relocating to the UK when you already have citizenship by birth, but never lived there before

[sockmonkey13]

Most of the queries in this group dealing with relocation to the UK are for/from people who are looking to immigrate and get citizenship, people marrying a current Brit, and students, I'm none of these , rather I have UK citizenship, but have never lived in the UK and am planning on permanent relocation to the UK, so I'd like to pick the brains of

Comments

[dithering]

In most places, getting signed up with the NHS is easier than that. I walked into my doctor's office the day I arrived in the UK and they gave me a form to fill it and it was done. Got my card in the mail a couple weeks later. I didn't show them my passport or any ID at all, actually.

Also, you can figure out what your temporary national insurance number is yourself. It's TN (for temporary number) + birthdate (dd/mm/yy) + M or F (male or female). So, a female born on 5th of February 1980 would be TN050280F.

At the moment I can't think of anything to add to your list. Seems like there should be more though, doesn't it? :)

Good luck with your move!

[dreamaline]

I was in precisely your situation a year and a half ago. Brace yourself for a series of wonky British bureaucratic paradoxes. For example, you can't get your National Insurance Number until you get a job, but a lot of places won't consider employing you unless you have a National Insurance Number. Things like that.

Same with opening a bank account (which is the only other thing I'd add to your list). Banks won't let you open an account until you have job, jobs can't pay you until you have a bank account. You get the idea. This was particularly difficult, because a lot of banks won't let you open an account until you've been in the country for year or two. So just keep asking around until someone takes pity on you. Or, if you're lucky, they might let you open an account as long as you can prove you have a steady job.

Oh, and another useful piece of information is that you're eligible for jobseekers allowance if you need it just by being a British citizen.

[sockmonkey13]

I always expect mindless beauracracy from governments, it's what they do best :)

The bank account thing seems like it won't be as bad as I've heard. HSBC has a passport account specifically for people relocating from overseas, it's £7.50 a month for a year, but then don't pretty much all banks charge you a monthly fee unless you've got a chunk of cash ib them permanently anymore and it's something you can take care of before moving and without a UK address.

[dreamaline]

well, if you don't mind the £7.50, then that's fine. but actually, no, most british banks won't charge you to keep money in them, nor do they have a set minimum balance to maintain. so it might be worth your while to keep looking. just a thought.

[lifeisforliving]

I believe that you can apply for the National Insurance number if you have applied for jobs (but not having one) and have rejection letters to show.

Yeah banking can be tricky as other have commented. You might be able to open an account with very limited features if you don't have a job. You just have to keep trying different banks or branches, cos in my experience, they all seem to do things differently!

You can always start temping at least to make some money at the beginning. Good luck with the job search and everything!

[mappingcaroline]

Also for NIN, applying at a temp agency and getting them to write you a letter saying they're looking for work for you helps.

[sockmonkey13]

that's a good idea.