here, for how long and what the restrictions on your visa are. It’ll also be your main form of ID. In my first post, I’d talked about trying your best to have your BRP sent to a post office in the city you’d be living in. If you have changed your mind and decided to settle somewhere else you can have your card rerouted. Rerouting the card though is a hassle and costs an extra 20£. But here is why it’s best to have it sent to where you’ll be living.
I’d assumed my BRP would be ready for pickup shortly after arriving in the UK. I planned to fly into London and spend some time there before going to Edinburgh. When I received my confirmation letter it said my card would be available for pickup on February 8th, eight days after I am set to arrive. No big deal I’ll spend a couple extra days in London. On the 9th I went to pick up my BRP from the post office but it hadn’t arrived yet. They told me to come back on Monday; but, I would already be in Edinburgh by then. When I asked what I could do, if I could request it be sent to Edinburgh or anything and they had no answers. I headed up to Edinburgh and did some digging around on the government website. I found that I would have to go into the post office here in Edinburgh and request that it be rerouted. So, off I go to the post office to get this sorted. Except the post office here could not complete the request because they couldn’t see me in the system which meant my card still hadn’t arrived, four days later, in London. It was suggested I contact home office. You can only contact the home office through email, it usually takes a day or two before you get an initial response and another day for any other replies after that. It’s now almost a week after I was initially supposed to pick up my BRP when home office emailed me saying my BRP had finally arrived in London. So, back to the post office this time they were able to complete the request, I paid my fee and was told it would be here in about a week. I waited the week and nothing. They said to give it a couple more days because they should get the delivery in then. Still nothing. So, they send an email to inquiry its whereabouts and tell me to come back tomorrow. When I came back the next day they told me that Royal Mail had lost my BRP between London and Edinburgh and I would have to contact Home Office again. I started to worry because I was now only a couple days away from the temporary vignette in my passport expiring. Luckily, by the time I’d been able to explain the story to the Home Office and they responded, my BRP randomly showed up in Edinburgh. Had I just had my BRP sent to Edinburgh in the first place I could have avoided this whole thing.
Finding Housing
Finding a place to live happened a lot quicker than I’d anticipated. I’d rented an Airbnb for my first two weeks here but it only took me a week to find a place. I searched for flat-shares on Gumtree which is probably the best option and it’s exactly like Craigslist. You create an account and contact the poster of the ad through there. Gumtree is also super on top of ads that they feel might be a scam and always warn you if someone you contacted has been flagged in their system. Within my first few days here I’d set up about six flat viewings. Things to think about when you’re looking for a place. If a place is being rented by an actual letting agency, they’ll ask for your UK banking info, which you most likely won’t have. There are plenty of people though, just like back home, that don’t go through an agency and will have you sign their own contract without needing all your account info. On top of rent and utilities here though there’s something called council tax. Essentially this is a tax based on the estimated value of the property and how many people are living there and it is determined by the local council. Students don’t pay council tax. When looking for places some ads have council tax and utilities included in the total price of rent but not all do. So that’s always a good thing to ask about.
Finding a Job
Again, Gumtree, great place to start looking for jobs. You can browse different categories or search for something specific. When you’ve found something you’d like to apply to you can attach your cv and cover letter there through the website and send it. Indeed is another popular site for job postings. There’s also the good old fashioned sign in the window. Lots of retail shops, bars and restaurants post open positions in their windows and encourage you to come in and drop off your CV. So keep an eye open while you’re wandering around town.
Getting Your National Insurance Number (NI)
In order to work and pay the proper taxes in the UK you need to have a National Insurance Number, just like a Social Insurance Number in Canada. Double check before calling though that your BRP doesn’t already have a NI number on it as they are starting to issue them automatically with some visas. If you don’t have a NI number on your BRP then you can give the application line a call at 0800 141 2075 . They’ll ask for your full name, date of birth, address, country of birth and all the other usual things. You will then probably have to go for an interview to confirm all these things so you’ll have to bring your passport, BRP, lease agreement, and whatever else they tell you to bring. They asked me to also bring a letter of employment. You can start working before your NI number arrives but you will need to apply for it as soon as you can. Without your NI number you pay what’s called emergency tax on your paycheque which is typically a little higher than what your would normally pay. The wait for your NI number to arrive in the mail is currently up to 10 weeks.
Registering With a GP
Once you’ve found a place to live you can register with a local doctor. You can’t just register with any doctor though, it has to be one within your catchment. You can find your closest doctors office on the NHS website. To register just go into the office, bring a piece of ID (your BRP,) proof of address (your signed lease agreement) and fill out the paperwork. You should then receive a letter confirming your registration to the NHS in a couple weeks.
Opening a Bank Account
Honestly, opening a bank account in the UK is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. There are so many hoops you have to jump through due to strict rules about proof of address. For people who are new to the UK you have very few options when it comes to what you can provide. You can give them your lease agreement, but it must be from a trusted letting agency not just a landlord. Or you can bring in a utility bill or council tax bill in your name; but, phone bills don’t work. If it doesn’t take 10 weeks for your NI number to arrive you can bring in that letter (if it’s from the last 6 months) along with a letter of employment. The letter of employment must have,
- your employment start date
- your full name and address
- be dated within one calendar month
- be signed by a company representative
- must be on company headed paper
However, if you’re stuck in a similar situation to mine there is one other option. You can bring in your NHS registration letter along with a doctors letter. This letter must be from a surgery or hospital and must contain,
- your full name and address
- be signed and dated by the doctor
- dated within one calendar month
- telephone contact numbers
- must be on letter headed paper
- confirm the relationship ie. patient/ doctor
I registered with a GP about three weeks ago and still haven’t received my NHS registration letter yet which pretty much left me with no options. Until a coworker told me about online only banks Monzo and Revolut. These are a great option if you have completely exhausted all other attempts at opening an account. They do have some great perks like being able to use your card across Europe without fees, send international money transfers for little to no fee and you don’t have to jump through a billion hoops to open an account. The only thing I needed to open an account was my BRP, passport and a top up from my account back home to get my account started. Being online only though there are of course some downsides. Like, you can’t deposit cheques or cash into your account with Revolut, you can with Monzo but you have to do it through a PayPoint. Each of these banks have different pros and cons, so if you’re thinking of going the online route compare them to see what will work best for you.
If you have any further questions or if there’s something I’ve missed you’d like me to talk about don’t hesitate to reach out to me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Or if you’re thinking of applying for a UK working holiday visa you can read about the process here. If you’ve already applied and would like to know what the next steps are you can read about that here.
Moving here has pretty much proven Murphy’s Law for me but I also wouldn’t change this amazing experience for anything. I’ve already seen and experienced so much while here and I’m only just beginning. I’m super excited to start getting back into the travel aspect of my blog, I’ve got lots of posts coming up about what I’ve done so far in my time here in Europe. You can follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram