UK SPOUSE VISA 2021 | What to do when you arrive in the UK (3 Important Things You MUST DO!)
1) Collect your BRP card.
Your BRP, or Biometric Residence Permit is a card and it acts as a proof of your residence here in the UK./You will receive a letter with your visa vignette which
- Allows to enter the UK without any issues and
- Shows you where you’re supposed to go to collect your BRP. I had to collect mine in Glasgow in a post office - quite straight forward, just bring your passport and letter stating info about your BRP, queue up, show the person at the counter and they’ll get the BRP for you. DONE
2) Apply for National Insurance Number
In order to work in the UK, you need a National Insurance Number. The NI number allows you to keep track of your taxes - especially for some like me who’s self-employed and has to do their tax returns themselves. You have to go onto their official gov website to apply and register all your details - after this they will send you an email confirming that you application has been received (after a few days? Weeks?) and then they’ll attach a form in the email in which you need to print and fill up. Then you need to make copies of your passport and BRP, put all of these things into an mail envelope and mail it to the address provided in the email they sent you. Once you’ve done this, you have to wait 16 weeks … yup … 4 months. I’m still waiting for my NI number lol
You can start working without an NI number though, just make sure you tell you employer that you’ve already applied and are waiting for them to issue the NI number to you. Then once you’ve received it, just inform your employer or if your self employed like me, declare what you need to declare asap
3) Open a UK bank account
I’ve had a bank account with RBS since I was a student here like 8 years ago and that process is more or less the same back then as it is now. You go to the bank and register, then the staff will help you with all the relevant info. BUT, I’d like to recommend some digital banks that might be more useful for everyone during this digital age. Look up Monzo Bank or Starling Bank. These 2 digital banks are legit banks - they have licenses to run as banks here in the UK and imo they’re the way to go forward for any banking needs.
For Monzo, you can open one up - they’ll do all the security checks for you and then you can start saving money in pots, keeping track of your spendings, send money back to family in your home country as well - it’s very useful
For Starling, because I’m self-employed, I use it for business. So I keep track of my spendings for taxes and I’m also using their book-keeping functionality where they help automatically keep track of my business expenses and I can upload receipts, invoices etc. It’s super useful!!
💻 IMPORTANT INFORMATION
1) Biometric Residence Permit: www.gov.uk/biometric-residenc...
2) Apply for National Insurance Number: www.gov.uk/apply-national-ins...
3) Open a digital bank:
- Monzo Bank: monzo.com/
- Starling Bank: www.starlingbank.com/
📖 CHAPTERS
0:00 Start
1:00 Collect your BRP
2:24 Apply for National Insurance Number
4:35 Open a UK Bank Account
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