Au pair in London

Maybe it’s because I already have my tickets to visit my family and friends in Christmas, but I feel much happier lately. Things are still a bit crazy and uncertain, but everything changes fast.

I’m happy with the family. Being an au pair can be lonely sometimes, I guess it depends. I’m an introvert person and I like spending my time alone, though sometimes I need to socialise or being with the ones I love. Normally, being with the people I love is as comfortable as being alone, so it doesn’t count as socialising really. Anyway, I’m ok, I’m comfortable, I’m hopefully heading towards some kind of better future.

Blackheath Fireworks, 7th of November 2015

To settle down in London seems a bit complicated if you intend to get a bank account and a NIN (National Insurance Number), specially if you are an au pair. We don’t have a work contract, or a rental contract because we live with the family. We don’t pay taxes (most of us) because it doesn’t apply to our salary in general (in this web there’s more information about au pairs, salary and taxes).  

This is what I did:

1.  First of all, get a phone number. It is very important to have an uk phone number to communicate with the family. They will probably give you a SIM card themselves. What I did was going into the first shop I found and but a Lycamobile SIM card for 1 pound. Maybe it’s not the best option, it’s been a little problematic for me (Vodafone users don’t get my texts) but I’m still using ths one. There’s also the famous GiffGaff company.

2. As for transport, the first thing to do is to get an Oyster card, which takes two minutes. It can be done online (in case of being able to pay with a card) or at any station or shop with the Oyster sign. In my case, it was an off license shop. It is 5 pounds that you can get back if you give back the card at some point. Afterwards, you have to register it here, so you can top it up, check your journeys, etc. Also, you can’t pay cash in London buses.

A recommendation: If you a re 16-25 and you are going to use the traind, you should get a Railcard. It’s 30 pounds, 27 if you do it online here, and there’s a discount of 1/3 in the trains and in the daily cap with Oyster (Capping is a daily limit to the amount you’re charged for transport in London with Oyster. In my case I live in zone 3 and with a Railcard I’m charged a maximum of 4.25 during the weekends, instead of 7.50 without Railcard). It seems a bit expensive but if you use trains and public transport in general, it’s worth it. It has paid off in a month for me. For this to work with your Oyster card, all you have to do is taking both Oyster and Railcard, which will be sent home by mail soon after applying for it online, to any Underground station or some train stations do it as well, where they will set up the discount in your Oyster. In my case, I did it in Victoria Station.

3. In my case, when I arrived in London my intention was to open a bank account to make things easier and to get the holy grail, a.k.a. a proof of address. I went to Blackheath, close to where I live now, and I asked in Barclays. There, to open an account they asked for a proof of address as well, and you can’t have one without a NIN, a contract, bills or rental.

After that I went to Lloyds and it was easier there. With a spanish passport I didn’t need anything else. I guess it’s the same with any european passport. They told me to open the account online (a Classic Account - WITHOUT overdraft, which is basically that you pay a certain amount of money so the bank can pay anything that comes to your account when there’s no money in it and then you pay it to them) and with a reference number they gave me when opening it I went back to the bank with my passport and the opened the account. Soon after I received a letter with a code to activate the online account and afterwards I received the debit card without any problems. With all those letters I already had a proof of address.

4. Next thing to do: ask for a NIN. To do it, you have to call to get an appointment in the number that is in this web and they will ask for some information. This is a transcript of this phone interview (the web is in spanish but you have the english transcription). They will give us a reference number and an address for the job centre where we’ll have to go for a second interview.

This second interview in my case was surprisingly punctual and my interviewer was a very nice man called Daniel at the Whitechapel jobcentre. He told me a lot of anecdotes about other spanish people he had interviewed and explained everything clearly. They don’t ask anything else appart from what they asked on the phone, in my case they didn’t even asked for the proof of address, only my passport and my spanish ID cards, but they did asked if I had already opened a bank account already. I would recommend opening one before, just in case. The card with the NIN will arrive by mail some weeks after.

I’ve been looking for a job for my free time in the morning but I haven’t found anything. I’m wondering if I should sacrifice my free time in the weekends to work and being able to pay some filmmaking course.

For any questions: http://filmaupair.tumblr.com/ask

Instalarse en Londres parece algo complicado si tu intención es conseguir tu cuenta bancaria y tu NIN (National Insurance Number), y en especial si eres au pair. Nosotras/os no tenemos un contrato de trabajo como tal, ni contrato de alquiler porque vivimos con la familia. No pagamos impuestos (la mayoría) porque nuestro salario está exento por lo general (en esta página hay más información sobre au pairs, salarios e impuestos). 

Esto es lo que yo hice:

1.  Lo primero, conseguir un número de teléfono. Muy importante tener un teléfono inglés, sobre todo para comunicarte con la familia. Es probable que ellos mismos te den una SIM.  Lo que yo hice fue acercarme a la primera tienda que encontré y comprarme una SIM de Lycamobile por 1 libra. Igual no es la mejor opción, a mi me da algunos problemas (los usuarios de Vodafone no reciben mis SMS) pero al final he seguido con ella. Si no también está GiffGaff, que es bastante famosa.

