Moving to the UK: It’s a Go, Now What?
A step by step guide on making your move
In our first post “Moving to the UK: Go or No Go” we talked about things that will help you decide whether it’s a good idea to move to the UK or not. Today, we are going to talk about what you need to do when you have finally decided that you will go ahead with the move. These are things we did when we made the move and the things we wished we would have done. Full disclosure up front, a long post coming.
This is based on our experience as South Asians moving to the UK. The reason behind starting to write about our experience is although there are a lot of posts about moving preparation, they are mostly focused on moving from western countries. So most of the advice is non-applicable and lacking in our context. Similarly, if you are a non-asian reading this, you might also feel the same way.
Check your passport validity and apply for the visa
If your passport is at the brink of expiry, get it renewed first. Then work on applying for the visa. At this stage, I am assuming that you already have a job offer or a student offer at hand and have all the necessary documents in that regard.
The skilled visa route is now different to what we applied for in 2018. With Brexit, UK brought a new point-based visa which removed some of the restrictions they previously had. If you got a job offer in a large company with a good relocation package, the chances are you get an immigration company like Fragomon assisting you in the visa process. Nevertheless, do your own research. The gov.uk site is a very good resource for this and you will find all the information you need there.
One thing to note is that you need to prove your English language proficiency. If you have done your degree in English, the chances are you can apply to get certified through UKNARIC and don’t have to do an English exam. I only needed my transcript and a letter from my university stating that the degree program was conducted in English. When you are planning dates and booking visa appointments, make sure to do that when you finally get hold of this.
In the meantime, check whether you need a TB test and get an appointment booked. Book your appointment as soon as possible as this also might take few weeks.
Once you check you have all the necessary information fill out the application form to apply for a UK visa and get your appointment booked. Then it’s a waiting game.
Since I had a good relocation package with my job offer, they took care of booking appointments and paying for the visa. They have paid extra and has chosen the faster route. My visa came within 1 week after the application is submitted. However, the spouse visa for my husband took 3 weeks to come. So our advice is that do not book anything until you get hold of the visa.
Decide on the date of the move
Now you have the visa in your hand, you can decide on a date to move. For us, it was entirely dependent upon the starting date of my new job. We decided that we need to arrive in the UK at least one week before the starting date so it will give us some time to get familiar with the environment and do the house hunting. This week ended up being very fruitful for us and we were actually able to find a place to live, get bus passes, be familiar with grocery, cooking, eating out and get rid of jet lag.
Book your tickets
It’s a common secret that the earlier you book, the chances that you are getting a good price for the airline ticket is higher. And if you are moving from South Asia to the UK, you might already know that the tickets are very very expensive.
You have two options in booking your tickets, go with your favourite airline or go with the cheapest. Being a frequent traveller, it’s usually beneficial to go with one airline always because of the perks you get.
When you are booking your tickets try to arrive in the UK during the day, as much as possible. Most of the shops in the UK close very early comparatively and train services and public transport stop or have limited services at night. If you get into trouble finding temporary accommodation or so you would be lucky to have the daylight on your side. Also, note that in the winter the days are shorter and in the summer it's vice versa.
Book your temporary accommodation
This need to be done in parallel with booking your flight. The last thing you want is to wait few hours until check-in time at 2 pm because your flight landed at 7 AM in the morning. After 10+ hours of flying and transits, you do not want to hang around at the airport until the check-in time. One thing we did to work around this is to book the temporary accommodation from the day before so that we know we can go straight to the place, have a shower and sleep off the jet lag. if it's an air bnb try to talk with your landlord to see the possibility of early check-ins.
When booking temporary accommodation you have three options; if your relocation is handled by a company, you will get the chance to stay at a serviced apartment and the rest will be handled by your company. However, if you have to do this yourself, you can book an Airbnb or a hostel. Make sure they are close to public transportation and a grocery store.
Start looking for a long term accommodation
It’s never too early to decide where you wanna live once you moved. Start searching about the city that you are moving to, good and bad areas and the prices of the places which are available to rent. Go to Google Maps, type in the postcode and see the places in the street view. The rental market moves fast. So once you are one week away from your moving date, start booking the viewing appointments. Do not decide on a contract purely based on the pictures available online. We have found places where the pictures look nice but the actual apartment is not and other cases where the pictures were a few years older and the apartment is refurbished and really cool. In fact, the first place we rented was like that. Do your own research on the areas and rental house prices. Decide whether you want to live close to your office or want to live in a suburb and commute to the office.
Start saying goodbye to friends and family
As South Asians, we have large families. We are relatively close with our relatives, neighbours and friends. It’s never too early to let them know you are relocating. Schedule to meet your friends, have a short party before you move. Have it before the last week, as you will have thousand and one things to do just before the move.
Start Packing
Since you have already booked the airline, check their luggage sizes and how much you can bring. If you do not have a scale at home to weigh your bags, I highly encourage you to buy one or borrow one from a friend. The last thing you want is to be at the airport and decide what to drop because you are overweight.
Make a list. Think about what you want to bring. Keep in mind, you will not get paid until the end of the month in your new job. So in most cases, you need to have money and essentials to live off the first month.
