What to do in your first 100 days after moving abroad

What should you do in your first week after moving abroad?

The first week is not the time to do everything. You are jet-lagged, your phone may not work and you have no document that proves you live anywhere. The first three days are for anchoring, and the registrations go better from Day 4, once you are rested and have the right papers in one folder. Here is a sequence that works in most countries; follow your official newcomer page where it differs.

• 1. Day 1: tell home you have landed, get a local number (a prepaid SIM is fine), save the emergency number for the country and write your address on paper.
• 2. Day 2: walk ten minutes in each direction; find a pharmacy, a grocery shop and the transit stop; find and save the official newcomer pages.
• 3. Day 3: book appointments from official websites only, and ask your employer, university or host for a letter confirming your name and address.
• 4. Days 4 and 5: start the registrations your country lists, such as a tax or social number, a bank account and any immigration registration.
• 5. Day 6: write a first budget for weeks 1 to 4 and log your arrival fund.
• 6. Day 7: rest, then hold a 30-minute review: what is done, what is waiting, next week's three jobs.

How do you get a bank account or tax number without proof of address?

Almost every newcomer meets the proof-of-address loop. One office wants your address proved before it gives you a number; the bank wants the number before it opens an account; the landlord wants a bank account before you sign the lease that would prove your address. Each rule makes sense. Together they form a circle with no obvious way in.

The way in is to find the document each office accepts in place of the missing one. Usually that is a letter on letterhead from your employer, university or host confirming your name and address. A signed temporary lease, official post addressed to you, or a bank's newcomer route can also work. Ask each office directly: 'What else do you accept?'

Official pages spell out what they need. Ireland's government page for the PPS number, for example, asks for photo ID, proof of address showing your name that is no older than three months, and a reason for needing the number such as taking up work. Canada's official page says you can apply for a Social Insurance Number online, by mail or in person, with no fee. Rules like these change, so read the current page rather than a forum.

How do you rent safely as a newcomer?

Housing is usually the biggest cost of your first hundred days and the place you are most exposed: you do not know local prices, you have no references, and you are often in a hurry. Run every listing through the same filter, in the same order, before any money moves. Set a rent ceiling from your take-home pay first, so a tempting listing cannot set it for you.

When should you register with a doctor in a new country?

In your first month, while everyone is well. Newcomers tend to put it off because the system is unfamiliar and nobody is sick, and then learn it at two in the morning with a feverish child. Health systems differ a great deal: in some countries you register with a local general practice, in others your insurance decides where you go, and entitlement can depend on your permission and your job.

Requirements differ too. The NHS website in England, for example, says you do not need ID, proof of address or proof of immigration status to register with a GP surgery, though a practice may ask for documents in some cases. Read your official health service page, write one sentence about how it works, contact three practices, register everyone, and write down the out-of-hours number and the route to the nearest emergency department.

How much money do you need for your first 100 days abroad?

There is no single figure: it depends on your city, household, rent and how soon your pay starts. What you can do is plan the hundred days in blocks by the week money leaves your account, and track a weekly cash runway against a floor you choose. A monthly budget hides the lumps: a deposit and first rent paid together, flights for a family, a winter coat in week two.

Here is a worked example for an illustrative newcomer, Daniel, who moved from Quezon City to Dublin for work. He arrived with EUR 10,000, earns EUR 4,050 a month after tax, and set a floor of EUR 2,500. Weekly money in and out, and the closing balance, for his first eight weeks:

His balance stayed above the floor in every week except week 7, when his family's flights (EUR 1,390) left the account before payday and the balance fell to EUR 1,735. The full pay in week 8 restored it to EUR 4,862, about 5.4 weeks of runway at his typical spend of EUR 3,900 a month (EUR 4,862 divided by EUR 3,900 / 4.345). The lesson he wrote down: big one-off payments go in the week after payday. These are sample amounts for teaching, not a guide to costs in Dublin.

One more habit helps: stop converting every price back home after the first month. Think of prices as a share of a day's local pay. A EUR 3.80 coffee is about 2.9% of Daniel's daily take-home pay, which makes the decision clearer than the exchange rate does.

How do you build credit history in a new country?

In most countries, lenders, landlords and some phone and utility companies look at a local credit file. Your history from home usually does not follow you automatically, so assume you start at zero. Zero is not bad credit; it means lenders have nothing to read yet.

Build slowly and without debt you do not need. Have your salary paid into a local current account. Put regular bills in your own name, paid by direct debit. Ask your bank which of its products report to the local credit bureaus. If you take a card, keep the limit small, use it for one category such as groceries and pay it in full every month. Once you have a few months of history, look at your own file and check your name and address. Avoid any service that promises fast credit for a fee.

How do you cope with loneliness after moving abroad?

Expect it, and plan for it like rent. A move cuts most of your daily connections at once: the colleague you joked with, the neighbour, the friend you saw without arranging it. The World Health Organization's Commission on Social Connection reported in June 2025 that 1 in 6 people worldwide is affected by loneliness. Newcomers are not weak for feeling it; they are standing in the conditions that cause it.

Build three circles: daily faces (neighbours, colleagues, the school gate), shared interests (a club, team, class, choir or faith group) and people like you (newcomer groups and people from home). Choose groups that meet at the same time every week, because repetition builds connection faster than one big night out. Every Sunday, count your conversations over ten minutes and your group activities, and give yourself a belonging score from 1 to 10. If the score drops, plan one call and one group activity for the coming week. If you feel low most days for two weeks or more, talk to a doctor or a helpline.

Work is part of belonging too. Observe the unwritten rules for four weeks before you judge them, find a colleague who will answer honest questions, and treat small talk as part of the job. If you want a structured view of how you adapt across cultures, AssessAll's Cross-Cultural & Inclusive Leadership assessment is one option.

What are the most common mistakes in the first 100 days?

Most newcomer mistakes come from hurry and from trusting the wrong source. These are the ones worth avoiding on purpose.