sile

Hello again,

As some of you may know, I am an American planning on moving soon to the UK. There have been many here who have been kind enough to answer questions and give ideas and advice over the last year.

I want to share with you my exciting news that I have just received my Irish Citizenship! My next step is to get my Irish Passport and then I will be ready to go.

I have done a lot of research and believe I am aware of what's needed in order to move to the UK now, but I just want to see if I'm missing anything important. I hope to be able to move in 4-6 months.

I am planning on coming to the UK on my Irish passport and as a self employed person. I believe I should be able to then rent a place, perhaps a car, open a bank account and register with the NHS. Is there anything anyone would advise on any or all of these?

-Are Irish Citizens treated the same as UK citizens in regard to these situations, or does it depend more on being new to the country regardless of citizenship?
-Will it be easy to open a bank account?
-If I don't have any credit background will I have to come up with a few months rent at first?
-What is required to register with the NHS?

I'm so excited at the prospect of coming there to live. I know it may be hard to understand, and I realize it will all be new to me, but I feel like I will be coming home ....

Almo

An Irish passport shouldn't cause you any difficulty that a British one wouldn't, but you may well find it tough to get a rental without paying up front or at least showing that you have the funds to do so. My OH had a job offer and we offered to pay 6 months up front when renting our place. We were asked for proof of funds but were not required to pay any extra up front.

I have an Irish passport (and not a British one).

sile

Thanks for that. How about getting a bank acct. and registering for NHS?

Almo

I have had a bank account for a long time, I kept it while we were overseas. It would have been opened using my Irish passport and there were no problems then; I wouldn't expect there to be now but I can't give first hand recent experience on that point. I may be wrong but as I understand it, showing a passport when opening a bank account is more about verifying identity than proving right to residence. In any case, there are many people using Irish passports in the UK, you will not be at all unusual and people never bat an eyelid at mine.

NHS, I can't help with. We have been very slack and have not yet registered with a doctor.

kimilseung

Don't you need documentation for your address to open a bank account? If I remember right, you need something like utility bills in addition to just personal identity.

Register to vote. As an Irish national I think you are eligible to vote in the UK.

BritInParis

Irish citizens are treated exactly the same as British citizens in almost all matters due to the unique history between the two countries. You can vote, run for Parliament and you are treated as settled for immigration purposes as soon as you arrive.

You can get an NHS number by registering with your local GP.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1095.asp...CategoryID=158

Plenty of foreign nationals (such as students) can open a UK bank account without any trouble. I can't imagine you wouldn't be able to do the same.

From what I understand, it is easier to rent a property in the UK in the USA - there usually isn't any background/credit check and your deposit is usually equivalent to one or two months rent depending on the landlord.

You may want to look into getting a National Insurance number which acts something like a Social Security number in the US.
https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance

holly_1948

Take what you like and leave the rest.
Mostly, including registering to vote in British elections which should be one of the very first things you do as it is evidence for other purposes, it is simple (just show your passport at the council offices or wherever) and gratis.

The only likely roadblock is that many banks will not open accounts for people who they suspect reside in USA. Because of American laws affecting non-American banks. All other countries are OK. They may (worst case) ask you to prove that you do no longer live in the USA. So stick to Irish, hide your Yankee accent, and it should all be be OK.

Typically six months in advance within 120 miles or so of London; typically one, two or three months elsewhere.

Assuming England, to register with your local GP See
http://www.manchester.nhs.uk/documen...flet-jan12.pdf
One item from list 1 and one item from list 2. Probably the simplest/fastest thing from list 2 is car insurance paperwork or TV licence.
Different (easier) rules apply for Wales and Scotland.
Different rules apply if you need hospital treatment prior to seeing your GP for the first time.

sile

Thanks for all of this info so far.

I'm also wondering if anyone will question the newness of my passport along with my coming from the US. If I haven't been resident in Ireland, does it affect anything at all?

BritInParis

I can see any reason why they would - it wouldn't make any difference if you had been Irish for a day or your whole life. Your previous place of residence is irrelevant.

kimilseung

It should not be anyone's business, but we are a curious animal, so you will probably get questions, but whatever anyone thinks, will not change the realities.

Gillymonkey

This is actually not true. It depends if you are renting from a private landlord or agency. A private landlord will probably require references at least along with one months deposit. Most agencies do require credit checks, some require minimum incomes, and they will also check your references.

I've always rented and found the process much quicker in the US than the UK.

BritInParis

Admittedly I haven't lived in the UK for the last three years or so, but I rented several different properties in different parts of the country prior to that and I've never had to provide a reference or be subject to a credit check; I just signed a tenancy agreement and provided a deposit. YMMV however.

larrabee

CONGRAULATIONS !!!

sile

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I am so happy!

sile

Ok, so now I have to figure out where to move to.....