English for Moving to the UK: documents, services, utilities

This video is to help you if you are moving to an English-speaking country.

It's focused particularly on the United Kingdom,

but the phrases to ask for help will be applicable to all English-speaking countries.

The idea behind this video came from my experience of moving to Spain

and not knowing how the system worked and what documents I needed,

and it being quite a long and difficult process.

So, I'm hoping here to talk about some of the things you will need

to make life easy for yourself and to show you how to ask for help.

So, let us imagine that you are trying to obtain,

to get hold of a national insurance number.

It's a unique number to you that you will need to be able to work legally.

Okay? So, let's pretend that you are...

I think you get these at the job centre.

So, you've gone to your local job centre plus.

They're not the most inspiring places to go, but you're doing what you need to do.

So, you say to the person, "Sorry, I'm not quite sure exactly what I have to do here.

Could you point me in the right direction?"

So, I don't mean physically point, it means, "Can you tell me what I need to do?"

"I'm not quite sure exactly what I have to do here.

Could you point me in the right direction?"

Tell me what to do, basically.

But it's kind of in a sort of stuttering, polite, respectful manner

that people find easy to give you help and suggestions

when you speak to them in a kind of calm and polite way.

Or, "I'm trying to get my national insurance number.

Am I in the right place?"

And they'll say, "Oh, no, no, no, no. You need to go over there."

"Online, you need to book an appointment."

But if that's the case, then you would say,

"Oh, could you write down the website for me?"

Or another question you could ask if you are in the right place is,

"Have I got everything I need?

I've brought my passport, a proof of address."

Yeah, a piece of paper with your address written on it.

Maybe a European driving license, some other ID.

And they maybe give you some more information.

And you need to check that you have understood what they have told you.

So, just to double check, you're saying that I need to go to a different address

at 9 o'clock on Thursday.

And they say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what you need to do."

Or they say, "No, you need to do this."

Okay? So, really make sure you've understood the advice.

Now, what do you need?

Now, I've already mentioned the national insurance number.

You need that to get paid and so that tax is able to be taken from your earnings.

Finding a place to live.

So, there are websites where you can share a flat, a house,

and you don't need for that proper, proper, proper documentation, okay?

Because maybe someone else has the responsibility

and you're just going to be giving them some money.

But if you want your own contract from an estate agent,

then you'll need a work contract, probably a reference from work,

and you'll need to pay six weeks deposit with one month in advance.

It's quite good.

They've now scrapped the estate agency fee.

So, you don't need to pay any more than that.

It makes it slightly easier to rent.

And there's a couple of websites where you can find accommodation in the UK.

Rightmove is probably the top one.

And there's also Zoopla.

If you want to find more casual accommodation, then I would head for Gumtree.

What bills do you need to get set up on moving into your own place?

Gas, electricity.

Often the two will be combined.

And there are lots of different price comparison websites

where you can find the best deal.

And there's also quite a few which are environmentally aware.

So, if the environment's something you're interested in,

then you can choose that accordingly.

You're going to need water, internet, TV license.

If you're planning to watch the TV and the council tax.

So, ask the estate agent who supplies the water.

You choose the internet, TV license.

You just Google pay TV license, council tax.

It's whichever area you're in will decide which council you pay the tax to.

Just follow the instructions on their website.

And then in the local area, well, this is the local area too,

but you'll need to register with your GP.

Maybe call them up and say, "Hello, I've just moved into the area.

I'd like to register."

And they'll give you an appointment time.

And you say to them, "What do I need to bring with me?"

And they'll probably say proof of address, passport, something like that.

If you live in a town and it's on a street, you'll probably need a parking permit

so that it shows your car is allowed to park there

and you're not going to get any fines or bills for the car being in the wrong place.

So, I would go to your local council, either the building

or probably easier to go to their website and fill out an application for parking.

Also good to remember to register to vote with your local council

and that improves your credit rating.

Okay, so if there's any kind of comments or discussion about this,

do leave them in the comment section down there.

Thank you very much for watching this,

and I hope you have a smooth transition if you are moving to the UK.

But well done, what a great thing to do.

It will be a fantastic way for you to improve your English.

Thanks so much for watching.

Do subscribe, and I'll see you in the next video.