London Expat Desk
Moving to London for a professional role
Skilled Worker planning, sponsor checks, right-to-work records and family timing.
Practical city guide
London starting points
For London, confirm the sponsor licence holder, job code, salary basis, work location and whether the employer pays visa fees or only gives documents.
London starting points
For London, confirm the sponsor licence holder, job code, salary basis, work location and whether the employer pays visa fees or only gives documents.
Keep passport, certificate of sponsorship details, qualification records, professional membership records and prior-employment records ready before resignation.
UK offers should separate gross salary, bonus, pension, private medical insurance, relocation support, school assistance and any clawback period.
Family visa timing should be planned alongside housing and school applications. Dependants need their own records and surcharge planning.
The first month can involve temporary accommodation, deposit, rent, transport, mobile, food and school visits before first salary is received.
Never resign on a verbal sponsorship promise. keep copies of visa, right-to-work and payroll documents outside employer email.
The planner should track certificate of sponsorship, visa decision, arrival date, BRP or digital status records, payroll, bank and tenancy steps.
London document checklist
Sponsor; Licence holder, certificate of sponsorship, job code, salary basis and work location.
Visa file; Passport, visa decision, digital status records and dependant records.
Family timing; Surcharge, school, housing and dependant records planned together.
Payroll; Start date, first salary cut-off, pension and bank-account records.
Match the sponsor, employing entity and project role
Record the named employing company, sponsor licence holder, payroll entity, job title, occupation code and main work address. Ask the employer to explain any difference between the group brand, contracting company and client-facing project team. Keep the signed offer and Certificate of Sponsorship details together. Never resign because a project director has confirmed the role informally.
Construction claims and commercial work can move between a London office, client premises and project sites. Identify the normal workplace and the travel the employer treats as business. Record whether project completion changes the job, office or sponsor. A client assignment can change without changing the employment, but the employee should not infer the practical effect of a proposed move.
Verify the sponsor and application route through the current official service. Keep named contacts for immigration administration, payroll and the operational manager. Never pay a recruiter or personal account for sponsorship, and never release original documents without a dated receipt and return plan.
Check the Skilled Worker conditions used in the application
Use the current GOV.UK Skilled Worker pages for the actual occupation, salary and sponsor case. In the London employment record, record the salary the employer will state, guaranteed hours where relevant, job code and any route-specific treatment. For the London employment check, never use a general salary headline or another employee's approval to declare the application eligible.
Compare the application data with the contract character by character. In the London employment record, a correct annual total does not cure a different employer, occupation, work location or start date. Ask who corrects an error and preserve the revised official record. For the London employment check, leave an unanswered field open rather than selecting the interpretation most favourable to mobilisation.
Keep immigration advice separate from employer optimism. Where the role, salary or family circumstances require a judgement, obtain advice from an authorised source. This page organises records and cash; it does not determine whether the Home Office must grant the application or how a rule applies to disputed facts.
Manage the eVisa, UKVI account and right-to-work records
Record application decision, entry permission where relevant, UKVI account access, eVisa details and the right-to-work records used by the employer. Test personal access before travel and again before the first working day. A screenshot supplied by human resources is not a substitute for the employee controlling the account and checking the displayed identity and status.
Keep right-to-work and right-to-rent share codes separate and create them only through the current official route when needed. Record recipient and date rather than storing an old code as permanent records. The landlord and employer perform different checks, and a successful one does not prove the other has been completed.
Compare passport number, name, nationality, date of birth and permission dates across the account and employer record. Raise a discrepancy before it is repeated into payroll, banking and tenancy files. Preserve the report reference and later corrected status.
Build the personal and family document file
Index passports, application and decision records, relationship records, qualification material, professional memberships and any documents requested for the specific route. Record expiry, translation or certification requirement and original holder. Never obtain a police, medical or translated document from a generic checklist unless the official or instructed case requires it.
Treat each partner and child as a separate application and travel record. The current dependant guidance contains eligibility restrictions and records requirements that can turn on the main worker's route and occupation. Never assume that a family member is eligible merely because another Skilled Worker brought a similar relative.
Store lawful personal copies outside employer email with clear household access. Keep client reports, programmes, valuations and claims material out of the immigration file. The employee needs proof of personal employment and status without taking confidential project information from the employer.
Sequence family travel, housing, school and healthcare
Create a row for every family application, decision, travel date, right-to-rent check, school status and health plan. Ask which matters can proceed before the main worker arrives. Never buy inflexible tickets or sign a family tenancy from a submitted application where the household requires an issued decision.
Price temporary and permanent housing around the actual family sequence. A lone employee can occupy a small serviced room while a family needs lawful space, school access and a workable commute. Keep the extra deposit, overlap and travel cash visible rather than assuming the employer's relocation amount stretches automatically.
