Your First 90 Days in a New Country: The Settling-In Guide

In this guide

1. United Kingdom
2. Canada
   1. More Canada tasks after you land
3. United States
4. Australia
5. Living in Europe as a Brit: healthcare and residency
6. Tasks that apply everywhere
   1. Paperwork that follows you abroad
7. A suggested order for the first 90 days
8. Key takeaways

Quick answer: In your first 90 days abroad, focus on five things in this order: a bank account, the tax or social number your country uses, healthcare, a place to live and a local credit record. This guide links to a step-by-step article for each task in the UK, Canada, the United States and Australia, using official sources. Only the guides we have verified are listed, and we add more as we confirm them.

The first weeks in a new country are mostly paperwork, and the paperwork has a habit of depending on itself: the landlord wants a bank account, the bank wants an address, the employer wants a tax number. Knowing the order saves weeks. Below is the settling-in path for each country we cover. Rules change, so confirm on the official site before you submit anything.

United Kingdom

• Bank account: How to open a UK bank account as a newcomer, including what to do without proof of address.
• National Insurance number: How to get a National Insurance number. You apply online and should allow up to 4 weeks. Then see how National Insurance contributions work.
• Healthcare: How to register with a GP in England. It is free and does not require ID, address or immigration proof. Also read the immigration health surcharge and NHS access.
• Housing: Renting a flat in London as a newcomer, covering the Right to Rent check, allowed fees and deposits, and renting in England without a UK credit history. Also read how tenancy deposit protection works, Council Tax for newcomers and whether you need a TV Licence.
• Families: UK Child Benefit for newcomers: who can claim and how, Tax-Free Childcare, Universal Credit and the Sure Start Maternity Grant. New baby? See how to register a birth, maternity pay and leave, paternity pay and leave and shared parental leave and pay.
• Proving your status: UK eVisa and share code guide and right to work checks.
• Working: employment contract basics, minimum wage rates, holiday entitlement, bank holidays in England and Wales, your payslip, the emergency tax code, Statutory Sick Pay, workplace pension automatic enrolment and redundancy rights.
• Tax and pensions: UK tax residence and the Statutory Residence Test, income tax rates and the Personal Allowance, Self Assessment, tax on foreign income, tax on UK income if you live abroad, Marriage Allowance and State Pension qualifying years.
• Credit: How to build a credit history in the UK. Credit scores do not cross borders.
• Driving: how to apply for your first provisional driving licence.
• Pets: bringing a dog, cat or ferret to Great Britain.
• Voting: How to register to vote in the UK.
• Your visa: Student, Graduate, Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, Global Talent, High Potential Individual, Youth Mobility Scheme, Seasonal Worker, Innovator Founder, Scale-up Worker, Family and Standard Visitor visa guides. If you are visiting without a visa, read the UK ETA guide. If you are only changing planes, see the UK transit visa guide.
• Later on, for settlement or citizenship: Indefinite leave to remain: who can apply and after how long, the Life in the UK Test: who needs it, how to book and how to prepare, and British citizenship routes explained.

Canada

• Immigration route: Express Entry explained and Canada work permit types explained. For visitors, see the Canada eTA guide. Skilled workers can go deeper with the CRS score, language test requirements, proof of funds, Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Worker Program and Educational Credential Assessment.
• Provincial and regional routes: Provincial Nominee Program, Atlantic Immigration Program and the rural and Francophone community pilots.
• Your accounts: IRCC secure account and CRA My Account.
• Study and work after study: Canada study permit requirements and documents, working off campus as a student and the PGWP guide. Young travellers can read about International Experience Canada.
• Family: sponsoring your spouse to Canada and the Canada super visa for parents and grandparents. Raising children? See Canada Child Benefit for newcomers.
• Medical exam and biometrics: who needs a Canada immigration medical exam and who needs to give biometrics.
• Bank account: How to open a Canadian bank account as a newcomer. You have the right to open an account, even without a job.
• Social Insurance Number: How to get a SIN in Canada.
• Taxes: taxes for newcomers to Canada.
• Credit: Credit score in Canada for newcomers, with scores that usually range from 300 to 900.
• PR card: Canada PR card: how to get, renew or replace it, and travelling without one.
• Finding work: how to write a resume for applying abroad, which draws on Canada’s official Job Bank advice.
• Later on, for citizenship: How to apply for Canadian citizenship: eligibility, test and steps.

