Emigration checklist

12 months before you move

Start filling in Visa application forms. Compile all of your personal paperwork, including birth, adoption and marriage certificates, employment references, driving licenses and qualifications.


6 months before you move

  • Ensure you have had your Visa medicals and police checks done.
  • Get quotes for international removals and for your flights.
  • Ensure any pets to be shipped are fully inoculated and fit to travel.
  • Get quotes and then book your preferred pet shipment.
  • Give formal notice to your employer and get your P45.
  • Ask your medical centre and dentist for your hand-over files.
  • Contact a resettlement agent for advice on areas to live or rent in.
  • Importantly schooling options and local expat groups may help you settle in.
  • Speak to a real estate company for detailed property and area searches.
  • Open an appropriate international bank account.
  • Set up your Trading Facility with Moneycorp to get the best rates when
    transferring your funds overseas.
  • Request up-to-date statements on any savings and pensions. Speak to a pension transfer specialist and a tax advisor to assess what’s important with your UK pension(s) and what the tax benefits are.
  • Register your children in new schools in plenty of time.


1 month before you move

  • Bring council tax and utility bills up to date and cancel insurance policies
    and contracts for TV, Internet and phones.
  • Collect all handover files from doctors, dentists and schools.
  • Arrange private health cover if required.
  • Cancel any redundant direct-debits or standing orders.
  • Organise an international SIM card to save you money on calls when you first arrive abroad. If you want to call the UK when you arrive overseas, you can use your UK mobile for this.
  • Ask for a copy of your no-claims bonus from your insurer.
  • Make sure that your shipping dates coincide with your arrival abroad.

Download the emigration checklist [942k PDF]

For individuals