Moving Abroad From the US: The Paperwork Checklist

Leaving the United States does not end your US paperwork. A US citizen abroad still files a US return on worldwide income, still reports foreign bank accounts once they total more than $10,000, and can still vote absentee in federal elections. The checklist below is grouped by when each item has to start, because the items that take longest (pets, visas, passports) are the ones people start last.

The physical move, and the chain of companies that performs it, is covered in how international moving works. This page is the rest of it.

Three months out

Item	What to do	Why now
Passport	Check the expiration date against the destination’s entry rules; many countries require validity well beyond your arrival date. Renew if in doubt.	Renewal takes weeks, and a visa cannot be issued into an expiring passport
Visa or residence permit	Apply for the category your reason for moving fits (work, study, family, retirement) and collect the supporting documents it lists.	Consular processing is the longest lead time on this list, and the customs relief on your household goods usually depends on holding it
Pets	Contact a USDA-accredited veterinarian as soon as you decide to travel. The destination country sets the entry rules; the vet completes the international health certificate and submits it for USDA APHIS endorsement.	Some countries require microchips, vaccinations, and blood tests on a timeline measured in months
Prescriptions and medical records	Ask your provider for a supply that bridges the gap, copies of prescriptions with generic names, and a letter for controlled medications. Check that each medication is legal at the destination. Get copies of records and immunization history.	Some common US prescriptions are controlled or banned abroad
Driver’s license	Renew your US license if it expires soon, and get an International Driving Permit before you leave; it is a translation of your license, valid only alongside it. Look up how long the destination lets you drive on a foreign license before you must convert.	An IDP is obtained in the US, not abroad
Banking and credit	Keep at least one US bank account and one US credit card open, with a US mailing address. Ask your bank about foreign transaction fees and whether it will keep the account with a foreign address.	Your US credit history does not travel; you will build one from zero abroad, and you still need US accounts for US bills and taxes
Taxes	Decide who will prepare your US return abroad and gather this year’s records.	Filing does not stop, and the exclusions that reduce the bill are only available by filing

One month out

Item	What to do	Why now
Mail	File a forwarding order, and change your address with every bank, insurer, and agency. The change-of-address checklist lists them.	Some accounts cannot accept a foreign address; decide on a US address (a relative, a mail service) now
Phone and two-factor authentication	Move every account that texts you codes to an authenticator app or to an email you control. Keep your US number active on a low-cost plan or port it to a VoIP service.	A US number that stops working locks you out of your bank from abroad
Absentee voting	Send a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to register and request an absentee ballot. FVAP recommends a new FPCA every January and each time you move, at least 90 days before an election.	Election offices must send absentee ballots at least 45 days before a federal election; the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot is the backup if yours does not arrive
Social Security and Medicare	If you receive benefits, use the Social Security Administration’s screening tool for payments outside the US and report your move. Medicare usually does not cover care outside the US.	Whether payments continue depends on your citizenship and the country; health cover abroad is on you
Insurance	Arrange health insurance valid at the destination, and notify your US auto, home, and life insurers.	A gap in cover is the most expensive thing on this list
Document copies	Scan passports, visas, birth and marriage certificates, diplomas, and the household-goods inventory to a cloud folder you can reach without your US phone.	Apostilles and certified translations, if the destination requires them, take time to arrange
What not to ship	Pull out anything the mover cannot carry or the destination will not admit (see below).	Customs holds are billed by the day

The last week

Item	What to do
Carry documents	Passport, visa, the inventory, the bill of lading or booking reference, insurance certificate, prescriptions, pet certificate, and proof of residence abroad, all in your hand luggage
Money	Tell your bank and card issuers your travel dates and new country, and carry enough local currency for the first days
Utilities	Close or transfer US utilities, cancel subscriptions that will not work abroad, and take a final meter reading
Phone	Confirm your US number is on the plan you chose and that two-factor codes reach you
Tax records	Take digital copies of this year’s pay stubs, the closing statement on a home sale, and your moving invoices

US taxes do not stop at the border

The IRS is direct about it: a US citizen or resident alien abroad is “subject to tax on worldwide income from all sources” and must file a US return. Those abroad on the regular due date get an automatic two-month extension to June 15 without asking for it. The foreign earned income exclusion and the foreign tax credit reduce or eliminate what many expatriates owe, but the IRS notes they can only be claimed by filing.

Separate from the return is the FBAR. Under the rule on the IRS’s own page, a US person with a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, FinCEN Form 114, if the aggregate value of those accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. It is filed electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System, not with your tax return, and is due April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15. The threshold is the total across all accounts, so a single foreign checking account you fund with a salary crosses it easily.

There is also Form 8938, the FATCA statement of foreign financial assets, with its own separate and higher thresholds that differ for taxpayers living abroad. Whoever prepares your return should ask about both.

Some states also keep taxing residents who move abroad unless residency is clearly ended. Close the state ties (driver’s license, voter registration, homestead exemption) deliberately, and keep the records that show when you left.

What not to ship

Some things should not go in the container because the mover will not carry them, and some because the destination will not admit them or will charge you for them.

• Do not ship, carry instead: passports and original documents, cash, jewelry, medications, and anything you will need in the weeks before the container clears.
• Movers will not carry: aerosols, flammables, paint, propane, ammunition, and most loose batteries.
• Destination restrictions vary: alcohol and tobacco, food, plants and seeds, animal products, firearms, and vehicles each have their own rules, and new items still in packaging can lose the household-goods duty relief.
• Usually not worth shipping: appliances built for US voltage, and furniture whose replacement cost is below its share of the freight.

The international moving hub covers choosing the mover and reading the quote.