More Canada tasks after you land

• Health: health care for newcomers, OHIP in Ontario, RAMQ in Quebec and MSP in British Columbia.
• Money and benefits: cost of living in Canada, Employment Insurance, Ontario Trillium Benefit and Schedule 11 tuition amounts.
• Residency and leaving: Canadian tax residency and residential ties and leaving Canada: emigrant tax rules.
• Non-residents and treaties: NR4 slip and NR301 declaration.
• Getting around: driving in Canada, NEXUS card and Canadian passport renewal.

United States

• Tax and identification number: SSN vs ITIN: which one do you need as a new immigrant? If you need an ITIN, read how to apply for an ITIN, the list of ITIN supporting documents the IRS accepts, the tax benefits you can claim with one and, later, how to renew an expired ITIN.
• Working in the US: the Employment Authorization Document (EAD), Form I-9 and Form W-4 for nonresident alien employees. Work visa guides: L-1A, L-1B, TN, E-1, E-2 and O-1.
• Tax status: the substantial presence test decides whether you are a tax resident. If you are not, read nonresident alien tax, Form 1040-NR, 30% withholding on US-source income and tax treaty benefits. If you meet the day count but your life is based elsewhere, see the closer connection exception. Green card holders should read the green card test. In the year you arrive or leave, see the dual-status tax year. If you are in the US on certain visas, check who must file Form 8843. Married to a US citizen or resident? Read about the nonresident spouse election.
• Filing and paying: filing extension, paying your IRS bill and checking your refund status.
• Students: F-1 work rules: on-campus, CPT and OPT, FICA tax for international students and the scholarship tax treaty exemption.
• Green card and citizenship: family-based green cards, adjustment of status, the affidavit of support, diversity visa winners, how to renew a green card (Form I-90), the reentry permit for long trips abroad, naturalization requirements and the naturalization test.
• Accounts back home: FBAR filing requirements, Form 8938 and FATCA thresholds and Form 3520 for foreign gifts. If you are a US citizen or resident working abroad, start with our expat tax guide for US citizens abroad, then the foreign earned income exclusion and the foreign tax credit. Also see the expat tax extension, Social Security tax abroad and Form 6166 residency certification.
• Leaving the US: some non-citizens need a sailing permit before departure.
• Credit basics: what a credit report is and what a credit score is, then how to build credit as a new immigrant in the USA. Next, learn what APR means, how prepaid, debit and credit cards differ, how long information stays on your credit report and hard versus soft credit inquiries.
• Everyday banking: how to cash a check, what “for deposit only” means, how long a bank can hold your deposit, when funds from an ATM deposit are available, what an overdraft is, how to stop payment on a check and how automatic payments work. For moving money between accounts, see what an ACH transaction is, how long an ACH transfer takes, what a wire transfer is and how domestic wires work.
• Protecting your credit and money: how to dispute a credit report error, how a credit freeze works, your rights with debt collectors, what to do after identity theft and who to contact about a scam.
• Housing: Renting in the US as a new immigrant, covering tenant screening and your rights. After you move, report it: USCIS change of address and the 10-day rule.
• Travel and customs: what food you must declare at US customs.

Australia

• Tax File Number: How to get a TFN in Australia as a migrant. It is free, and you must already be in Australia to apply online.

Living in Europe as a Brit: healthcare and residency

Start with living in Spain as a British national. Then read the healthcare guide for your country: Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Sweden, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Czechia.

Tasks that apply everywhere

• Keep your documents safe: see the documents checklist, police clearance certificates for immigration and the wider moving abroad checklist.
• Look for work: how to find a job abroad before you move and resume for applying abroad.
• Be wary of scams aimed at newcomers: visa and job offer scams and money transfer scams.
• Send money home carefully: see our hub on sending money home from abroad, what a remittance is and your remittance transfer rights in the US.
• Know what to do in an emergency: lost or stolen passport abroad.

Paperwork that follows you abroad

• Apostille for US documents
• Travel advisory levels explained
• Vote from abroad as a British citizen and UK State Pension abroad
• US citizens voting from abroad with the FPCA and retiring abroad as a US citizen
• Social Security benefits outside the US
• Foreign housing exclusion, exchange rates for your US return, streamlined foreign offshore procedures and expatriation tax

A suggested order for the first 90 days

The timings above are a suggested order, not a legal deadline. Each country’s own pages state their actual time limits, such as the 28-day wait for an Australian TFN letter.

Key takeaways

• Work through banking, tax or social number, healthcare, housing and credit in that order.
• Use the country sections above for the detailed guide to each step.
• Confirm every requirement on the official government site.

This page is general information, not legal or financial advice. More country guides will be added as we verify them. Last updated: October 2026.