Before you start

Immigration Health Surcharge paid with your visa application
An address within a GP practice's catchment area
Passport and eVisa share code, though a practice should not require them to register
A UK phone number for appointment and prescription systems

Step-by-step

1
Register with a GP practice in week one
Find practices covering your postcode through NHS 111 Wales and register with one. Practices should not demand proof of immigration status, though most ask for proof of address. Cathays, Roath and Heath practices absorb a very large student intake each September, so register before it rather than during it.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Stop budgeting for prescription charges
Prescriptions dispensed in Wales are free for everyone registered with a Welsh GP and dispensing at a Welsh pharmacy, and have been since 1 April 2007. There is no per-item fee, no prepayment certificate and no exemption certificate to apply for. If you are moving from England on long-term medication, this is a real annual saving nobody mentions.
In personWho: You
3
Save 111 as NHS 111 Wales
The urgent-but-not-emergency line and its symptom checker are run by NHS Wales, separately from England's service. It directs you to a pharmacy, a minor injury unit, an out-of-hours GP or A&E. Turning up at the University Hospital of Wales emergency department with something 111 would have handled means a long wait at the lowest priority.
Mobile appWho: You
4
Learn which hospital does what
The University Hospital of Wales at the Heath is the main adult site and one of the largest hospitals in the UK, with the emergency department and most specialties; the Children's Hospital for Wales is on the same campus; Llandough handles a large share of mental health, and there are minor injuries units elsewhere. All sit under one health board, so referrals stay inside a single organisation.
OnlineWho: You
5
Ask about Welsh-language provision if it matters to you
The health board operates under the Welsh Language Standards and offers consultations in Welsh where a Welsh-speaking clinician is available. For older relatives, children, or anyone dealing with a distressing diagnosis, being able to have the conversation in a first language is a real service rather than a symbolic one — but you have to say you want it.
In personWho: You
6
Find a dentist taking NHS patients early
NHS dental access is under strain across Wales as it is across the UK, and dentistry is NOT free — Wales charges its own NHS dental fees, which are set separately from England's. Start looking in your first month rather than when something hurts, and treat private care as the realistic fallback.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Proof of a Cardiff address, for GP registration
Passport and eVisa share code
Vaccination and medical records from your home country, ideally translated
A list of your current medications by generic rather than brand name

Things most newcomers don’t know

Prescriptions are free in Wales and charged per item in England.

Wales abolished the prescription charge on 1 April 2007; England still levies a fee for each item dispensed. For anyone on long-term medication that is a straightforward annual saving from living on this side of the border — and it means every English article about prepayment certificates, exemption categories and the two-items-a-month break-even is irrelevant to you.

Source: GOV.WALES — free prescriptions in Wales

Wales has health boards, not trusts, and that changes how referrals feel.

In England, commissioning and provision sit in different organisations. In Wales a single local health board — here Cardiff and Vale — both plans and delivers care for its population. In practice, a referral from your GP usually stays inside one organisation rather than crossing a purchaser-provider boundary, which makes the system easier to describe and gives you one body to complain to.

Source: NHS Wales

You have paid for the NHS already, but you still have to register.

The surcharge is charged per year of leave and paid up front with the visa. It entitles you to care — and then nothing happens. Until you register with a GP your only route into the system is the emergency department, which is the worst possible entry point for anything routine.

Source: GOV.UK — pay for UK healthcare

Free prescriptions do not mean free dentistry, and people conflate the two.

Wales sets its own NHS dental charges, which exist and are payable, and NHS dental capacity is limited here as everywhere in the UK. Arrivals who hear 'free prescriptions in Wales' frequently assume the whole system is free at the point of use and get an unpleasant surprise at the dentist.

Source: NHS 111 Wales — dental services

Common mistakes to avoid

Waiting until you are ill to register with a GP.
Buying an English prescription prepayment certificate you do not need.
Assuming free prescriptions means free dentistry — Wales charges NHS dental fees.
Using England's NHS 111 information rather than NHS 111 Wales.
Going to the emergency department for something 111 Wales would have resolved by phone.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.