One other crucial thing to remember when you are packing is that you need to pack your clothes for the season. If you are moving in Summer you are lucky. But if you make the move in winter, you need to be prepared with your winter clothes in your hand luggage. Jackets, neck warmers, tights, gloves and whatnot.
Hand over your responsibilities
Do you manage money in your village welfare committee, do you pay your parents utility bills, do you volunteer with the village youth centre? Make a list of the responsibilities that you have and start handing over them to suitable people. The last thing you want is your parents to end up with no electricity because you forget to pay their bill.
Roaming and Data for the first few days
Make sure that you have researched roaming and data packages to be used in the first few days before you buy a SIM. Pay as you go SIM cards are usually available in supermarkets and you can just top up and start using them. However, at least for day 1, make sure you have your data needs covered. You will need data to book an Uber, find the places from Google Maps etc. Don’t expect to depend on the airport wifi.
Manage your money and debts
This is of utmost importance and this is something I almost missed. Although I didn’t have any debts, I had money in fixed deposit accounts and I realised when I move, I am really locked out of accessing the money until I come back. So I got all of them and put them in my mom’s account (Have to stress that I have no siblings and I trust my mom with my money) so that she would later put into a fixed deposit under her name. So that if and whenever I or my parents wanted the money they can get them out and send them to me or use them.
Same with the debts. If you have loan payments or credit card debt, make sure to pay them off or at least have a mechanism to continue to pay them. Figuring out these things when you are in the country is easier than when you have finally moved.
If you have a lot of credit cards and debit cards, cancel the unnecessary ones. It’s always safe to have one credit card at hand which can do international payments. But you don’t need 5 credit cards and 10 debit cards from the accounts that you have even forgotten about. I kept one credit card and one debit card and cancelled all else. When I go back after one year, I cancelled the credit card as well. Now I only have one debit card which I use when I go back.
If your bank offers online accounts, activate them. It might be crucial if you want to send money and wanted to ensure that the money has been received. Whenever I want to send money home, I would send it to my bank account and once I confirmed that it's there, transfer it from there to my parent's accounts. You can also use them to pay the bills online.
Use your loyalty card points
A lot of companies now offer loyalty cards with point systems for regular shoppers. If you have any of the cards with a good point balance, make sure to use them all up before you make the move. If it’s a place where your family still shops, try to transfer the loyalty card to one of your family members or create a new one for them.
Sell your car and furniture
Maintaining a car is costly with annual license fees and insurance. If you don’t want to sell the car just because you might use it when you come back on a vacation, think a little bit more about it. Do you want to keep the car just to use it one month a year? You can always rent a car or ask a friend or a family member for a car when you are back and when you need one. If you don’t want to sell because you want your parents or siblings to use it, at least transfer the ownership so that they will be responsible for ongoing maintenance. The last thing you would want is when you come back on a vacation to find out the car is broken and spend the whole vacation fixing it. You will better off with money from that car. You might be able to use it towards buying a new car in the UK or for another investment which can make your money work.
Another one of my biggest regrets is not selling off or at least donating the furniture and appliances. We used to live in an attached section to my husband’s family home. Now nobody is living there for years and the furniture and the appliances are just gathering dust.
Medical Checkup and repeat prescriptions
It’s a good opportunity to do a full medical checkup and take any medicines that you need before moving. If you have any prescriptions, try to have at least 1-month of medicine ready with you (I recommend 2 months). UK has a GP system so unless an emergency, you need to book an appointment at the GP for your area. To do that you have to be registered in a GP practice and various practices have various requirements. Our GP practice needed proof of identification (passport or BRP) and proof of address (council tax bill or utility bill). Since I registered a couple of months later after we moved from the temporary accommodation, we already had that at hand.
Continue packing
Get the stuff that you are used to but not available in the UK like Samahan or any ayurvedic oils that you are used to. They are still available to buy if you want in the UK, but you have to find a grocery store from the country you are coming from. We eventually found a couple. But it took us months to do that. So better be safe than sorry.
Unsubscribe from physical mails and move to email whenever possible.
If you still receive monthly, annually mails on magazines, newsletters and bills, try to see whether they have an online version and move to that. If not change the address to your parents home or siblings home where you will promptly get to know what the mail is about. Especially do this to your bank accounts.
Join online communities
If you do not have friends in the city you are moving into, try joining any communities with physical meetups for your interests. Meetup is a good place to start.
Photocopy and pack your important documents
Take photocopies of your important documents. Always carry your important documents in your hand luggage and a set of documents photocopies in your luggage just to be safe.
Prepare for a long flight
My top tip for preparing for a long flight is to get less sleep as much as possible, so I would be very tired and sleep all the way. But this might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Have layers of clothing with you to match the varying temperatures of the airports and inside the flights. I have always wanted a sweater because it’s usually very cold for me.
Keep an empty water bottle with you. If you are on the flight, you will get any beverage you want ( which are available in the airline’s selection), however, if you are in the airport, you can keep your water bottle filled so that you don’t need to find a water fountain when you need a drink. Remember to finish or throw away the water before you go to the designated gate or before you board the aircraft.
All done, now what?
Nothing. Enjoy your flight and good luck with the new adventure….
