To-do list after arrival in the UK

So you plan like crazy, get what feels like a million documents together, do an online application that feels both invasive and frightening, head off for biometrics where your face is photographed and your fingers are printed and now finally, FINALLY you have made it to the UK. Now what??


Now the fun starts! And the big questions is what to do first?



TO DO LIST:


* BRP. First up, if you came on a visa and not a British passport, you need to toddle off to the post office mentioned on the letter you got when you collected your passport (it's usually the post office nearest the address you gave in your application) and collect your BRP.


*UK Driver's Licence. Next it would be a good idea to exchange your SA Driver's licence for a British one - although you can drive on your South African licence legally for a year. A British Driver's licence comes in very handy as a proof of address and also for identification purposes. Find out how to exchange your Drivers licence here.


*Opening a bank account. Personally I found it very helpful to open a Monzo account initially. I opened my account before we left South Africa - this is possible provided you have a friend or family member who is willing to have your bank card delivered to their address. I absolutely love Monzo, it is the most user-friendly bank I have ever dealt with and I have not had a single problem.


*Applying for an NI number. National Insurance (NI) works in a similar fashion to UIF in South Africa. National Insurance contributions are basically a tax on your earnings paid by both employees and employers and your NI contributions help to build your entitlement to certain state benefits, such as the state pension and maternity allowance. You will begin paying National Insurance once you are earning more than £162 a week (this is the figure for the 2018-19 tax year). To apply for your NI number you need to phone 08001412075 and speak to an agent to make an appointment to apply for your NI number. (Note: If you are on a Tier 2 visa your NI number has probably already been issued to you and you will find it on the back of your BRP card.) You can begin working before you receive your NI number, but your employer will need it asap


*Register for NHS. To register for NHS you will need to register with your local GP. Pop into your chosen GP's rooms and ask to register as a patient of that practice. They will give you various forms to fill out and will need proof of accommodation (I used my UK Driver's licence) and will need to see (and perhaps take a copy of) your BRP and passport. You will soon receive a letter in the mail with your NHS number on it.


*TV Licence. Assuming you buy a TV in the UK, you will need to get a TV licence. Have a look at this website with details of how to get a licence.


photo credit: verchmarco <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/160866001@N07/46537652121">Leere Prioritätenliste mit dem Titel PRIORITIES und drei freien, nummerierten Zeilen</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)</a>

3 Months in the UK

Today it's exactly 3 months since we arrived in the UK! 

This month has been all about putting down roots.  I had a bit of a wobbly when our shipping arrived (as mentioned in my previous blog post) but I got over that surprisingly quickly and the rest of the month has been plain-sailing. 

Grant has been working on a contract in Scotland for the last 2 1/2 weeks and will finish up there next week.  Work seems to be going really well and the money is very good, so we're relieved about that.  According to the agency he is working through, there will always be contracting work available.  Ideally he'd like to have a permanent job that is more local, but for now the contracting will do and it's good UK experience for him.

We had our first experience with the NHS recently.  Our little granddaughter Issy got really sick quite suddenly and was running terribly high temps.  Rox made an appointment at our local GP where we are registered.  Issy was seen by the sweetest doctor, who examined her thoroughly and diagnosed her with tonsillitis, she was put on a 10 day course of antibiotics and Roxy was told to bring her back anytime if she had any concerns.  So our first experience of the NHS was a positive one.  In other medical news, Grant and I recently got letters in the post, inviting us to come into our GP's rooms for a free, comprehensive health check.  I can't say I'm very excited at the prospect - I loathe going to the doctor - but we will trot along there as soon as we are back from SA.

Talking of SA, in a week's time we hop on a plane and head back to South Africa for 2 1/2 weeks for our daughter, Paula's, wedding.  It's going to be quite surreal to go back there.  To be honest, I'm half dreading it and I'm a bit nervous about it - I don't want to have another wobbly like I did when our shipping arrived.  The timing isn't really ideal is it?   I'd like to have been here for at the very least 6 months before venturing back, but circumstances dictated that this was the right time to have the wedding, so off to SA we go!

