Quick Facts moving to the UK

The UK is one of the most known places where Australians tend to move for work and study. But it is important to keep some rules and restrictions in mind while you are planning to shift your entire base to the UK. Otherwise, it can be troublesome. For instance, there are not one, but several custom clearance forms you have to submit, depending on your stay. If you are thinking about moving for a long time or permanently, you should be specifically aware of the goods and services rules. Here, we have shortlisted the most important facts to keep in mind while moving to the UK from Australia. Have a look!

1. Keep your documents ready

Original documents are very important when you are planning to shift to another country. But which documents you need to bring, it depends on the country. Generally, people moving to the UK from Australia have all their documents in English. But in case you have them in any other language, you need to get verified translated versions to submit in the UK. If you are moving alone, keep a copy at your home. You should always keep the soft copies handy as well. You need to keep the following documents ready:

• Birth certificate
• Passport and visa
• Academic documents
• Employment proofs and updated CV
• Insurance policy
• Medical documents
• Investment record
• Marriage papers (if any)
• Immunisation records
• Professional license
• Legal will

2. Visa

If you need to get a work visa, the UK has strict rules about it. There are standard rules and different types of visas depending on your type of work, the duration of your stay and your monetary condition. But in case you have a passport from the UK, Switzerland, the European Union or the European Economic Area, you don’t require a visa for moving to the UK.

3. Pay the tax on time

Whether you are a resident of the UK or you just have an income source from the country, you need to pay the taxes. If you are a non-resident person who just moved to the UK and have a UK job as your main income source, then you need to pay source based taxation. The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) is just any other income tax where you have to pay a certain amount depending on your salary. For the National Income tax, you may have to pay up to 12% of your gross salary income. In both cases, a limited first time earned amount in a financial year is completely tax-free.

4. Buy or Rent: Choose your house wisely

Whether you are renting or buying, choosing your housing always requires a lot of research when you are moving overseas. For renting, the best places for the newbies in the UK are Manchester, Wales, Yorkshire, East Sussex and West Midland. If you are buying a house, then you need to find a good real estate agent and follow a number of steps that include getting a mortgage leader, agreement, get a proper valuation, do all the legal work and work on the contracts.

5. Restrictions to follow

While you get a service to export your goods from home to the UK, you need to keep the restrictions in mind. It is advisable to avoid any kind of food, tobacco or alcohol in your shipment as the UK has strict shipping policies. If you want these products to ship, you need to declare everything in your inventory and pay a certain amount of taxes. If you fail to do so, it will cost you both time and money. Plus, your shipment may face inspection and it may get refrained from shipment.

6. Custom declaration forms

There are different custom declaration forms you need to fill when you are shipping household effects or motor vehicles to the UK. Depending on the timespan, whether you are shipping for a temporary or long time, you need to choose the form.

7. Shipment time

When you are shipping your goods from Australia to the UK, no matter which international moving company you choose, there is a specified timespan it will require to reach your doorstep. Once they are dispatched from your place, depending on the service you use, the timing will be different to reach the UK port. After that, the UK has separate shipment timings for different kinds of goods. For instance, the only use of container service usually takes 4 to 6 working days while the air freight services take less time.