Moving abroad: the practical checklist

Moving abroad goes smoothly when four things are sorted before you leave: the right visa or residence permit, health insurance that covers residents (not just travelers), a way to keep receiving security codes from your bank and government at home, and a clear picture of where you will pay tax. This checklist walks through each one, then ends with a list for your first 30 days. It is practical guidance, not legal or tax advice: rules depend on your nationality and destination, so confirm the details with the official sources linked here.

Visas and residence permits

Start with the official source for the country you are moving to: its immigration authority, or its embassy or consulate in your current country. GOV.UK’s moving abroad guidance sets out the same order for British citizens: check the country’s entry, passport and visa requirements, renew your passport if needed, then apply for the right visa or residence permit.

A few things that apply almost everywhere:

• Allow time. Work, family, student and retirement visas often need appointments, translated documents and background checks.
• Know the difference between a visa and residence. Many countries ask new arrivals to register as residents after they arrive, which GOV.UK also flags. That registration is often what unlocks a local bank account, phone contract or health system.
• Use official channels. Agents and lawyers can help with complex cases, but check any fee or claim against the government’s own website.

Documents to gather before you go

Collect originals and make scanned copies stored somewhere you can reach from any device:

• Passport, with plenty of validity left
• Birth and marriage certificates, and any name-change documents
• Degree certificates and professional qualifications
• Police records, which GOV.UK notes some visa or emigration applications require
• Medical records, vaccination history and prescriptions
• Driving license, and a note to check whether you can exchange it in your new country
• Recent bank statements, payslips and tax returns, which landlords and banks often ask for
• Pet health certificates, if you are moving with animals

Find out early whether your destination wants certified translations or an apostille on any of these, because getting them from abroad takes longer.

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

Banking and money transfers

Opening a local account can take weeks, and some banks want proof of a local address or residence registration first. Plan to run your home account and your new one side by side for a while.

• Keep your home bank account open, at least at first. You may still have bills, pensions, rent income or loan payments there.
• Check your home bank’s rules on customers living abroad. Some banks restrict accounts for non-residents, so ask before you move rather than after.
• Compare transfer costs. When moving money between countries, the fee and the exchange rate both matter. Compare the total amount that arrives, not just the advertised fee.
• Update your address with your bank, but keep your phone number on file working (see below).

Health insurance

Do not rely on travel insurance. GOV.UK says it plainly: “Travel insurance is not intended for permanent residence abroad.” You need either the public health system of your new country, if you qualify, or private international or expatriate health insurance. GOV.UK also notes that local law may require you to have medical insurance, including as part of a visa application.

Check before you leave:

• Whether your home country has a healthcare agreement with your destination
• Whether you lose access to free treatment at home once you move (GOV.UK warns that British citizens may not be entitled to free NHS treatment after moving abroad permanently)
• That you have enough prescription medication to cover the gap until you register with a local doctor

Keep your home phone number and bank codes working

This is the step people forget, and it causes the most stress later. Banks, tax offices, pension providers and many online services send one-time security codes by text message to the number they have on file. If that number stops working, you can be locked out of your own accounts from abroad.

• Keep your home SIM active. Switch to the lowest-cost plan your carrier offers that keeps the number alive, and check how long it can go unused before the carrier reclaims it.
• Use a dual-SIM or eSIM phone. Keep your home SIM in one slot for texts, and put a local SIM or a data eSIM in the other for everyday use.
• Check roaming costs for receiving texts on your home plan in your new country.
• Set up app-based security where a service offers it, as a backup to text codes.

Getting a local or travel data plan

In your first weeks you may not yet qualify for a local contract, which often needs a local address, ID number or bank account. A prepaid local SIM or a travel eSIM covers the gap.

Pelesim, our own eSIM store, sells prepaid data-only eSIMs for more than 200 destinations, with fixed-data plans or daily day passes with a fair-use limit. You install it before you fly, the plan starts when it first connects at your destination, hotspot sharing is allowed, and you can get a refund within 30 days of purchase if you have not activated it. Because it is data only, it sits alongside your home SIM rather than replacing it. Our Top 5 unlimited data eSIMs compares options for heavier use.

Calling home, banks and government offices

Messaging apps such as WhatsApp call contacts who use the same app over the internet, which covers most family and friends. But banks, tax offices, pension providers, doctors’ surgeries, insurers and your old landlord answer regular phone lines. For those you need an app that calls the phone network.

CallTuv calls landlines and mobiles in 232 destinations from a web browser (no app required), iPhone or Android, with one balance. It is pay as you go from $0.03 a minute, credit never expires, and there is no subscription. Free verified caller ID shows your own number, which helps when you call a bank that expects to see the number on your account. It makes outgoing calls only, so it cannot receive calls or texts, and it cannot call emergency services.

Our guide on how to call home from abroad explains the options, and our Top 5 apps to call landlines compares them.

Taxes: tell someone before you go

Tax depends on where you are resident and what income you have, so this is a reminder of what to check, not advice.

• UK. GOV.UK says you must tell HMRC if you are leaving the UK permanently, or working full-time abroad for at least one full tax year. Most people use form P85; if you file Self Assessment, you complete the residence section (SA109). You may still pay UK tax on UK income, such as rent from a UK property. The UK has double taxation agreements with many countries so you do not pay tax twice on the same income.
• US. The IRS says US citizens living abroad generally must file income tax returns, as they would at home. If your foreign accounts together exceed $10,000 at any point in the year, you also need to file an FBAR (FinCEN Report 114). USA.gov also covers receiving Social Security abroad and registering to vote from overseas.
• Everyone else. Check your home tax authority’s guidance on leaving the country, and your new country’s rules on when you become tax resident.

A local accountant who works with expats is often worth it for your first year.

Your first 30 days

1. Register your address or residence with the local authorities, if your new country requires it.
2. Register with your embassy or consulate, if your government offers it.
3. Get a local tax or ID number, which many other steps depend on.
4. Open a local bank account.
5. Sign up for health cover, public or private, and find a doctor and pharmacy near you.
6. Get a local SIM or contract, and keep your home SIM active for security codes.
7. Update your address with your home bank, tax office, pension provider and insurers.
8. Check whether you need to exchange your driving license, and by when.
9. Save local emergency numbers, your embassy’s number and your insurer’s helpline in your phone.
10. Set up a cheap way to call landlines at home for the calls you cannot make on WhatsApp.

If you are still planning the move itself, our guides to finding cheap flights and booking hotels help with the first few nights.