Moving to Oxford Guide
General info
At your interview you will have discussed work permits. Appendix 1 is a link to the University’s helpful page on work permit procedure and will provide further information.
Once your appointment has been secured, you may find www.dailyinfo.co.uk a useful starting point to Oxford life, as it has links to accommodation sites, children’s activity sites and to travel information for your arrival in Oxford too. If you have children, the book "Oxford for the Under Eights" is a fantastic publication offering a guide to all of the services in the city for children, including schools and nurseries. It is currently available on Amazon.
Finding accommodation
There are, of course, a number of estate agents who will help you to find rented accommodation. We have found "Finders Keepers" particularly helpful with overseas visitors at www.finders.co.uk. Whichever agency you decide to use, we can usually find someone at ECI who will view a flat or house for you, and report back to you on them.
The University Accommodation Office may also be able to assist you in finding permanent rented accommodation and has some university owned property for rent to staff.
Many visitors ask about the different areas of Oxford, and which areas are most convenient for work. Appendix two, below offers our homemade guide to the different parts of the city.
Homemaking in advance
Bikes
Second hand bikes are easy to buy in Oxford, where there are a lot of cyclists – and a lot of bike theft too, unfortunately. (Crime in the rest of the city is not a major problem, but if you are bringing good bikes, bring even better locks.). 'Daily Info' usually has a constant supply of second hand bikes.
Electrical items
Remember that you will need to bring a converter, or buy one here, for any essential electrical items you are bringing from the States, or Europe, or most of the rest of the world, as the voltage is different. You will also need to provide adapters (approx £5 each), which are easily available, but not cheap if you are bringing a lot of electrical items with you. Any adapters bought outside of the UK may not meet the UK's strict electrical requirements so it may be better to buy them over here. Unsafe adapters will not be passed for use in the department. Power adapters are available from the IT office for £4.00.
Kitchen equipment
It is also useful to obtain an exact inventory list of what your house will be providing. One visitor wrote recently ‘Our flat had all the basics for cooking, but there are certain gadgets I left at home that I miss a lot and that are too expensive to merit purchasing here since we'll only be here for a year or two.’ However, UK homes tend to be much smaller than American ones, so you may need to be selective.
Banking and telephones/Internet connections
Once you have an address, if you can you should try to set up your banking (which can be a frustrating process involving frustrating bureaucracy, according to one recent visitor). For example, you may need to provide a utility bill as proof of residence but the initial service letter does not qualify, so you have to wait until your first actual bill (which you won’t have until you used the service for a month) to open a bank account. Good luck!
You should also try to arrange telephone and internet connections in advance. It took one recent visitor about a month to get a phone line connected and two months for Internet connection – delayed because of problems with a previous tenant.
Laptops
There is wireless access for laptops in parts of the OUCE building. Posters are available in the departmen with instructions about how to connect. If in doubt, contact the IT office on the ground floor. Laptop users will need to complete a laptop registration form before plugging into the network. The ECI IT team will inspect the laptop for appropriate anti-virus software and the power lead for electrical safety. Please note that in the UK all cables for laptops (and any other electrical devices) require fuses in the plugs. Plugs without fuses are illegal in the UK. You can buy new power cables for around £4, from OUCS shop at 13, Banbury Road.
The laptop's network address will be registered immediately by the ECI's IT team with Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS) and ought then to be usable at about 10 minutes past the next hour (updates happen on the hour).
Use of laptops will require a legal adapter even if only intended to be used on battery power. Power adapters are available from the IT office for £4.00.
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