NHS GP registration is available without proof of immigration status, ID or address under the current NHS page, although a surgery may request information for other purposes. This practical route does not answer all treatment charges or private-cover questions. Keep GP registration, insurance and any immigration health payment as separate records.
Prepare National Insurance, PAYE and first payroll
Ask payroll which identity, bank and National Insurance information it needs and when. Record the first cut-off and expected pay date. GOV.UK shows employee National Insurance deducted through payroll and current rates by pay band. Never calculate the whole individual tax position from one rate table or describe gross salary as spendable cash.
Build a supported net-pay estimate using the current tax year and the employee's actual code and circumstances where known. Keep pension, benefits, student loan or other deductions visible. Obtain tax advice where residence or overseas income matters. The offer calculator should use a labelled estimate until the first payslip provides records.
At first payroll, compare contract, payslip and bank credit line by line. Separate salary, allowance, expenses and deductions. Raise a mismatch promptly and retain the correction. A total credit can look plausible while an allowance is omitted or a reimbursed business cost is wrongly treated as wages.
Fund the London period before salary and banking work
List temporary accommodation, meals, local transport, mobile service, viewings, holding deposit, tenancy deposit, first rent and school visits by due date. Keep accessible money outside the new UK account until identity checks, card use and transfers have worked. A monthly salary cannot fund a payment due before its first credit.
Ask the employer which visa, travel, hotel or relocation cost it pays directly and which the employee must claim. Retain policy approval and receipt. A reimbursement remains unavailable until processed, so show the original payment and later credit separately in the thirteen-week cash calendar.
Test one late-pay and one delayed-tenancy case. Protect housing, food, health and transport before optional setup purchases. Credit limits and expected bonuses are not arrival cash. If the runway fails, change the timing, support or commitment rather than choosing a more optimistic input.
Maintain the employment file through change and renewal
Record probation, notice, mobility, salary change, occupation, employer and work-location events. Ask whether a formal immigration or payroll action follows before accepting a material change. Never assume an internal group move is permitted or prohibited; preserve the facts and obtain suitable advice where needed.
Put passport, permission and dependant expiries beside tenancy, school and project commitments. Start employer action at the instructed lead time and retain every submission and decision. Renewal is not proved by an assurance that the process has started. Keep the current official status accessible to the employee.
Use the readiness calculator as a document count. Mark a box only when its document or tested access exists, uncheck expired items and retain earlier results with reasons. The score does not predict Home Office approval, payroll accuracy or family readiness; those conclusions require their own records.
Employment file final check
Before accepting the working arrangement, compare the sponsor details, occupation, work locations and dates in the employer documents with the status route actually being used. Record who checked each item and when. If a project site or group company differs from the stated employer, obtain an answer through the employer's immigration or legal route. Never treat a commercial reporting line as records that the immigration position permits every proposed activity.
Build a first-year payroll schedule from gross written cash and the current official tax and National Insurance rules, then reconcile it with the first payslip. Keep pension, student loan, benefits, expenses and one-off relocation entries separate. The calculator is intentionally a scenario model and not a payroll engine. When the official rule or tax code does not resolve the employee's case, leave the disputed amount outside confirmed net pay and obtain qualified advice.
Read probation, notice, mobility, expenses, working time, leave, bonus and benefit clauses together. A benefit shown in recruitment material may be conditional, discretionary or governed by another policy. Record the controlling document and version. Ask how a project cancellation, site transfer or sponsor change affects salary, housing, schooling, insurance and travel. A household decision needs the downside case as well as the expected assignment pattern.
Confirm how dependants are included in relocation, insurance, travel and education processes without assuming their immigration applications or permissions follow automatically from the employee's case. Keep each dependant's application, records and decision separate. Map family travel against employment start, accommodation and school dates. A delayed dependant move changes temporary lodging, flights and care costs even if the employee starts work on time.
After the first payroll cycle, match contracted gross pay, taxable benefits, deductions, expense repayments and bank receipt. Raise any difference with the employer using the payslip and contract rather than an estimated internet result. Preserve the response and corrected record. Repeat after a bonus, tax-code, pension, benefit or work-location change, because a clean first month does not prove later calculations will remain the same.
Set dated reviews for permission, passport, contract, insurance and professional registration where applicable. Store only the records needed for the employment household folder and restrict access to personal records. Before any job, sponsor or material duty change, stop and recheck the current official route. This page cannot approve immigration status, calculate individual tax liability or rewrite the employment contract.
Interactive planning tool
London mobilisation records check
Mark only records supported by a current document or status.
Confirmed actions
Counts confirmed records and does not predict approval.
This page is a planning guide. Rules, charges, eligibility, availability and provider terms can change. Recheck the recorded official source and obtain current written terms before paying, signing, resigning or travelling.