Timeline for an International Move
What to do and when on a relocation abroad, from the first decision to your first week in the new country, and how to build the version that actually fits your move.
From here to there, with a plan.
Jump to the timelineAt a glance
The international move timeline in brief
- 12+ months beforeDecide, tell your people, research your visa route, check passports
- 9 months beforeGet the visa route moving, and get tax advice
- 6 months beforeSchools, and the housing search
- 4 months beforeBanking, movers, pets, and documents
- 3 months beforeGroundwork for settling in
- 2 months beforeHealth cover and appointments
- 1 month beforeConfirm bookings, and close things down
- Move weekPack your essentials, hand over, and travel
- First weeks after arrivalRegister, and set up ID, banking, healthcare, and schools
The countdown
Relocation abroad timeline, month by month
The single most useful thing you can do is put every large task on one timeline and work backwards from your move date. The reason is simple: the tasks that matter most, visas, school places, and shipping, take the longest and are the hardest to rush, so they have to start first.
What follows is a general backbone, roughly a year out to your first weeks abroad. No fixed timeline knows your destination, and a visa-free move is not the same schedule as one that needs a permit and a consulate appointment, so your own dates will differ. The order holds for most moves, though. If you are still weighing the decisions behind these dates, start with how to plan a move abroad.
12+ months before: Decide, tell your people, and research the hard parts
Confirm where and roughly when. Everything downstream counts back from this date, even while it is still approximate.
- Tell family and close friends once the decision feels real, and give them time to take it in
- Look up your immigration route and how long it really takes
- Check passports, and renew any with under six months left
- Note when schools open enrolment, often around now for the following year
9 months before: Understand your visa route, and get tax advice
The visa is the longest and least controllable part of a move, and much of the rest relies on it being underway, so the earlier you understand the path, the more of the timeline holds together.
- Choose the visa or residence route that fits your situation
- List the documents it needs, the order of the steps, and where you apply
- Prepare what you can before the move
- Get advice on tax residency, pensions, and anything you hold that a move complicates
6 months before: Lock schools and start on housing
School windows and housing searches run on their own calendars, so they start well before the final months.
- If children are moving, apply now: many schools take applications in winter or spring for the following September
- Research neighbourhoods and rental requirements
- Decide how you will handle housing: temporary for your first weeks, or a long-term home before you move
- Plan a pre-move visit if you want to see a place before committing
4 months before: Money, movers, pets, and documents
Several things here run on other people’s schedules, so they are worth setting in motion now.
- Arrange banking at the destination, and plan how you will move funds across currencies
- Get quotes from movers: sea freight books up months ahead and takes six to twelve weeks door to door
- If a pet is moving, start their vaccinations, microchip, and health certificates; some rabies tests and quarantine arrangements begin well in advance
- Gather every document your destination requires, and send the ones needing an apostille or a sworn translation first
3 months before: Lay the groundwork for settling in
The part that decides how a move feels, whether the new place becomes home, is worth a little preparation too. None of it has to be arranged yet; a few threads started now make the first months feel like arriving somewhere, not starting over.
- Join expat and community groups for your destination
- Find people who have made the same move from where you are
- Look into the clubs, sports, classes, and activities you and your family would enjoy
2 months before: Sort health cover and appointments
There is usually a gap between arriving and being enrolled in the local health system, so plan how you will be covered from the day you land.
- Arrange interim travel or international health insurance for your first weeks
- Check what the local system will need from you once you qualify
- Book routine check-ups and dental work while you are still at home
- Sort repeat prescriptions and how you will refill them abroad
- Get any vaccinations your destination asks for, and a copy of everyone’s medical records
1 month before: Confirm everything and close things down
This is the month you start living out of less.
- Reconfirm every booking
- Change your address and redirect your mail
- Cancel or transfer utilities and subscriptions, and settle the final bills
- Exchange some currency for your first days
Move week: Pack, hand over, and travel
Some things should never go in a shipping container, and your boxes may land several weeks after you do.
- Carry passports and documents, medication, chargers, and valuables yourself
- Pack enough clothing for the destination’s weather until your shipment arrives
- Do the final home handover, with meter readings and photos
First weeks after arrival: Register, and switch your new life on
The part most timelines skip. Many countries expect you to register within days to weeks of landing, and arrival starts a second, shorter list with its own deadlines.
