Support for international colleagues

If you made your visa application from outside of the UK, then you will need to collect your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) once you arrive in the UK.

• Check that the Post Office branch you want to use offers a ‘BRP collection service’

Find out more about Biometric Residence Permits.

Find out more about Using your UK Visas and Immigration Account, including updating the Home Office if your travel document or personal details change.

For your salary to be paid each month, it’s essential for you to open a UK bank account. Pay day usually falls on the 26th of the month (academic colleagues) or 16th of the month (support colleagues). If when opening a UK bank account you require a letter from the University to confirm your employment, please contact the HR Services team (HRServicesteam@leedsbeckett.ac.uk)

The National Health Service (NHS) provides information on conditions, treatments and local services. You will find it helpful to register with a local GP. You can find details of local GPs, hospitals and dentists in the Leeds area click on the NHS website.

Calling for NHS advice

If you are feeling unwell and need a telephone health assessment, you can call the free NHS helpline service from any phone by dialling "111”.

Depending on the time of year and availability, there may be university accommodation available for you to rent on your arrival in the UK. Please contact our conferencing department via conferences@leedsbeckett.ac.uk if this is something which may be of interest to you, and colleagues will advise you on availability, location and prices.

All workers in the UK pay tax and National Insurance. The amount of income tax you pay depends on how much you earn and tax rate bands are subject to annual change. Tax payments are automatically taken out of the salary paid to you by the university.

Depending on your home country’s tax rules and how long you will be based in the UK, you may also still have to pay tax in your home country. The UK has formed agreements with many countries to ensure that individuals will only have to pay tax in one location, and for countries where no agreement exists, the UK rules ensure individuals do not suffer a double tax charge on their income.

National Insurance is the UK’s social security scheme. Paying National Insurance may enable you to qualify for certain benefits and the State Pension. Your contribution will automatically be taken out of your salary.

You will need a National Insurance (NI) number to make sure your National Insurance contributions and tax are recorded against your name only. You will find more information about applying for a NI number on Gov.UK (if you have a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), you might have a NI number already – it will be printed on the back of your BRP if you do).

You can find out more about the UK state pension on Gov.uk. You’ll usually need at least 10 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions (NIC) to get any State Pension.

If you have less than 10 years' UK NIC, you may be able to use your overseas social security contributions to make up the 10 qualifying years needed to get a UK state pension. This is most likely if you have lived or worked in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland or certain countries that have a social security agreement with the UK. For more information and an example of how this works, see Gov.uk.

More information about the University’s occupational pension schemes is available on the HR Pension webpage (colleague access only).

Home Office guidance

The below Home Office webpage gives you advice on protecting yourself from tricks and scams the Home Office are aware have affected other people with a visa. If you receive an unexpected email, telephone call or letter from someone who claims to be from the Home Office, it may not be genuine. In particular, the Home Office will never contact you to ask for money or your personal details.

The following Home Office webpages provide information about British citizenship and Dual Citizenship (dual nationality).

• More about British citizenship
• More about Dual citizenship

You do not need to tell UKVI if your BRP expires on 31 December 2024 but your immigration status (for example, your visa) allows you to stay longer.

You will not need a BRP from 1 January 2025. You’ll be able to prove your immigration status online, without a BRP.

UKVI will update their information on how to prove your immigration status in early 2024. You do not need to do anything and your immigration status will not be affected.