The moving to Jersey, Channel Islands checklist

One month before

• Sign the lease or exchange on the purchase. The landlord or your Jersey advocate will need your registration card, so sequence this with the registration step below (you can register online before you arrive once you have an address and a licence).
• Register as a Jersey resident online at gov.je: register as a Jersey resident. Have your passport, employer licence, expected salary and marriage certificate ready. Each adult registers separately. Card fee £88.15 for Licensed or Standard (free for Entitled). This also issues your social security number and registers you for income tax. Phone 444444 if you cannot do it online.
• Apply for GST relief on household goods before shipping. Owned over six months and used at your old home qualifies. Jersey Customs and Immigration Service: gov.je > Importing household goods. Phone 448000.
• Set up a Jersey bank account. HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest International, Barclays and Santander International have branches in St Helier; most need proof of address and your registration card. UK accounts keep working.
• Arrange utilities for move-in day. Electricity: Jersey Electricity (jec.co.uk, 505460). Water: Jersey Water (jerseywater.je, 707300). Gas, if the property has it: Island Energy. Broadband: JT (jtglobal.com) or Sure (sure.com)^†.
• Car insurance. A Jersey insurer or a UK insurer who covers Jersey. Get a cover note for the gap before registration.
• Book travel for you, the pets and the car. DFDS from Poole (about 4.5 hours), Portsmouth (overnight) or St Malo; flights with BA, easyJet or Loganair.
• Redirect post with Royal Mail. UK "free delivery" often excludes JE postcodes.
• Check your mobile plan covers Jersey. Many UK plans treat the Channel Islands as roaming.

Moving week

• Collect keys and take meter readings (electricity and water) and photos.
• Customs declaration for the car and household goods at the port on arrival if not done online. Keep the ferry ticket; DVS needs it.
• Swap your UK driving licence at your Parish Hall. Fee £70, valid ten years. Bring your UK licence, passport and proof of address. Do this first because DVS wants the Jersey licence.
• Register the car at Driver and Vehicle Standards, La Collette, St Helier (448600, dvsinfo@gov.je). Inspection with form VRD 17 (£46.10), registration with VRD 2 (£37.70). No grace period for UK plates.
• Register with a GP. Pick from the 14 practices on the gov.je GP surgery list. Ring, ask for the new patient form, bring your social security number. Full fee for six months.
• Register with a dentist. Book a new patient examination and ask about a membership plan, which turns check-ups and hygiene into a fixed monthly fee. Our dentists guide lists the practices we rate, from the most complete clinics to good-value options.
• Dog licence from your Parish Hall, £10 a year, due by 31 January, for dogs over six months.
• Notify your address to the Population Office within three months of moving in. gov.je > Change of address.

First week

• Confirm your ITIS rate has arrived from Revenue Jersey and give it to your employer. If not, ring 440300^†.
• School start. Complete the online admissions form with your lease or utility bill as proof of address. Most children start within ten school days.
• Register with a pharmacy if you take regular medication. Prescriptions are full price until you have a health card.
• Get a Digital ID on one.gov.je. You need it for most online government services, including the digital registration card.
• Bus: contactless or AvanchiCard on Liberty Bus from Liberation Station. Singles about £2 to £2.70.
• Find your Parish Hall. Parishes are run by elected honorary officers and the Parish Hall handles licences, rates and local matters.
• Join the local Facebook groups for your parish. This is genuinely how the island communicates.

First month

• Parish rates. You will get a rates assessment for the property in your name, payable in the autumn. Check it reflects whether you are owner, occupier or both.
• Set up a Jersey pension if your employer offers one. Jersey has its own approved schemes; UK pension contributions from Jersey are complicated.
• Register the children with the Community Dental Service if under 11 (via the hospital, waiting lists apply) or a private dentist. Check Jersey Dental Scheme eligibility for older children, noting the five-year residency rule.
• Check your home and contents insurance covers Jersey. Many UK policies do not.
• Sort a Jersey will if you have bought property. Jersey has its own succession law and a UK will does not necessarily cover Jersey immovable property.
• Explore the parishes. Drive the coast road end to end on a Sunday. Find your beach.

First six months

• Apply for your health card once you have six months of social security contributions. Customer Hub, Union Street, 444444, or customerservice@gov.je. This brings the £50.28 GP subsidy and free prescriptions.
• Confirm your hospital eligibility after six months' residence and contributions. Patient Finance Team 442227. Then review whether you still need private medical insurance.
• File your first Jersey tax return in the year after you arrive, online via one.gov.je. Deadline usually end of July^†.
• File your final UK return and confirm UK non-resident status with your adviser.
• Register to vote. You can vote in Jersey elections after two years' residence^†.
• Review your residential status clock. Keep leases, payslips and bank statements as evidence of continuous residence for Entitled for Work Only at five years and Entitled at ten.
• Decide if you are staying. Most people know by month six. If you are, start thinking about buying, because rents do not get cheaper.

Key contacts in one place