Moving to Portugal is a journey that hundreds of Brits make every single year. They are drawn to the country by its friendliness, proximity to the UK, climate and way of life. So what do you do when you arrive there? There are the obvious things to sort out, property, care etc, but there are also lots of little things to organise that you may not have though of. Here are some things to help you settle in the first month in Portugal.

1) Register with a doctor. You should register with the Portuguese National Health Service (SNS), when you arrive in Portugal. You will need to take identification, social security card and proof of residency. The system is very similar to the NHS in the UK, so prescriptions may be subsidised, and most can be bought from a local chemist.

2) Register for social security. The social security applies to Portuguese nationals and those who have a legal right to residency in the country who are working for an employer or who are self employed. The social security scheme provides benefits for health care, sickness, retirement, disability, death and old age, maternity, paternity and adoption.

3) Get a phone. You will definitely need a phone when you arrive in Portugal, especially if you do not yet have a property bought, or a land line. You will need to be able to call estate agents, banks, and other services, as well as keeping in touch with family members. A SIM can be bought for your English phone, or you could get a cheap pay as you go phone to keep you going.

4) Register with a school. You might have already enrolled your child at a local school before you move to Portugal, but if this is not the case, perhaps you want to allow them to settle in to their new home before they have to settle in to a new school. It is important that you register your child with a school as soon as possible so that they have a secured place. You may decide to incorporate the move with the new school year, perhaps moving over a month before term starts so that your child can get used to the idea of being in a different country, and prepare mentally for the start of a foreign school year.

A handy tip is to make a list before you move, and in this list should be all the things you need to set up, register with and the forms you need to fill out, and also the time scale in which you need to do them by. Organisation is key to a successful move and if you are prepared, then hopefully not much can go wrong.