Free moving abroad checklist

Cross border admin is a dependency chain with real deadlines. A printable checklist cannot express the ordering, which is the only part that matters.

Use this template free Free, no account, opens in your browser.

Main focusMoving abroadBranchWhat blocks whatThoughtPaperworkBranchShip, sell or storeThoughtMoney and tax

Built from the same cards and connections you edit inside HeadTidy.

What’s included

A blockers list covering the order residency, banking and housing usually happen in
A paperwork table tracking which country each document is for and when it is needed
A ship, sell or store table with costs
Money and tax checklists for both the country you leave and the one you arrive in
A departure countdown and a first month checklist for the other side

The ordering is the whole problem

An address usually comes before residency registration. Residency registration usually comes before a local bank account. A bank account usually comes before a phone contract and a long term lease. Discovering that sequence one refusal at a time is what makes an international move feel chaotic when the individual tasks are all simple.

Start the long lead items first

Pets, vehicles, apostilled documents and criminal record checks take weeks or months and cannot be accelerated at the end. Everything else compresses. Put those on the map before the things that feel urgent, because the urgent ones are usually the fast ones.

Do not forget the country you are leaving

Deregistration, final utility readings, a redirected post address, tax notification and pension contributions are all owed to the old country and all easy to skip in the excitement of the new one. They tend to reappear a year later as a fine.

Worked example

A move planned around a lease start date collapses because the residence permit needs an apostilled birth certificate that takes six weeks to obtain. Mapped as blockers, the certificate is obviously the first task, and the lease is signed around it rather than the other way round.

What this template is not

It is an organising map, not immigration, tax or customs advice. Rules differ by country and change without much notice, so confirm every requirement and deadline against the official government sources for both countries before booking anything around them.

How to use this template

Start
Map the blockers first, then start the long lead items immediately.
Sort
Track every document by which country wants it and when.
Move
Work the leaving checklist as carefully as the arriving one.

Frequently asked questions

What is the first thing to do when moving abroad?

Identify the long lead items, usually visas or residence permits, apostilled documents, criminal record checks, pets and vehicles. They cannot be compressed at the end, and most other steps can.

What order should I do things in when relocating?

Broadly: documents, then entry permission, then an address, then residency registration, then a local bank account, then a phone contract and a long term lease. The exact order differs by country, so confirm it locally.

Is this immigration advice?

No. It is an organising checklist. Immigration, tax, customs and pet import rules are country specific and change, so use the official government sources for both countries.