Moving to Scotland HELP

Hi Everyone,

I have dual citizenship (UK/Canada) and hold a UK passport.
I haven't yet used my UK citizenship and I am wanting to move to Scotland this year.

I know that I need to apply for a few things once a I land in Scotland including:
National Insurance Number
Healthcare - get a GP
Opening a bank account
Documentation for taking my cat & dog with me from Canada

Any help, advice or websites that offer insights would be so helpful.

I won't have a job lined up once I move but I will have enough money to support myself. I'm not looking to move there and then not get a job and claim unemployment.

THanks

Melissa

Hey Melissa!

Hopefully I can be of some help!

National Insurance - quite easy actually. Once you arrive in the UK you will need to call Job Centre Plus on 0845 600 0643 and they will sort it all out with you. They advised me to wait until I had found employment though - but once I did, I called in and they mailed out the necessary application forms to me directly. After sending them back in, it wasn't long before I had my letter of approval and NIN card in the mail. This link will provide some more support - http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAnd ... /DG_190057.

Healthcare/GP - as far as I understand it, once you are working and have a NIN - you are eligible for heath coverage by the NHS. What I had to do, once employed, was simply register with a GP in the area I was living. http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1095.aspx?C ... goryID=158 - this website will direct you further. It will give you a list of GP surgeries in your area, and you simply call them and make an appointment to sign up. After that - you have a GP and can make appointments if and when necessary.

As for Bank accounts - the route I went when I moved to the UK was to apply for the HSBC Passport account. This is an account specifically for travellers, and you can apply directly from Canada before you leave. They will send you back a letter of approval, and all you need to do when you get to the UK is take the letter and your passport into any HSBC branch and they will open the account for you there. The downside - this account requires a 12 month contract, and costs 8 pounds per month - so you are committing to 96 pounds over the course of the year in service fees. Once the year is up - you can upgrade to other accounts, or go with a free option. http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/current-accou ... nk-account. There are other ways - but that's the one I know of that allows you to do it from Canada. My company, for instance, offers a Jumpstart package that can get you set with a bank account quite easily, but this is all done in London - so it might not be the best route for you. I will see if I can find any more information for you on other easy options for opening a bank account. I know that TSB Lloyds also has offices in Canada - and can open accounts for you in the UK - but they too require certain things - I think they wanted you to make a deposit of a minimum amount, though I don't recall how much this was! Hopefully some of this info helps!

Pet Transport - I don't know anything about this personally, but I think this website should have you covered! http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/p ... et-owners/

Best of luck with the move, and if I can offer any other advice or support, don't hesitate to get in touch!

Cheers,

Hello Melissaw, I agree with the above. It's actually really simple. A little word of advice. DO NOT open a bank account with RBS. It took me 6 weeks to finally access my money even though I was employed right away and had money to deposit. HSBC is the way to go. I was there for 90 minuets and had savers account, business account, bank card, credit card, life insurance and roadside assistance! They are stars!!! x