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Hackworthy & Sons' Moving Abroad Checklist

Friday 16th April 2021

There is so much to consider even when just moving down the road, and when you throw moving across the world to another country this can become even more difficult to remember what needs to be done before moving. For this reason we thought you’d find it useful to have a moving abroad checklist for you to go through when organising your international removals. 

Visa Requirements 

First up, something that is probably one of the most time sensitive tasks is working out what visa you need for your time in your new home country, the requirements of this and at what time you need to apply for these to obtain them in time for your move. 

Property 

Once you have started the process of applying for the relevant visa, now is the time to start looking for places to stay. If you can’t find the perfect property before you move, you could consider renting property in the first few months, whilst you look at the available properties around the area. This will help to reduce your stress around finding a new home and will allow you to spend time picking the home for you. 

Tax

When moving abroad, you will need to make sure that you have informed HMRC of your move to ensure that you pay the right amount of tax required of you. By not doing this, you run the risk of paying additional taxes that you are exempt from as expats. 

Pet Relocation

Whilst all points on this moving abroad checklist are somewhat time sensitive to be carried out before your big move. Pet relocation is similar to that of your visa requirements which needs to be looked into as far in advance of your move as possible. For example, you’ll find that some countries don’t let in certain pets or breeds, so you will need to be aware of this if your pet is on this list and how you are going to resolve/ manage this situation. Cats and dogs can often be required to have vaccinations as far as 6 months ahead of your move, so by preparing as early as you can to move your pets abroad with you, will help reduce the work later in time. 

Bank Accounts 

When moving abroad it is recommended that you set up an international bank account, this doesn't mean that you have to close your account in the UK, but by opening an international account this will allow you to manage the currency in your new country easier and conveniently. 

Change Your Address 

As with any house move, changing your address on documentation is a must before moving to ensure that your post is delivered to your new address. Although you may cover the basic people to inform such as friends and family, banks, insurance, DVLA etc, it is almost likely that there will be 1 or 2 places that you will forget. You can avoid this by putting a redirect in place to ensure that if anything gets sent to your old address the Royal Mail will be informed that you have a new address and send it to their instead. 

Organise A Removals Company

Organising a removals company is another task that should be done as quickly as you can once you have confirmed a time that you’d be looking to move. This is even more important for international removalsdue to the longer procedure and availability of removals company. 

Arranging Employment 

If your international removal isn’t as a result of a job opportunity, or you are the partner or a relative of someone that you are moving with that has secured employment in your new country, it’s worth checking out the job opportunities around your local area to see what is on offer for your employment. This way you can prepare for the jobs available and know whether you need to travel further out than your home for a role that you are looking for. 

Arranging Healthcare 

Unlike the UK, many countries abroad operate a different healthcare system to us, and do not have an equivalent of the NHS. Whilst there are many other schemes available in other countries, such as Obamacare or Medicaid in America, it is important to research what the requirements are of these before moving to ensure that you can receive medical care when you need it. 

Organising Transport 

You may have organised everything when it comes to arriving at your new home country but have you sorted out your transport. You may look to rent a car in the first few weeks of arriving to give yourself time to look around at the options available and the prices for cars around the area and even whether or not you will need them if you’ll use public transport all the time. 

Learning The Language 

A basic knowledge of the local language is really important when it comes to moving abroad, this will help you tremendously in places with less English speakers and will also help you to become familiar with the language on things such as menus and newspapers. By making this effort this could benefit your inclusion in the local community and help you make the new area your home. 

Education 

Like employment, if you're moving abroad with children of school age, you’ll want to look at the schools in the area, probably even before you find a property. This will not only help you to narrow down the area that you would like to live, but will also assist you in choosing the right school for your child/children. 

Sorting Out Your Phone And Internet 

Before you make the trip to your new home, you might want to check whether your phone is able to be used in another country and whether you need to have it unlocked. As well as this, if you need to use the internet upon arrival to the country you’ll benefit from checking out how to organise the wifi in your new home as well as booking in a time for the engineers to come within the first few days that you arrive in the country. 

Updating Arrangements With Solicitors

If you’re selling you home in England, you’ll want to update the conveyancing solicitor of your international move so that they are aware of the situation. Not only is this important for the conveyancing team, but if you have a will or power of attorney set up, records will need to be updated and you may be required to complete these documents before leaving the UK. Inheritance tax in the UK is still required even as an expat living outside of the UK.

Informing The Government Offices 

We have briefly covered informing the HMRC of your move for tax reasons, however this is not a one size fits all approach and you will need to inform a number of different government offices of your move, such as the pensions centre, the student loans company and more. To find out more and how to inform these people, check out this helpful article by GOV.UK

Update Insurance Documents 

Finally, updating your insurance company of your move is important to ensure that you are not left paying for insurance that is no longer needed or will become invalid if you have not updated the company of your move. For example, you may not require car insurance any longer if you’ve sold your car prior to moving, or alternatively, you may be looking to stay with your life insurance provider and will need to inform them of your move and find out if there is anything they need for this. 

At Hackworthy and Sons, we’ve created a thorough moving abroad checklist which we hope will give you the help that you need prior to moving. However, if you think there is anything that we’ve missed or that you wish you had known before moving abroad, we’d love to know your thoughts to add them to this article to help others.