International Moving Checklist 2023
When moving to another country, having the best international movers is important, but there is a lot that goes into this journey than just having the best company by your side. When making a move like this, you have to take into account immigration, customs, and even just picking the country or city you’re interested in moving to.
All in all, having the proper preparation and the right plan in place will ensure that you can get to your new country efficiently and smoothly — and without drama or stress! Use our international moving checklist as your guide to creating the easiest move abroad for yourself and your household. With the proper planning, you’ll be able to have the smoothest transition possible without any unwelcome surprises at the airport or when going through international processes.
How to Prepare for an International Move
Moving internationally cannot be done overnight, and can often take as long as a year to plan. Before you even begin to plan your process, you should know where you want to move and why.
Be well acquainted with both the country you’d like to move to, as well as the specific city or town you’re looking to relocate to. This includes not only the place itself and what intrigues you about it, but the culture, the budget you need to have to move there, the quality of life you’ll be able to have there, and how easy or hard it will be to get a visa or residency in this area. After all, these are very important aspects that will factor into your move and your long-term happiness in your new country.
Before you begin planning your move, you should also have started saving up money for your international move and planning to secure housing and other expenses associated with moving abroad.
Consider not only the costs of hiring movers for a large relocation like this, but also the cost of putting down a down payment on a home if you’re buying a house in the country, advance rent if you need to do so for your rental home, and any expenses associated with securing new furniture or anything you’ll need to put down roots in the country. These costs can quickly add up, so ensure you’re ready monetarily for a move of this scale before you do so.
Once you’ve settled on where you’d like to move and how much you’ll need to save up to make this relocation happen, you can get started on the moving process itself.
How to Plan an International Move: 6 Months Before
Even after you’ve decided where you want to go, you should continue to do research on the neighborhood or type of place you’d like to move to. Ideally, you’ve already been to this place before and have a general idea of where you’d like to move to and what neighborhood or general area you’d like to live in.
Around 6 months before your moving day, visit your future home in person (if you’re able to) to better understand where might be right for you and to begin scoping out where you’d like to live. If you’re not too familiar with the country at the moment, research further using guides, blogs, forums, and other materials online. You should also use this time to understand the housing market for buying and renting and how moving from overseas might impact getting a home or its timeline.
This is also the time you should begin looking for an international moving company during. Start your research by checking online reviews on third-party sites to learn more from real former customers of various companies before checking licensing, insurance, and more.
You should also use this time to begin decluttering your home and getting rid of any nonessential items that aren’t necessary to bring with you on your move. After all, this is a huge move, and you should get rid of anything you don’t want or use, or any items that would be excessively hard, inconvenient, or expensive to move. Remember, decluttering might be hard, but this is an amazing opportunity to start fresh!
International Moving Tips: 3 Months Before
Around 3 months before you move is when things get really serious. At this time, you should have already booked your movers and locked in your moving date. This is the time to book your personal travel to your new home, including any flights, hotels, or rental cars if needed. Doing this well ahead of time will let you get the best deals and get these plans locked in so you’re not met with any unwanted surprises.
This is also the time to start collecting the documents you need for your move. You should’ve already done the research to determine how easy or hard it is to immigrate or get certain visas to live in the country in question, and now is the time to get the process started for approval. Gather passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates, school and medical records, and social security cards, and keep them all secure and in a safe place for your move.
Contact the embassy of your future country to start the process of obtaining the visa you’ll need for moving. The process for getting one will vary depending on your citizenship status and what type of visa you’re going for. Apply for your visa or work permit as soon as possible, as approval can take longer than you would expect.
Around this time you should also look into your options for healthcare or health insurance. If you’re moving for work, you might be given healthcare or help to find this through your employer. If you’re moving to a country with national health care, this will be a different process than if you’re headed to a country with privatized healthcare.
How to Move Abroad: 2 Months Before
Check with your doctor a couple of months before your move to determine if you need any vaccines before your relocation. This depends on the country you’re moving to. Leave yourself time to both get these vaccines and gather medical documentation. You should also inform your doctor of your move and let them know if you’ll need any larger supplies of prescriptions or anything to prepare yourself medically for your move.
You should also contact your bank or any credit card companies you might hold accounts with to let them know you’ll be headed to a new country. Check to see if your bank has locations in your new country and if not determine if you’ll need an overseas account or if you’ll be able to make do with online banking.
Research the tax laws in your new country to ensure you understand regulations and anything you’ll need to pay or budget for while living in your new area.
This is also the time to start packing for your move. You should’ve already done a big decluttering process by this point, but you can always do another one to get rid of anything that might’ve flown under the radar. Start with nonessentials first, and then gradually pack more important things as you near your moving date.
Final Thoughts
Moving abroad is a huge process that should be adequately planned to ensure that this process runs as smoothly as possible. On top of having the right preparation, make sure you have the right international movers on your side to have the most successful move possible.
Looking for the best international moving company? See what Allied International can do for you and your international moving process today to determine what we can do to give you the best and most affordable international move possible. Contact us today!
Originally published at https://www.internationalmovingcompanies.com.