- Register your address and residence
- Get a local ID or tax number
- Open a bank account and activate healthcare
- Enrol children in school
- Start exchanging your driving licence
This is the shape, not your schedule. The real dates are yours, since only you know how long your visa will take, or your notice period. To turn the shape into your own schedule, our guide to how to create a relocation plan shows how to build one around your move. Once the move is on, the international moving checklist turns each stage into tasks you can tick off.
Rather than map this by hand? Plarelo builds the timeline around your actual move, with suggested start times, free.
Build your timeline, freeWorth starting early
Two things worth an early start
Most of a move has some give in it. Two things have a little less, so they are the ones worth looking into early, well before the move feels close. Neither is urgent today; both are simply easier, and leave you more choice, the sooner you begin.
School places. Many international and local schools take applications in the winter or spring for the following September, earlier than most families expect. Starting the search early mainly gives you more options to choose from; there is no penalty for looking sooner. If children are moving, it is a gentle one to begin ahead of the rest, even while the move is still taking shape.
Visa and permit processing. Immigration timelines are set by governments rather than by you, and they vary widely: an appointment might be a few weeks out, a decision might take a few months. Since so much of the rest of the move follows from your status being settled, this is the piece it helps most to give plenty of time. Start it early and the rest of the timeline has room to breathe.
After you land
The part most timelines skip: your first weeks abroad
Most moving timelines end at moving day, but the first weeks abroad have deadlines of their own. Many countries expect you to register your address within days, and a local ID, a bank account, healthcare, and school places often depend on that registration, in a particular order.
Map these steps before you leave, so you arrive knowing what comes first rather than working it out while you are still finding your feet.
Questions
International move timing, answered
How far in advance should you plan an international move?
Twelve months is the comfortable window for most independent moves: enough time to secure a visa, catch school-enrolment deadlines, prepare documents, and handle the emotional side without a constant scramble. Six months is workable but tight, and usually only realistic when an employer is handling visas and logistics. Three months is possible for simple, visa-light moves, but rarely for a complex one.
What is a typical timeline for relocation abroad?
Around twelve months from decision to settled: start the visa or residence permit six to nine months out, secure school places and housing three to six months out, book shipping two to three months out, and plan the first weeks after arrival (address registration, tax number, bank, healthcare) as their own phase. The slowest step for your destination, usually the visa, sets the real start date.
How long does an international move take?
From first decision to fully unpacked, most international moves span three to twelve months. The physical shipping is only part of it: by sea, household goods typically take six to twelve weeks door to door; by air, closer to one to two weeks at a higher cost. The part that takes longest is almost always the visa or residence permit, not the shipping.
Can you move abroad in three months?
Sometimes. If your destination is visa-free or the visa is fast, or your employer sponsors and handles the paperwork, three months can be enough. The two things that most often make it impossible are how long the visa takes and how long shipping takes, both of which run on other people’s calendars, not yours. If either is slow for your destination, the move takes longer no matter how organised you are.
When should I apply for a visa or residence permit?
As early as you realistically can, typically six to nine months before your move. It is the slowest, least flexible part of the timeline, and much of the rest, from shipping bookings to school confirmations, depends on it being underway. Applying early also leaves room for the appointment backlogs and document requests that routinely add weeks.
What should you do in the first weeks after arriving?
Register your address and residence (many countries require this within days), get a local ID, social, or tax number, open a bank account, activate healthcare, enrol any children in school, and begin exchanging your driving licence. These post-arrival steps have their own deadlines and unlock everyday life, so treat the first weeks abroad as their own phase of the plan rather than an afterthought.
Turn this into your own timeline
Tell Plarelo about your move and it builds the decisions, paperwork, and tasks around your situation, with suggested start times for the steps that need a head start, split into pre-move and post-move. Free.
Build your international move timeline, freePrefer to look around first? See what the relocation planner does.
The decisions behind the dates: what to weigh, and how to order the whole move.
When the move is on: the step-by-step of what to actually do, gather, and submit.