Moving to the UK: eVisa, NI Number and First Steps (2026)

Britain's arrival chain went digital mid-decade: the card in your wallet became an account in the cloud, proven by share codes to everyone from payroll to landlords. The chain in dependency order — with the share-code choreography, the address ladder, and the healthcare truth that you already paid for.

① The eVisa: your status is an account now

The BRP card's retirement made the UKVI account the single source of truth: status, conditions and expiry live online, accessed through the view-and-prove service. The disciplines the digital era demands: verify the account works before flying (the airline may check status digitally at boarding); keep the linked passport current — travelling on a new passport unlinked to the account is the era's classic border delay; generate share codes on demand — time-limited codes for employers (right-to-work), landlords (right-to-rent) and others, each a two-minute exercise; and keep contact details current — the account is where the Home Office finds you. Families manage one account per person, children's included. The transition's rough edges (legacy BRP holders, account-recovery queues) are documented reality — sort access issues from abroad, not at the border.

② The NI number and ③ the money chain

• The National Insurance number — Britain's contributions identity: apply online post-arrival (digital identity verification, appointments where needed). Work legally starts without it (employers run temporary references), but payroll accuracy, the contributions record (state-pension years, benefits entitlements) and every future file want it — week one, not month three;
• The tax machine runs itself: PAYE withholding needs no registration ritual — the starter checklist at your employer sets the code (watch the first payslips for emergency-code errors; HMRC's personal tax account, via Government Gateway, fixes codes and reclaims);
• Banking and the address ladder: the traditional banks want address proof the newcomer lacks — the ladder: digital banks day one (passport-and-selfie onboarding; salary can land there), then the tenancy agreement and employer letter opening the high-street account, then the first bills ending the problem. Credit history starts at zero regardless — the credit-builder rituals (registering to vote where eligible, the electoral-roll effect, small managed credit) begin the British financial identity;
• The costs already sunk: remember what the visa stack prepaid — the IHS bought the NHS, the fees bought the status: arrival's costs are deposits and furniture, not systems.

④ Healthcare: you already paid

• GP registration — any practice accepting patients in your area, free, immediately, no insurance product to buy: the IHS was the purchase. Register in week one (the practice is the NHS's gateway — referrals, prescriptions, the record); proof-of-address requests are practice custom, not law — practices must not refuse for lack of it;
• The NHS number arrives with registration; the app carries records and appointments;
• Prescriptions: the flat charge per item in England (Scotland/Wales/NI free) — the prepayment certificate caps frequent users;
• Dentistry honestly: NHS dental capacity is the system's famous gap — register wherever accepting, expect the private fallback for speed;
• Health & Care visa families: your IHS exemption changes nothing here — access is identical; you simply paid £0 for it.

⑤ The tenancy layer: right-to-rent and the deposit rules

• Right-to-rent: landlords legally verify status — your share code is the instrument; the check is the law operating, not suspicion;
• Deposits: capped (the 5-week rule) and legally protected in the government schemes within 30 days — the protection certificate is your document to demand; unprotected deposits carry statutory penalties in your favour;
• The referencing gauntlet: agencies run income (the 30× monthly-rent heuristics), credit and landlord references — newcomers without UK history pass via employer letters, guarantors or rent-in-advance: assemble the pack before viewing;
• Council tax: register with the local authority on moving in (the bill rides the property; single-occupier discounts and the bands' logic on the council's site);
• Utilities and the rest: suppliers switch on your name in minutes; the TV licence question answers itself honestly (live broadcast/iPlayer = licence).

The first fortnight, scheduled

Before flying: the UKVI account verified on two devices, the passport link confirmed, a share code test-generated; the digital-bank account opened from abroad where the provider allows; the rental reference pack assembled (employer letter, statements, the guarantor conversation had). Days 1–3: SIM (passport suffices), the NIN application filed online, the digital-bank card active for deposits and groceries; viewings booked — London's rental velocity rivals Dublin's, and the pack decides outcomes. Week one: GP registration at the nearest accepting practice (do it healthy — the wait for "when I need one" is the classic regret); the employer's starter checklist completed carefully (the P46-era questions set the tax code that decides the first payslip's accuracy). Week two: tenancy signed — share code provided, the deposit's protection certificate calendared for day 30, council tax registered the same afternoon; the high-street bank appointment with tenancy + employer letter; and the quiet infrastructure: the HMRC personal tax account created, the travel spreadsheet's first row entered, the payslip folder made. Britain's fortnight is administratively gentle by this journal's standards — no registration deadlines, no numbered offices — because the system front-loaded its demands into the visa stack; the arrival's only real test is the rental market, and the pack passes it.

The dependency map

FAQ

Sources (official only)

• eVisa/UKVI account and share codes: gov.uk — view and prove your immigration status
• National Insurance number: gov.uk — apply for a NIN
• GP registration: nhs.uk — register with a GP
• Right-to-rent and deposit protection: gov.uk — right to rent; — tenancy deposit protection
• Council tax: gov.uk — council tax

Verified against gov.uk as of 22 July 2026. Information, not legal advice.