Moving to and managing money in the United Kingdom

Visas are purpose-specific: work, family, study and other routes each carry their own conditions and their own right to work. A permission to enter is not the same thing as permission to settle.

Tax residence uses its own tests, including days and ties. Keep a record. The year you arrive, and the year you leave, often need their own calculation.

UK banks usually ask for a passport, an address and evidence of the right to be in the country. New arrivals sometimes start with the bank an employer already uses.

If you already hold UK accounts and you have been living abroad, tell the bank about the move in either direction. Some products are restricted once your residence changes.

Income tax and National Insurance sit alongside rules for foreign income, gains and property. The treatment of money you earned before you arrived has changed in recent years. Confirm the rules for the tax year you actually move.

Scotland can set different income-tax rates from the rest of the UK. Where you live inside the country is part of the question.

Buying in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland does not follow one process. Use a local conveyancer or solicitor, and do not treat a decision in principle from a lender abroad as a UK mortgage offer.

Stamp duty and the equivalent taxes in Scotland and Wales depend on price, whether the home is your main residence, and whether you already own property. Check the current bands before you offer.

ISAs, pensions and overseas portfolios do not all survive a change of residence in the same way. Ask each provider, before you move, whether the account can stay open and how it will be taxed.

A portfolio booked outside the UK can still be reportable once you are UK resident. Do not assume an overseas account is invisible.

Access to the National Health Service depends on your immigration status. Some visas expect you to pay a health surcharge. An international policy does not automatically replace NHS entitlement, and the NHS does not automatically replace a policy your family still needs abroad.

If you are buying a home, arrange buildings insurance for completion. A policy written for a home in another country will not do that job.

Working for a foreign employer from the UK, invoicing as a sole trader, and forming a UK company are different arrangements. Where you manage the work from can matter as much as where the company was formed.

A company formed in the UK still has filing duties. Formation is the short step. Banking, tax registration and payroll are the ones that take judgement.

Bringing savings to fund a move or a home is ordinary, and banks will ask where the money came from. Keep the sale contract, the statements and a short explanation.

If your capital is in euros, dollars or another currency, price the conversion properly. The fee on the transfer is rarely the whole cost.