Got visa - what next?

[magicman316]

My wife got her visa in June and traveled with me to the UK in early August. Now she is here and settled in.

My question is: what next? Do I need to register her somehwere, like local GP, get her an NI number etc? How do I go about this or is there info somehwere on what to do next? A part from talking with the immigration officer at time of arrival who just took fingerprints and didnt ask any questions at all we haven't been in touch with any authorities or no one has contacted us either so dont know if I need to call someone like local council or police to get her registered and ball rolling? she wants to drive here, work here and obviously in the future get ILR and eventually a british passport/citizenship etc. so what should we be doing now?

Many Thanks,a

[SoHopeful]

You will need to apply for your wife's NI number. Take a look at this for more info: https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number.

Take her to your GP to register. Hopefully they won't require proof of address but if so, wait for a letter re her NI.

Add your wife to your council tax bill this will then generate a new bill and further proof of address.

You can also add her to your bank account or apply for one for herself. Lloyds were great with us, they allowed my husband a basic account with just his passport and a signed "letter of recommendation" from me as I have had an account with them for some years.

Ensure that you keep correspondence as you will need it to renew her visa in 2.5 years. You need 6 joint letters or 12 individual letters from government organisations, banks, etc to evidence that you have lived together since she arrived.

Your wife can apply for her provisional driving licence whenever she is ready.

Just a tip - I always found it handy for my husbans to have colour copies of his visa/passport on hand when he first arrived to apply for accounts and jobs.

[magicman316]

Thanks for that information, very helpful.