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Moving abroad often seem like a very difficult task, especially when you’re making your first international move. But moving abroad isn’t as difficult as it seems, in fact, sometimes moving abroad is easier than moving within the country.
So to make your entire moving abroad easier, I created this simple guide to get you up to speed. Whether you’re moving for business or pleasure, you can use this guide to simplify each stage of moving overseas.
First, you need a plan. Let’s walk through how a typical plan for moving abroad should look like.
How To Plan Your Moving Abroad
Get a passport
You can apply for a passport online via the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Consular Affairs or through the United States Postal Service (USPS). If you already have a passport, make sure its up to date. Or you can fill a Passport Form online to get started.
Contact the local embassy or consulate
Before you start planning to pack up and leave, you need to set up a meeting with an immigration official.
If you’re moving to start a new job, and you get a country visa or a work permit through your employer, you still need to contact the local embassy or consulate for specifics.
Having said that, if you’re moving on your own without the help of any employer, consider hiring an immigration officer to assist you through the visa process.
Make sure you understand the immigration laws of the country you’re moving to and keep notes about deadlines for submission of all necessary documents and forms. Make sure you take note of how long you’re legally allowed to reside in the country and laws about importing household belongings and a foreign currency.
Make sure you have all required documents
If you’re moving with your family, make sure your wife and kids have up to date passports. Each country has its own document requirements for visa application.
But in many cases, some of these necessary documents often include medical records, membership cards, birth certificates or certificates of adoption, current driver’s licenses, school records, professional licenses, and marriage certificates.
Find out if immunization is required
If you’re traveling to some parts of the world, you may play safe by getting immunized against diseases prevalent in that area. Some countries will indicate on their website the necessary shots you’ll need before traveling. Or you may visit the local embassy to find out what sort of medical help you may need.
Make sure you check with your travel health clinic or local health care provider to verify which shots are necessary. Once you get the shots, update your medical records to make sure you’re traveling with up to date documents.
Get the necessary health certificate for your pet
If you’re moving abroad with your pet, then you’ll have to get all the necessary documents required for moving a pet into the country you’re moving to. Many countries often request for health certificates before they allow pets to cross their borders.
Some countries often require that your pet be quarantined or a quarantine period may be mandated if your pet does not have the appropriate health certificates. It’ll do a whole lot of good if you research entry requirements for pets before traveling. make a list of the country’s entry requirements for pets then show the list to your vet.
Check the tax law
Remember to check with your local government office or with your accountant about the tax laws of the country you’re moving to. It is important to understand the tax policies of your current government and the country you’re traveling to. It is important to be prepared, especially in a foreign country.
Find out about health insurance
Moving overseas often means that your local health care coverage won’t extend abroad. The health care plan of some countries will allow you coverage for some number of days. But such coverage is not often extensive to cover long periods. Find out about the required health insurance in the country you’re moving to before traveling.
Obtain custom forms for household belongings and pets
If you’re hiring a moving company to move your household items to another country, the mover will provide the appropriate custom forms. Nonetheless, it will do a whole lot good if you check with the local embassy or consulate to ensure you have the appropriate papers you need to get your household belongings across borders.
Check for entry and exit forms, both are often required. If you intend to move a car, pet or any other belonging that your moving company won’t be shipping, you may need special documents from the local embassy, consulate or the country’s official government’s website.
Plan for access to funds while oversea
Before traveling, remember to set up a meeting with your bank to discuss how to access your funds while in abroad. Some financial institutions have affiliated branches or branches in other countries making it easier to transfer funds.
Also, if you intend to move all your funds to a foreign bank account, speak to your bank about how to arrange the transfer. Online banking often makes it easier to have local access to your funds while living abroad. Find out from your bank how set up and maintain such accounts.
Consider buying a travel guide and map
Before traveling, research where you’ll be moving to. One useful resource you can rely on is the internet. But beyond that, consider buying a country and city guide before traveling.
The guide will contain relevant information such as locations of tourist attractions, hospitals, foreign exchange offices, and some locations of other places you may like to make your life in a new atmosphere more interesting.
Get set to start life in another country
After all your plans and researches, you need to prepare yourself emotionally for the move. You may need to host a party and invite some of your friends, colleagues and loved ones and then you can make a formal announcement about your move.
It’s a good idea to take as many photographs as possible during the event. Some photographs will give you reasons to smile while you are all alone in abroad.
But if you’re making a long distance move anywhere in the United States, we can make your moving a whole lot easier. You can plan your moving with us, its 100% free, request for free moving quotes to get started and we’ll provide up to six.