There is no doubt whatsoever that England is my home now, I'm feeling wonderfully settled here.  So I think it's going to feel really weird being back in SA, I imagine it will still feel very familiar, but it won't be "home" - or will we immediately feel at home there?  My gut says "no", but who knows?  It will be an interesting experience either way.  

Random thoughts about this month:
* I love it here!  I absolutely love our little town and the life we are living here.  It has far exceeded my expectations.
* I am starting to relax into things - up to now I have been waiting for a drama, I've had a sense of "it can't be this easy to pack up my life and move across the world - there has to be a big drama around the next corner"  Well, it's beginning to look like there isn't going to be a drama (touch wood!) so I am starting to breathe more easily.
* Issy is picking up the sweetest British accent, I could listen to her talk all day, it's adorable!
* We are having the most amazing weather - from what I've heard it is very unusual for this time of year.  Yesterday we were walking around in jeans and T-shirts.  It gives one a taste of what it's going to be like living here in Summer and I like it!

* Hobnobs are wonderful and I am going to have to be very careful that I don't end up with "Hobnob hips"
*  I love the parks in the UK.  So many lovely places to take the kids to play.

Excuse the outfit.... Issy has a rather unique sense of style!

Exchanging your SA Driver's Licence for a UK Driver's licence

Although you can legally drive in the UK on your South African Driver's Licence for a year, I personally feel it's a good idea to exchange your licence as soon as possible as the UK Driver's licence serves as a proof of address and is also useful for identification purposes.

How to exchange your South African Driver's licence for a UK one:

Go to your local post office and ask the person behind the counter for the form you need - it's form D1.  (The guy I dealt with was super-helpful and assisted me every step of the way)

Get your photo taken - there was a DIY cubicle for photos in the post office I went to

Get a postal order - the post office will confirm, but when we went we needed a £43 postal order

We had to send the form, the photo, the postal order as well as our BRPs and passports (I'm not entirely sure that it was necessary to send the passport, but the guy I dealt with said I should)

Your BRP and passport will be posted back to you within a few days and a day or two later you'll get your UK licence in the post.

Note: there is a clause that says you can only exchange your licence after being in the UK for 185 days - this is to stop people on Visit Visas from exchanging their licences.  Most South Africans I have spoken to, who are planning to stay in the UK have exchanged their licences before the 185 days are up with no problems whatsoever.  I ignored the clause and exchanged my licence the day I collected my BRP.  

photo credit: filipeb <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/38875534@N00/101236579">carocha</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>

UK Spouse or partner visa

Disclaimer: Please note I am not qualified in the emigration field, the below observations are what my daughter experienced when applying for her spousal visa. The figures mentioned below are correct at the time of posting. This post is written from the perspective of a South African emigrating to the UK. When applying for your spousal visa please get the help of a person duly qualified to assist you. 

If you are married to a British passport holder, the visa you would need to apply for in order to emigrate with them is the spouse visa. If you are the unmarried partner of a BP holder you'd apply for the same visa, but in this case you'd need to prove that you've been living together for 2 years in a "relationship akin to marriage". Our daughter Roxy applied for a spousal visa to emigrate to the UK as her husband is a British Passport holder. 

A good place to start when researching this visa is this site.


Requirements for this visa:

• Proof that you are married, or that you have been living together for 2 years. Apart from your unabridged marriage certificate (if you are married), you would need to provide information regarding how and when you met, when you moved in together, photographs over the course of your relationship and mail addressed to both of you going to the same address. It's wise to include a letter from your spouse/partner that includes all the relevant information regarding your relationship and confirming that they wish you to join them in the UK and that they will provide for you. Also, letters from friends (including their contact details) attesting to the fact that your relationship is genuine. 

• Pass the English test - you can do the IELTS A1, but it's better to do the B1 at this stage, because that way you avoid having to pass the A2 test later on. Ensure you write the IELTS for UKVI - this is the one that is accepted for visa purposes. See this site for info on writing the IELTS in South Africa. 

