Things that are easier when moving back
Our daughter moved back to England mid November and some things have changed in the last few years that have made it easier than when we, and our son moved back in 2016 and 2017.
1. Wise accounts are easy to open from overseas, provide a UK style bank account and sort code and is even easier to send money and pay bills. 2. Instead of buying a new SIM card for your phone you can buy an “e sim “ and have your old and new phone numbers on the same phone. Much easier to use for the transition period. 3. You no longer need to prove residence when opening a UK bank account. In fact our daughter sat on the couch one evening shortly after she arrived and within 30 minutes had opened a Chase UK bank checking account online and received her debit card a few days later. Within minutes of her opening the account I sent her a few GBP from my UK bank app to test it was working already. 4. You no longer need to attend a Jobs Center Plus for an interview to get a National Insurance number. She did it entirely online which included uploading a copy of her passport and also a photo of herself holding her passport. She did need to provide proof of address but I had already added her name to our utility company a month before her move so she uploaded a pdf of last month’s bill. The NI number arrived by post 5 weeks later. Has anyone noticed any other major changes to the moving back process? |
Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by durham_lad
(Post 13162827)
Our daughter moved back to England mid November and some things have changed in the last few years that have made it easier than when we, and our son moved back in 2016 and 2017.
4. You no longer need to attend a Jobs Center Plus for an interview to get a National Insurance number. She did it entirely online which included uploading a copy of her passport and also a photo of herself holding her passport. She did need to provide proof of address but I had already added her name to our utility company a month before her move so she uploaded a pdf of last month’s bill. The NI number arrived by post 5 weeks later. Has anyone noticed any other major changes to the moving back process? If leaving the UK as a child and then returning as an adult, that number would kick in with the adult simply proving who they were in order to receive it. The procedures for new numbers were tightened up considerably many years ago because they were "too easy" to get. It's surprising they would reverse that but it might just be that working from home has reduced the availability of office based interviews. :unsure: |
Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by BristolUK
(Post 13162925)
Was that a brand new NINO or simply advising of an already registered account that one maybe never knew about? Not sure how many decades ago it changed but somewhere around the 80s/90s anyone who was part of their parents' child benefit claims was given a NINO that they would never have known anything about.
If leaving the UK as a child and then returning as an adult, that number would kick in with the adult simply proving who they were in order to receive it. The procedures for new numbers were tightened up considerably many years ago because they were "too easy" to get. It's surprising they would reverse that but it might just be that working from home has reduced the availability of office based interviews. :unsure: |
Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by durham_lad
(Post 13162928)
That was a brand new NINO, just like our son in 2017. Our kids were age 4 and 6 when we left in 1987 and we never claimed child benefit for them, back then my wife received “family allowance” for each child just as our mothers had for us back in the 50s and 60s.
It seems like you just missed the change in the system that would have resulted in NINO's being allocated to your kids then as their child benefit applications would have been around 81 and 83. |
Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by BristolUK
(Post 13162930)
Family Allowance from the 50s/60s was renamed Child Benefit in the 70s. It's the same thing but like other things people carried on using the same name.
It seems like you just missed the change in the system that would have resulted in NINO's being allocated to your kids then as their child benefit applications would have been around 81 and 83. I expect that the new online process without an in-person interview might also apply to those not born here which is also a huge improvement. |
Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by durham_lad
(Post 13162932)
That’s good info for most “kids” moving back. It sounds like there would be very few without a NINO.
I expect that the new online process without an in-person interview might also apply to those not born here which is also a huge improvement. Was online-only a covid innovation? My son (dual citizen, holding a British passport), moved to the UK as a uni student in 2018 and he did have to go to a job centre to get his national insurance number. |
Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by Lion in Winter
(Post 13162964)
Was online-only a covid innovation? My son (dual citizen, holding a British passport), moved to the UK as a uni student in 2018 and he did have to go to a job centre to get his national insurance number.
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Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by durham_lad
(Post 13162932)
I expect that the new online process without an in-person interview might also apply to those not born here which is also a huge improvement.
Later, doing a different job, but which sometimes involved NINO applicants it required an in person application but on a drop in basis. Later still when there had likely been mass fraud involved because it was all too slack and there were several million more NINOs 'active' than there should be :eek: the whole thing was tightened up. Interviews by appointment, masses of documentation needed along with the gadgetry and examination to check if genuine, plus back stories including what schools attended 30 years earlier. :blink: If no in person interview is the new normal and the same thing happens with all those rogue numbers again, I doubt it will be considered such a good idea. :lol:
Originally Posted by Lion in Winter
(Post 13162964)
Was online-only a covid innovation? My son (dual citizen, holding a British passport), moved to the UK as a uni student in 2018 and he did have to go to a job centre to get his national insurance number.