2. En cuanto al transporte, lo primero que hay que hacer es hacerse una Oyster, que son dos minutos. Se puede hacer por internet (en caso de poder pagar con tarjeta) o en cualquier estación o tienda con el símbolo de Oyster, que están por todos lados. En mi caso me la hice en un off license. Cuesta 5 libras, que se pueden recuperar en caso de devolver la tarjeta. Después hay que registrarla aquí y así puedes poner dinero, mirar cuánto te cobran por los viajes que has hecho, etc. Además, ya no se puede pagar en metálico en los autobuses de Londres.

Una recomendación: si tienes entre 16 y 25 años y vas a usar tren, hazte un Railcard. Cuesta 30 libras, 27 si lo haces por internet aquí, y tienes un descuento de 1/3 tanto en el tren como en el daily cap de la Oyster (El capping es un límite diario a lo que cobran por transporte en Londres con la Oyster. En mi caso, vivo en la zona 3 y con Railcard, los fines de semana lo máximo que me cobran por transporte al día son 4.25 libras en vez de 7.50 sin Railcard). Parece caro pero si usas el tren y el transporte público, merece la pena. Yo en un mes ya lo he amortizado. Para que esto funcione con la Oyster, lo que hay que hacer es llevar la Railcard, que llegará a casa por correo al poco de pedirla, junto con la Oyster a cualquier estación de metro y algunas de tren para que pongan el descuento en la Oyster. En mi caso lo hice en la estación Victoria.

3. En mi caso, cuando llegué a Londres mi intención era abrir una cuenta bancaria para facilitarme las cosas y conseguir el santo grial, a.k.a. un proof of address. Me fui a Blackheath, cerca de donde vivo, y pregunté en Barclays. Allí, para abrir la cuenta me pedían proof of address también, y sin NIN, contrato, facturas o alquiler, no hay proof of address. 

Después me acerqué al Lloyds, y allí fue más fácil. Con pasaporte español no necesitaba nada más. Imagino que es igual con cualquier pasaporte europeo. Me mandaron abrir la cuenta por internet (una Classic Account - SIN overdraft, que básicamente es un servicio para que cubran los descubiertos de tu cuenta) y con un número de referencia que me dieron al abrir la cuenta me fui al banco con mi pasaporte y me abrieron la cuenta. Al poco tiempo me llegó una carta con un código para activar mi cuenta online y poco después me llegó la tarjeta, sin problema alguno. Con todas esas cartas del banco ya tenía proof of address. 

4. Lo siguiente fue pedir el NIN. Para ello hay que llamar para pedir cita en el número que viene en esta página y nos pedirán una serie de datos. Aquí hay una transcripción de lo que es esta entrevista por teléfono. Nos darán un número de referencia y la dirección del jobcentre al que tendremos que ir para una segunda entrevista. 

Esta segunda entrevista en mi caso fue sorprendentemente puntual y me tocó la persona más amable del mundo, un hombre que se llamaba Daniel en el jobcentre de Whitechapel. Me contó muchas anécdotas sobre otros españoles que habían estado allí y me explicó todo de forma muy clara. No preguntan nada más de lo que me preguntaron por teléfono, en mi caso ni me pidieron el proof of address, sólo pasaporte y dni español, aunque sí me preguntó si me había abierto ya una cuenta bancaria. Yo recomendaría abrir una por si acaso, además de que es bastante útil. La tarjeta con el NIN llega a casa unas pocas semanas después. 

Yo he estado buscando trabajo para mis horas libres por la mañana pero no ha habido mucha suerte. Me estoy planteando intentar sacrificar los fines de semana para trabajar y poder pagarme algún curso de cine.

22 September 2015

I feel a bit better today. I’ve had a couple of bad days and been thinking of just go back to Spain. But I can’t do that, this a very special oportunity and there’s a lot of things I could do here. I feel I can’t, and that I’m just wasting my time because I’m not bold enough to get what I want. But here I am, and I can only keep running forward. 

I’ve realised how my creativity has decreased greatly in the last few years. When I was younger I used to write and draw a lot, many things inspired me. Now I have less enthusiasm for the things and the people that surround me. I’m not normally impressed or surprised by anything and I barely feel inspired. One of the reasons for this, I rekon, is my lazyness and my lack of attention. I feel a bit numb towards the world sometimes. Not that I’m not interested about the things that happen around me, it’s more like they don’t seem to move me in an emotional way. I end up crying when I can’t handle it anymore, but that sadness or rage comes from the inside, it’s provoked by my thoughts instead than as a reaction of external affairs. 

I feel that much of my creativity was taken away when I bought my laptop. The same one I’m using to write this, it’s funny. It’s not the laptop but my way of using it, obviously. I’m a lazy person, and that has to change. 

My main challenge now is starting a youtube channel. I want to meet other people with the same interests in film here in London and try to carry on projects. 

Anyway, I have to carry on with more mundane activities...

I’m in England! Crazy stuff. I’ve been here for 12 days now and I feel more insecure than ever. I am planing to work in the mornings to earn a bit of money in order to study at a film academy, but before geting a job, I need a National Insurance Number, and before that I need a proof of address, and to get that I need a letter from the bank, saying that I opened a bank account. It’s taking ages. In the meantime I’m preparing CVs, checking interesting jobs and courses and just settling down.