I've just arrived....now what?

You've had a great flight, you've landed safely and you are ready to start your new life.  Now what?  Where to from here?

The first thing you will need to arrange is a place to day (which hopefully you did before departure) and a SIM card to get connected.  Pre-paid SIM cards are available everywhere, for free, so pick one up and load some credit to get yourself connected. That done...what are the first things you need to do on arrival?

Here'es a simple check list of the very important tasks that absolutely have to be done within the first few weeks of arrival.  This post relates to the statutory tasks you need to complete, not the life decisions to be made around work, accommodation, schools etc.  In between all of that, make sure you get this list completed in the fastest possible time to ensure you are officially on your way to a new life.

Let's get started:

  • On arrival, your very first stop, even on the day of arrival is collecting your BRP.  Read about collection here, including the regulations around collecting children's BRPs
  • Next up, register for an NI number.  Depending on what your right to live/work is, there are two ways of doing this, which you can read about here.
  • Next on the list, particularly as you may need this to serve as proof of residence, is to convert your SA licence to a UK driving licence.  The process is simple but remember that you need to send away your BRP as well as passport and SA driving licence...make sure you won't be needing those document for a few days while you wait.
  • Equally importantly, is registration with the NHS and your local clinic, which you can read about here.
  • Hopefully you will now have some form of proof of residence, such as a UK driving licence or NHS registration, which means you can register for a bank account. Certain documents are required by law, and you cannot use the same document for two different purposes (for example, you will need two documents for proof of ID and proof of residence).
  • Last, but not least, and quite quick to do, is apply to the electoral register.  This helps your credit rating as well!
Those are the main, important task, we'll cover the "life admin" in a separate post.




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