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Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by BristolUK
(Post 13162989)
I'm not going to bore people with the time line but when I was first processing NINO applications (my first permanent job in the 70s) it was a mail in procedure. I had a signed for supply of numbered registration forms in my drawer :lol:
Later, doing a different job, but which sometimes involved NINO applicants it required an in person application but on a drop in basis. Later still when there had likely been mass fraud involved because it was all too slack and there were several million more NINOs 'active' than there should be :eek: the whole thing was tightened up. Interviews by appointment, masses of documentation needed along with the gadgetry and examination to check if genuine, plus back stories including what schools attended 30 years earlier. :blink: If no in person interview is the new normal and the same thing happens with all those rogue numbers again, I doubt it will be considered such a good idea. :lol: My guess is covid related (WFH). Having said that, it's my impression that so much with job centres moved to on line long before covid that maybe this was something headed that way too. in-person appearances are becoming rarer these days anyway due to online video. In creating an IRS account last year I had a video conference with someone to verify my information and hold up my passport plus show both sides of my SS card. I also had a video appointment with a notary last year when dealing with American Express over something. |
Re: Things that are easier when moving back
If you can't prove your address via a utility bill, you could use the bank statement to do so, i.e. open a bank account without having to prove your address and use the statement as your proof of address document for institutions that require you to do so.
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Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by BristolUK
(Post 13162925)
Was that a brand new NINO or simply advising of an already registered account that one maybe never knew about? Not sure how many decades ago it changed but somewhere around the 80s/90s anyone who was part of their parents' child benefit claims was given a NINO that they would never have known anything about.
If leaving the UK as a child and then returning as an adult, that number would kick in with the adult simply proving who they were in order to receive it. The procedures for new numbers were tightened up considerably many years ago because they were "too easy" to get. It's surprising they would reverse that but it might just be that working from home has reduced the availability of office based interviews. :unsure: |
Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by brits1
(Post 13163962)
When we arrived back in the UK in 2010 we had to take our sons to Sheffield and apply for their NINO’s and they had to go “in person” we were told to do this as we had left the UK when our son’s were very young and had not been issued with a NINO, we had to take long birth certificates and passports, they received their numbers that same day but we had to wait for a while for this. It’s good your daughter did not have to do this, we opened an HSBC’s UK account without a UK address whilst still living in Australia so that part was easy. Enrolling at our local GP and NHS dentist was also pretty straightforward for us once those “things” were “done” we could start to relax.
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Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by brits1
(Post 13163962)
When we arrived back in the UK in 2010 we had to take our sons to Sheffield and apply for their NINO’s and they had to go “in person” we were told to do this as we had left the UK when our son’s were very young and had not been issued with a NINO, we had to take long birth certificates and passports, they received their numbers that same day ....
It takes between 4 and 16 weeks to get a new NINO. There is no such thing as a fast track application. The only way there has ever been of getting a same day NINO is when it already exists and then you could be advised of it following an ID interview/check*. The procedure involved from the time between a decision that a new number is needed - after all the checks involved to see if one already exists - and the actual allocating of it makes same day issue impossible. *From what I'm reading on current Gov.UK websites an existing number will now be sent on to you rather than advised there and then. |
Re: Things that are easier when moving back
Originally Posted by BristolUK
(Post 13162925)
The procedures for new numbers were tightened up considerably many years ago because they were "too easy" to get. It's surprising they would reverse that but it might just be that working from home has reduced the availability of office based interviews. :unsure:
16-week delay for National Insurance number applications Between March 2020 and April 2021, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) suspended face-to-face evidence of identity interviews for National Insurance (NI) number applications due to the pandemic. This meant that no new applications could be processed, causing a backlog that the DWP is still in process of getting through. NI applications will now be done onlineEarlier this year the DWP launched an online NI application service. You now need to apply online unless you are missing the required documents. |
Re: Things that are easier when moving back
So, there was a 1 year delay and almost 2 years later they haven't caught up. Given they were on full salaries during the pandemic, it's unfortunate they haven't put in a bit extra and resolved the backlog. For how long is covid going to be an excuse for poor service?
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