To update prior moving

The requirements and paperwork needed can change from one country to the next, nevertheless there is undoubtedly a pattern. We have listed as accurately as our experiences allowed us, a collection of suggestions of things that might need to be done leaving and arriving to a country:
- a check list for leaving
- a check list for arriving

If, out of your own experience, you feel we have left out something, we would like to hear from you.

Check list for leaving

• - Addresses:  Ensure you have all the addresses and contacts of people you may want to contact during a move you may think you know all your friends' house addresses and telephone numbers, but removed from your familiar surroundings, it is surprising how hard even simple tasks can become. The more organized you are, the less stressful situations become when faced with other pressures.
• - Antiques, art and other valuables:  (export permissions might have to be obtained).
• - Bank details: including loans for housing and education, as well as direct debits.
• - Bank letter of reference: (to open a bank account in the new country you might need a reference letter to show your past history with a bank).
• - Birth certificates: for the whole family (if any of your children are born in a foreign country be sure to ask for the original as well as a certified translation of the original in more than one language, make sure you ask for multiple "original copies")
• - Benefits: notify the social security office that you are moving to
• - Cash: Provision of funding in a new location. Your first month or two are always tight on funding due to deposits being paid out, registration for schools, entry to clubs, purchase of household equipment etc. Remember that when establishing a new checking account it takes time to issue either cheque-books or credit cards, so you may be heavily reliant on cash, which in turn can give security problems in some places.
• - Car: check that the insurance is valid abroad if you take the car with you out of the country, make sure the car is  responding to the requirements of the country you are moving to, as it might be quite expensive to adjust lights or adapt the exhaust pipe or other specifications to the local standards.
• - Car insurance: ask the insurance company for a claim record It might be useful to obtain a lower insurance when applying in the new country, if you have a clean record.
• - Children:  Prior to a move, prepare and keep appropriate photographs for a mini scrap book for your children (for the transient period). Photographs are important reminders for children and will considerably reassure and settle them during a move. Also let them carry at least one item they really want to have around.
• - Credit cards: Close accounts and notify of the new address.
• - Curriculum Vitae (CV)  or resume: Update your CV and obtain references and certifications from work experiences.
• - Customs: Have an inventory list of your moving goods for customs clearance. (At this point you can buy duty free in the country you are leaving, if goods are shipped straight from the shop to the moving company, ensure that the company receives the papers necessary to claim your tax back prior your goods leaving the country)
• - Diplomas: If you have attended any class or completed any course, get the educational certificate as well as a translation of the certificates.
• - Dental: If you are happy with the dental treatment you are receiving in your current location, you might plan for a final check up as well as request any recent X-rays and file of on-going treatment. For children undergoing orthodontist treatment make sure to ask for a referral in the new country, it might give you some continuity. In fact, techniques can vary and you might be asked by the new orthodontist to "change" braces and start all over again with a different system.
• - Divorce certificates: Important to have, if any. 
• - Driving licence: You might need to get an international licence issued. Ask in due time.
• - Financial issues: This is a big chapter (please refer also to "Financial file or family file"), involving both settling any pending issue in the current location and organizing now what you might need in the new location.
•    Direct debit(s): If you have any of these outstanding, ensure which property they refer to and adjust if necessary, keeping the company involved informed of any action you take.
•    Final bills: If you are selling a house and moving to a place where the postal service is not completely efficient, try and make provisions for final bills etc. You may be charged, face legal action or incur logistical problems receiving credits for over-payment on your part.
•    Funding: Provision of adequate funding into any account that you may be using more than usually during a period of transience.
•    Wills: should be updated, taking into account the change of ownership if appropriate and where possible. Even if you don't deal with the final details, at least you should have made general provisions for expected changes, so that if one of you should die, action can be taken as you intended it, rather than leaving anything in the hands of either government or country officials who neither know, nor are aware of your wishes.
• - Health:If possible, check what you will need in the new location, as well as any treatments you or the family are due for - it is often easier to have any injections in a place with which you are familiar rather than having to deal with even more logistical pressures in a new and unfamiliar place. Health checks, bi-annual, annual, mammograms etc., again, these are easier in familiar surroundings, the same is true for any dental treatment.
• - Health  records: Make sure you ask for copies of relevant medical records for you and your family members (see also "Health file")
• - Inoculations: See Vaccinations
• - Inventory list:  Make an inventory list of your possessions (see also "Inventory list").  If you are keeping some in storage, make sure you have a detailed list of what you are leaving and of its value (see "Inventory list"). For what you are packing, it is also good to have a detailed list of what you are taking to help you with an insurance quote.  Make sure the value listed is the REPLACEMENT value of the item.  It is a good idea to take pictures of your valuables and then carry these with you when moving.  This helps if for some reason an item from your shipment needs to be replaced.
• - Mail forwarding:  Find a safe way of having your mail taken care of, handled and forwarded while you are in transit. 
• - Marriage certificate: If you married abroad, the embassy can issue a translation.
• Passports:  For the whole family (make sure they are valid for at least another 6 months) and have a copy in a different place while travelling, just in case.
• Schools:  Ask the schools for relevant  documentations (test grade letters from the teachers of your children, curriculum description). For more detailed information on this important topic see "Education file".
• Social security: Collect all details, including documentation of benefits and payments. Do not put these papers in the shipment.
• Tax information:  (Notify of your move and check for tax refunds, remember this is the right time to buy duty free) 
• Telephone, mobile and Internet company:  Stop the subscription or enquire how to do it later on from abroad. Quite often there are free toll phone numbers to call that are not accessible from overseas.
• - TV, cable or satellite subscriptions:  Stop the subscriptions.
• - Vaccination records:  Get an international vaccination card and check what you will need in the new location, as well as any treatments you or the family are due for.
• Visa:  You might need to apply for a visa at your embassy.
• - Weapons:  Most likely an export permission form has to be filled in, enquire in due time what paperwork is needed. Make sure you have made arrangements for the shipping, some moving companies refuse to ship them with your personal belongings, in which case special arrangements have to be taken with other carriers. Check what permit you need in the new country to import the arms.

Check list for arriving

- Bank statements:  Including account numbers, branch addresses and transfer details.
- Birth certificates:  For the whole family.
- Benefits: You might be entitled to continue child, unemployment and disability benefits.
- Car import paperwork:  Only if you are importing your car with you from abroad.
- Car insurance papers: Including details about discounts and bonuses.
- Cash: Make sure you have access to a source of cash until your bank account in the new location is established and  operating.
- Credit cards: Make sure you enquire about the safety of using credit cards in the new location.
- Customs papers: (See: inventory list of moving goods).
- Driving licence
- Diplomas: Educational certificates to be enclosed with your CV when applying for work.
- Divorce certificates:  If any.
- Insurance policies
- Marriage certificate
- Medical and dental records: (Indicating previous and current treatment and medication).
- Passports: For the whole family (check the validity, some countries will not give you visas unless your passport has at least six months validity). Keep a copy of each passport in a safe place.
- Receipts from purchase of valuable articles:  Some items might need a custom's declaration.
- School: Have at hand all yor childrens school records.
- Vaccination records: For the whole family. Vaccination cards have to be with your visa papers and  passports. You might be denied entry in some countries if you are not able to prove you have taken the required vaccinations
- Visa: If needed, make sure you have the visa paper with you together with your valid passport and vaccination card.
- Wills: Check in the new country if you need to register or deposit a translation of your will or if its validity is accepted "as is" without any action on your part.