Arrival Setup

---
name: arrival-setup
description: "Set up the essentials in the right order after moving to a new country — the ID/registration, bank account, phone, address, and social/tax number that unlock each other — so you don't get stuck in the chicken-and-egg loops that trap newcomers. Use when someone says 'I just moved to a new country', 'what do I do first after arriving', 'set up my life in [country]', or 'I can't open a bank account without an address but can't rent without a bank'. Produces a sequenced arrival checklist with dependencies and the official offices for each. Routes to official sources; rules are local."
---

# Arrival Setup Skill

The first weeks in a new country are a maze of interlocking requirements: you can't
open a bank account without a local address, can't sign a lease without a bank
account, can't do either without a registration number that itself needs an address.
Newcomers lose weeks going in circles because nobody told them the *order*. This skill
lays out the sequence — what unlocks what — so you break the chicken-and-egg loops
instead of getting stuck in them. It's the after-you've-arrived companion to the visa
([[immigration-document-checklist]]) and the move ([[relocation-planner]]); the specific
offices and rules are local, so everything routes to the official source.

## What This Skill Produces

- A **sequenced arrival checklist**: the essentials (residence registration, tax/social
  number, bank account, phone/SIM, address, health enrollment) in dependency order —
  what to do first because it unlocks the rest
- The **chicken-and-egg workarounds**: the known loops (address ↔ bank ↔ registration)
  and the specific ways newcomers break them in this country (fintech banks that don't
  need proof of address, temporary-address options, employer letters)
- The **office map**: which government office/institution owns each step and what to
  bring to each
- A **week-by-week plan** against the deadlines that carry penalties (registration
  windows especially — many countries fine you for registering late)

## Required Inputs

Ask for (if not already provided):
- The country moved to (and from, for some steps), and the visa/status (it changes what
  you're entitled to and what's required)
- What's already sorted (accommodation? a job? any documents in hand?)
- The urgent drivers: a job start date, a registration deadline, needing income access
- Whether accommodation is permanent or temporary (affects the address-dependent steps)

## Framework

1. **Find the keystone step for this country.** In most systems one registration is the
   key that unlocks the rest — residence registration, a tax/social number (SSN, NINo,
   NIE, Steueridentifikationsnummer, etc.), or similar. Identify it and its deadline
   first; nearly everything else depends on it, and it's often time-limited with
   penalties for lateness.
2. **Map the dependency loops and their breaks.** The classic traps: bank needs address,
   lease needs bank, both need the registration number. Name this country's specific
   escapes — app-based banks that onboard without proof of address, temporary/hostel
   addresses that count, an employer or university letter that substitutes. Breaking one
   loop usually cascades the rest open.
3. **Sequence, don't parallelize blindly.** Order the checklist so each step has its
   prerequisites: often phone/SIM (cheap, unlocks verification) → temporary address →
   registration/number → bank → permanent lease → utilities → health enrollment. Adjust
   to the country's actual keystone.
4. **Bring the right documents to each office.** Each step wants specific documents
   (passport, visa, registration certificate, proof of address, employment contract).
   List what each office needs so a trip isn't wasted — a wasted government appointment
   can cost weeks in re-booking.
5. **Hit the penalty deadlines.** Registration and tax-number windows often carry fines
   or status problems if missed. Surface these as the hard dates on the week-by-week
   plan, routed to the official source to confirm — because they're local and they
   change.

## Output Format

```
## The keystone (do this first)
[This country's key registration/number · its deadline · what it unlocks]

## The sequence (dependencies shown)
1. … → 2. … → 3. …  [each step + its prerequisites + the office that owns it]

## Breaking the chicken-and-egg loops
[The known traps + this country's specific workarounds]

## What to bring to each office
| Step | Office | Documents to bring |

## Week-by-week (with penalty deadlines)
[The hard dates — verify each at the official source]

⚠ Offices, rules, and deadlines are country-specific and change — confirm each at the
official government source for your destination.
```

## Quality Checks

- [ ] The keystone registration/number is identified first with its deadline
- [ ] The dependency loops are named with this country's actual workarounds
- [ ] The sequence respects prerequisites (no step before its unlock)
- [ ] Each step lists the documents its office needs
- [ ] Penalty deadlines are flagged and routed to the official source

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not assert a specific country's offices, numbers, or deadlines as fact — they're
      local and change; orient and route to the official source
- [ ] Do not give a flat unordered checklist — the dependency order is the entire value
- [ ] Do not ignore visa/status — it determines entitlements and requirements
- [ ] Do not miss registration deadlines — late registration is a common, penalized
      newcomer mistake
- [ ] Do not conflate this with the visa process or the physical move — link to those,
      don't redo them

## Related

[[immigration-document-checklist]] for the visa; [[relocation-planner]] for the move
itself; [[credit-from-scratch]], [[healthcare-system-primer]], [[tax-residency-primer]]
for the deeper newcomer steps; [[two-worlds-translator]] for the cultural side.