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

16,628 views ・ 2023-10-24

Benjamin’s English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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This video is to help you if you are moving to an English-speaking country.
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It's focused particularly on the United Kingdom,
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but the phrases to ask for help will be applicable to all English-speaking countries.
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The idea behind this video came from my experience of moving to Spain
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and not knowing how the system worked and what documents I needed,
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and it being quite a long and difficult process.
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So, I'm hoping here to talk about some of the things you will need
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to make life easy for yourself and to show you how to ask for help.
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So, let us imagine that you are trying to obtain,
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to get hold of a national insurance number.
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It's a unique number to you that you will need to be able to work legally.
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Okay? So, let's pretend that you are...
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I think you get these at the job centre.
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So, you've gone to your local job centre plus.
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They're not the most inspiring places to go, but you're doing what you need to do.
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So, you say to the person, "Sorry, I'm not quite sure exactly what I have to do here.
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Could you point me in the right direction?"
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So, I don't mean physically point, it means, "Can you tell me what I need to do?"
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"I'm not quite sure exactly what I have to do here.
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Could you point me in the right direction?"
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Tell me what to do, basically.
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But it's kind of in a sort of stuttering, polite, respectful manner
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that people find easy to give you help and suggestions
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when you speak to them in a kind of calm and polite way.
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Or, "I'm trying to get my national insurance number.
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Am I in the right place?"
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And they'll say, "Oh, no, no, no, no. You need to go over there."
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"Online, you need to book an appointment."
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But if that's the case, then you would say,
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"Oh, could you write down the website for me?"
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Or another question you could ask if you are in the right place is,
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"Have I got everything I need?
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I've brought my passport, a proof of address."
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Yeah, a piece of paper with your address written on it.
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Maybe a European driving license, some other ID.
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And they maybe give you some more information.
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And you need to check that you have understood what they have told you.
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So, just to double check, you're saying that I need to go to a different address
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at 9 o'clock on Thursday.
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And they say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what you need to do."
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Or they say, "No, you need to do this."
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Okay? So, really make sure you've understood the advice.
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Now, what do you need?
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Now, I've already mentioned the national insurance number.
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You need that to get paid and so that tax is able to be taken from your earnings.
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Finding a place to live.
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So, there are websites where you can share a flat, a house,
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and you don't need for that proper, proper, proper documentation, okay?
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Because maybe someone else has the responsibility
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and you're just going to be giving them some money.
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But if you want your own contract from an estate agent,
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then you'll need a work contract, probably a reference from work,
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and you'll need to pay six weeks deposit with one month in advance.
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It's quite good.
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They've now scrapped the estate agency fee.
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So, you don't need to pay any more than that.
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It makes it slightly easier to rent.
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And there's a couple of websites where you can find accommodation in the UK.
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Rightmove is probably the top one.
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And there's also Zoopla.
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If you want to find more casual accommodation, then I would head for Gumtree.
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What bills do you need to get set up on moving into your own place?
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Gas, electricity.
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Often the two will be combined.
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And there are lots of different price comparison websites
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where you can find the best deal.
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And there's also quite a few which are environmentally aware.
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So, if the environment's something you're interested in,
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then you can choose that accordingly.
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You're going to need water, internet, TV license.
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If you're planning to watch the TV and the council tax.
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So, ask the estate agent who supplies the water.
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You choose the internet, TV license.
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You just Google pay TV license, council tax.
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It's whichever area you're in will decide which council you pay the tax to.
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Just follow the instructions on their website.
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And then in the local area, well, this is the local area too,
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but you'll need to register with your GP.
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Maybe call them up and say, "Hello, I've just moved into the area.
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I'd like to register."
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And they'll give you an appointment time.
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And you say to them, "What do I need to bring with me?"
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And they'll probably say proof of address, passport, something like that.
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If you live in a town and it's on a street, you'll probably need a parking permit
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so that it shows your car is allowed to park there
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and you're not going to get any fines or bills for the car being in the wrong place.
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So, I would go to your local council, either the building
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or probably easier to go to their website and fill out an application for parking.
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Also good to remember to register to vote with your local council
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and that improves your credit rating.
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Okay, so if there's any kind of comments or discussion about this,
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do leave them in the comment section down there.
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Thank you very much for watching this,
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and I hope you have a smooth transition if you are moving to the UK.
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But well done, what a great thing to do.
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It will be a fantastic way for you to improve your English.
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Thanks so much for watching.
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Do subscribe, and I'll see you in the next video.
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