Saigon456

Hi,

I'm going back to the UK after a long time in Vietnam. I have...

- No bank account.
- Outstanding student loans from 2002.
- No credit history etc.
- No National Insurance card.
- An old style fold out drivers license.

I need...

- To get a job ASAP (to sponsor my wife's visa).
- Get my son in school.

Me and my son will be living with my parents temporarily.

Can someone tell me the most efficient and productive way I will need to move forward with sorting my life out in England please with regards to becoming a bona fide member of the public. Cheers.

quiltman

I'll have a go!
1. Bank account - once you have accomodation and a utility bill/council tax bill then you should be good to go.
2 Student loans - No idea, you'll need to contact them as once you're earning enough they'll want their pound of flesh.
3. Credit History - Afraid you'll have to rebuild this, but apply for something like a Capital One card, high interest and low limit but use it and pay off each month. This will help to start building history.
4. Get onto DWP as you will have had an NI number before you left UK assumimg you were over 16. They will find it for you. If not they will issue a new one.
5. Drivers licence. Just apply online for a new photocard - they can use the photo from your passport.
6. Job - cannot help at all here!
School - once you have an address then just apply to the local school/s.

you need to inform HMRC you are back in UK , but if you get a job fairly quickly then the employer will tell them.
Register with the local GP - if they are taking new patients.
Get on the elctoral register with the local council.

There you go for starters!

Saigon456

What if I'm living with my parents? My names not on any of the bills.

My parents address is on my old paper driving license..is that OK?

durham_lad

Our son is moving back to England after 30 years away and he will be living with us until he finds a house. I asked at our bank here about him opening an account and they said that with his passport, a driving licence and polling card with our address plus a letter from us stating that he is living with us then that should suffice. We'll see.

mikelincs

You will need to get that changed as soon as you move and have a new permanent address, but as you will be living at your parents house you just need to change it, assuming it's the same address as on the license. You do, however, need to change it to a photocard license the old paper ones are now obsolete.

Saigon456

Great, thanks.

Can I get started now on finding a school for my son using my parents address even though I won't be in the UK for another month? I really want to get him in for August. Can I start the process remotely or do I need to sort other stuff out in the UK beforehand?

HKG3

You can fill in form CA5403 and send it off to get the HMRC to locate your NI number. Please see link below for details -

https://www.gov.uk/lost-national-insurance-number

Saigon456

Actually, what I seem to have is the counterpart driving license, the D740. I'm almost positive I've never had a photocard...is that possible?

If so, can I still use the counterpart to get the photocard?

durham_lad

Not sure what the counterpart driving licence is but when we returned after 29 years away all we had was our old pink paper licences, no photo id. However it was very easy to apply for a new photocard driving licence using our old paper licenses, that still had our address from 1987.

mikelincs

Yes, the photocard replaced the counterpart a number of years ago, but you can use it to get a photocard.

MonsterP

I've asked both my local council and the school to see if I can register my Son, assuming he will be here on X date, roughly. They both refuse and say they cannot do anything until he's physically living here. Makes sense, as they have students coming and going, people moving in and out of the areas.

You'll discover that the school places are a lot tighter, even over-subscribed, compared with 10+ years ago.

BritInParis

If you have a counterpart then you would have had a photocard to go with it. The counterpart was scrapped a couple of years ago. The photocard is now a standalone document (sort of). Could you have exchanged your photocard for a foreign licence of some description?

mikelincs

I was assuming that by counterpart he was referring to the pin paper license.

BritInParis

Form D740 is specifically the paper counterpart to the photocard. Until recently you needed both together for a complete licence. This differs from the old pink paper licence which was a standalone document.

Perth

I just sent my old paper licence in with 2 additional changes (address and name) and they did not charrge a penny. And received within a week. Very impressed.