Your first weeks in Scotland: home, bank, NIN, GP, council and school in the right order
Scotland has no town hall desk where you register as a resident. You arrange six separate things with six bodies, and the order saves weeks: first an address, then the bank, your National Insurance Number, the GP, the council and the school. You may start work before your number arrives.
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In your first weeks in Scotland you arrange six separate things, each with its own body. There is no town hall desk where you register as a resident, as in the Netherlands. What the Netherlands arranges in one go at the municipality runs here through the bank, HMRC, the GP and the council.
This is the order that works fastest:
- a home, because almost everything asks for an address;
- a bank account, for your salary, your rent and the council tax;
- your National Insurance Number, your number for work and tax;
- the GP;
- the council, the local authority, for the council tax;
- school, if you have children.
What do you already have ready from the Netherlands?
Your immigration status is an eVisa, a digital residence document in your UKVI account (your account with the UK immigration service). Anyone who asks for proof gets a share code that you create there. A code is valid for 90 days and you can use it as often as you need. Make a new one when it expires. Your employer uses it to check your right to work.
A landlord in Scotland does not have to check your Right to Rent: according to GOV.UK that duty applies to homes in England.
How do you find a home?
Usually you rent first. In Scotland the standard tenancy is called a private residential tenancy, with its own Scottish rules. Everything about it is in renting in Scotland. With a tenancy agreement you immediately have the proof of address that the bank and the school ask for.
Can you get a bank account without a history?
Yes. Nine large banks must offer a basic bank account, a simple account without fees and without an overdraft, to anyone legally resident in the UK who has no account yet. They include Bank of Scotland (part of Lloyds Banking Group) and Royal Bank of Scotland (part of NatWest Group). The law adds that people without a fixed address also count as legally resident. See banking and paying in Scotland.
Do you have to wait for your National Insurance Number?
No. The National Insurance Number (NIN) is your permanent number for work, tax and social security, a bit like the Dutch BSN. You apply on GOV.UK, and only once you are in the UK and allowed to work. It can take up to four weeks. You may start work before the number arrives, if you can prove your right to work. Check your eVisa first: the number may already be there.
When do you go to the GP?
As soon as you have an address. You register with a GP practice using a form that you email. Not having proof of identity or address should not be the reason to refuse you or make you wait. You then get a CHI number, your patient number throughout Scotland. See healthcare in Scotland.
| What | With whom | What you need | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share code | UKVI account | your eVisa | immediate, valid for 90 days |
| Basic bank account | one of the nine banks | what the bank asks for; legal residence in the UK | decision within 10 working days |
| National Insurance Number | GOV.UK | being in the UK and allowed to work | up to 4 weeks |
| GP | GP practice | registration form | you hear by phone or email |
| Council tax | your council | your address and who lives there | per council |
| School | your council | birth certificate, proof of address, medical details | per council |
What do you arrange with the council?
Council tax is the tax per home, divided into bands. You look up the band of a Scottish address with the Scottish Assessors. You usually pay it from age 18. If you live alone, you get a 25 percent discount; that is in the law for Scotland. So tell the council that you live alone.
Also give HMRC your Scottish address. You then pay Scottish income tax, with a tax code starting with an S. If you do not, you may pay at the wrong rate. See AOW, pension and tax in Scotland.
How do you enrol your child in school?
Also through the council. You enrol your child at the school for your catchment area, the area where you live. With the Highland Council, for example, you bring:
- your child's birth certificate;
- proof of your address;
- your child's medical details, including allergies.
You can apply separately for a school other than the one for your own area. How the Scottish school system works, from P1 to S6, is in school in Scotland.
What do you not need to do?
You do not need to "register as a resident" anywhere, and no letter will remind you. What you do keep are the links with the Netherlands: your Dutch account and your DigiD. See keeping your bank account and DigiD.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Scotland or look inside the open plan first.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- GOV.UK — view your eVisa and get a share code, valid for 90 days — gov.uk
- GOV.UK — the Right to Rent check applies to homes in England — gov.uk
- HM Treasury — basic bank accounts, the nine designated banks — gov.uk
- Payment Accounts Regulations 2015, regulation 23 — legally resident, including without a fixed address — legislation.gov.uk
- GOV.UK — apply for a National Insurance number, up to four weeks — gov.uk
- NHS inform — registering with a GP practice — nhsinform.scot
- GOV.UK — Council Tax, who has to pay, from age 18 — gov.uk
- GOV.UK — Council Tax bands, for Scotland via the Scottish Assessors — gov.uk
- Local Government Finance Act 1992, section 79 — 25 percent discount for people living alone (Scotland) — legislation.gov.uk
- GOV.UK — Income Tax in Scotland, giving HMRC your address — gov.uk
- The Highland Council — enrolling your child in school, what to bring — highland.gov.uk
Read on
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