Before you start

A valid UK visa granted under the relevant route
A UKVI account linked to your immigration status
The Immigration Health Surcharge paid as part of your application
A Portsmouth address, for the NI number application and most services

Step-by-step

1
Create and check your UKVI account before you travel
The eVisa is the only record of your status. Confirm the passport number, your personal details and the permissions shown all match what was granted. Errors are far easier to fix from abroad than from a Southsea letting agency with a holding deposit already paid.
OnlineWho: YouBefore travel
2
Generate both share codes before you need either
Employers and landlords check your status with a code you generate from the UKVI account. Codes are time-limited and purpose-specific — a right-to-work code will not satisfy a right-to-rent check, and you will need both inside your first fortnight.
OnlineWho: You
3
Read the vetting requirement in the job advert, not the visa requirement
Defence and naval-base roles routinely say 'SC clearance required' or 'must be eligible for SC'. Security Check normally expects five years' continuous UK residence and Developed Vetting normally expects ten, with the higher levels in practice restricted to British nationals. This is a separate gate from your right to work, it is not negotiable by the employer, and it is the most common reason a Portsmouth application goes nowhere.
OnlineWho: YouBefore applying
4
Apply for a National Insurance number as soon as you arrive
There is no route to apply from abroad. Check first whether you already hold one printed in the remarks on an old BRP. Without it you can work legally, but payroll will usually apply an emergency tax code.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
5
Register with a GP while you are still well
You have already paid the Immigration Health Surcharge, but access runs through a GP practice and nothing happens automatically. Practices around the university and Fratton absorb a large student intake each September, so register before it rather than during it.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
6
Separate what is UK-wide from what is English
Your visa, NI number and surcharge are identical everywhere in the UK. Income tax bands, the NHS prescription charge, tenancy law and school admissions are devolved and materially different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Advice written for Cardiff or Edinburgh is right about your visa and wrong about your payslip and your tenancy.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport with the visa granted
UKVI account credentials, including the phone and email used for two-step verification
Share codes, generated per purpose for employers and landlords
Proof of a Portsmouth address
Evidence of Immigration Health Surcharge payment, included in the visa grant

Things most newcomers don’t know

Your visa gets you the job market minus the naval base.

Almost two-thirds of the Royal Navy's surface fleet is based here, and the engineering economy around it — the dockyard, BAE's warship business, QinetiQ, much of the supply chain — runs on national security vetting that tests UK residence history and nationality. A newly arrived visa holder is usually ineligible for years regardless of skill. Nobody says this out loud in a relocation guide, and it is the difference between Portsmouth being a good move and a frustrating one. Filter for employers who do not need clearance: the university, the hospital trust, the port's commercial side, marine tech, software and the visitor economy.

Source: GOV.UK — United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels

There is no physical document any more, and that changes what can go wrong.

Vignette stickers ended for new applicants on 1 July 2026 and BRP cards before that. Your status exists only as an online record, so a locked-out account, an unchanged passport number or a mistyped detail are now the failure modes — and there is no card to show while you fix it.

Source: GOV.UK — online immigration status (eVisa)

You can only apply for a National Insurance number from inside the UK.

There is no advance route, so it is a first-week task rather than a pre-departure one. Several visa categories already have a number printed on the reverse of the old BRP — applying for a second creates a records problem that takes months to unpick.

Source: GOV.UK — apply for a National Insurance number

The Immigration Health Surcharge is a lump sum paid before you have earned anything.

It is charged per year of leave for every family member and paid with the application, on top of the visa fee. For a five-year visa with dependants it runs well into five figures, and it lands months before your first UK payslip.

Source: GOV.UK — pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application

Common mistakes to avoid

Applying for defence roles that require SC or DV clearance you cannot yet be eligible for.
Travelling without having logged into and checked the UKVI account.
Generating a right-to-work code and offering it for a right-to-rent check.
Applying for a second National Insurance number you already hold on an old BRP.
Budgeting the visa fee but not the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.