• Prove that your partner can support you financially. This page has info on the financial requirements. There are a couple of options for the financial requirement which I have listed below. 

• You need to have a TB test done at an approved centre

• Proof of adequate accommodation arrangements in the UK 

The spouse visa is granted for a period of 2.5 years, after which you would need to apply for Further Leave to Remain for another 2.5 years, after which you are eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Further information regarding financial requirements:

The spouse/partner with the British passport (i.e the sponsor) needs to show that they are able to support their family, there are a couple of ways to do this:

INCOME
If only a spouse/partner is coming over to join the sponsor, the sponsor needs to provide proof of a pre-tax income of at least £18,600 per annum.  If there are also dependent children (who do not have British passports) the BP-holder would need to show additional income of £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional child. 

NB:  This income can be earned by the sponsor in the UK - 6 months payslips would be required for the visa application - or it could be earned in South Africa, provided the South African salary meets the minimum threshold required (i.e the sponsor would need to earn the rand equivalent to £18 600 - or more if there are children involved) and the sponsor has a UK job offer earning the required amount.  If using the South African earnings route 12 months payslips are required.

INCOME AND CASH SAVINGS COMBINED
In addition to income, cash savings can be used to reach the required minimum earnings. If you intend to use cash savings to supplement your income you need to show a minimum savings of £16000, any amount OVER the £16000 can be used to supplement your income to help you reach the minimum requirement.

The calculation works like this:

(Amount of savings – 16 000) ÷ 2.5 = X

18 600 - X = amount of income you would still need to show.

Example: If you have £30 000 savings

(30 000 – 16 000) ÷ 2.5 = £5 600

£18 600 – £5 600 = £13 000


SAVINGS
Another way to look at the calculation above is to say savings must equal £16,000 plus the shortfall between the salary earned and the amount required, multiplied by 2.5. Looking at it this way, if you want to rely entirely on savings you need to have savings of £62 500 to apply for a spouse alone (£16 000 + (18600 x 2.5)) or £72 000 to apply for a spouse and one child (£16 000 + (18 600+3800)x2.5) and so on.

When your worlds collide

It's been a really strange week people!  On Monday our shipping arrived, I had been eagerly, impatiently, waiting for this day, so there was much excitement when the truck arrived outside our flat on Monday morning.  The boxes were brought in, ticked off, opened... it was so exciting!  

Everything was going great until, I carried the little mat that I like to keep in my kitchen from the box in the lounge into the kitchen, laid it on the floor and... WHAM.... dagger to the heart.... I pictured our little dog, who died in South Africa, sitting on that mat while I cooked dinner, in our kitchen in Kloof.  I was literally gulping back sobs.  And it was like that memory opened the flood-gates, memory after memory slapped me in the face as we unpacked those boxes.  I can say in complete honesty it was one of the more difficult days of my life (and I've had a few!)

Thinking about it later on I realised that in my mind I've had 2 distinct compartments, "Life in South Africa" and "Life in England".  That worked perfectly for me; they were two completely separate entities, no untidy comparisons, no mixing of emotions, it was all neat and tidy... then and now....  Bringing those boxes into our flat on Monday was basically bringing my "Life in South Africa" into my home in Buckinghamshire - my worlds collided, the boundaries were brought down and boy was it painful!  I decided the wisest course of action was probably to feel all those feelings, be a mess for a day or two, and then stop looking in the rear-view mirror and move on.  So Monday and Tuesday were not my greatest days ever!  By Wednesday I was ready to cheer-up, it was a beautiful, crisp, sunny day and we went to Hughenden for a lovely walk, by the time we got back in the car all was right with my world again.

We had an awesome snowfall on Thursday night and woke up to a Winter wonderland on Friday.  It was a "snow day" for everyone, so the entire family gathered on a nearby hill and went sledding.  I found myself standing on that hill silently thanking England for welcoming us, sending out gratitude for the journey that brought us to this incredible place.

This week was such a reminder to me that feelings are fluid, that what may seem an insurmountable heartache today can slowly but surely ebb away and be replaced by pure joy.  I just need to allow myself to feel and process all the emotions.