A move abroad is not one project. It is a stack of them, each running on a different clock. A passport renewal takes weeks. A pet export can take half a year. Some financial decisions, like Medicare at 65, carry consequences for decades.
The rule I give people is simple: start the longest clocks first, and treat the departure date as a financial decision, not just a travel one. Here is the year before a move, focused on the money side.
12 to 9 months out: set the frame
- Shortlist destinations and a rough timeline
- Research visa pathways, including any proof of income or savings they require
- Check passports for every traveler (routine processing is 4 to 6 weeks, plus mailing)
- Build a first budget for the move itself: shipping, flights, deposits, overlapping housing
- Start pet paperwork early where the destination requires rabies titer testing
9 to 6 months out: the departure date sets the tax clock
The foreign earned income exclusion’s physical presence test requires 330 full days abroad within any 12 consecutive months. The window starts when you actually leave. Move your departure by a week and the whole count moves by a week.
- Choose the departure date with your tax preparer, not just your mover
- Understand how your new country decides when you become tax resident
- Review every U.S. brokerage, retirement and bank account against that firm’s written policy for customers abroad
- Plan your records for foreign accounts. Once their combined value exceeds $10,000 at any point in a year, an FBAR is due
- Line up cross-border tax and legal professionals for the questions the rules leave open
6 to 3 months out: health cover, insurance and the household
Medicare generally does not cover care outside the U.S. That turns enrollment at 65 into a real decision. The Part B premium rises 10% for each full 12-month period you could have enrolled and did not, usually for life.
- Make the Medicare decision deliberately, with the penalty math in front of you
- Arrange health cover for the destination, including the gap between arrival and local enrollment
- Review life, property and liability insurance against your new country of residence
- Decide what to do with the car: sell, store or export
- Request school records if children are changing systems
3 months to 1 month out: the administrative layer
- If you receive Social Security, plan to report your move and any work abroad. Under full retirement age, more than 45 hours of non-covered work in a month can cost that month’s benefit
- Notify banks and card issuers, and decide on a U.S. mailing address
- File a Federal Post Card Application so you can vote absentee
- Get an International Driving Permit before you leave
- Finish stateside medical, dental and document appointments
The final month: records and the exit
- File the USPS change of address in person. International moves cannot be done from abroad
- Close utilities and keep final statements
- Pack certified copies of birth, marriage and custody documents in your hand luggage
- Update your address with the IRS, the SSA and every financial institution
- Write down the date you left. It starts the 330-day count
What a checklist cannot decide
A timeline keeps the mechanical work in order. It cannot make the judgment calls:
- Whether the foreign earned income exclusion or the foreign tax credit works better for you
- Whether to keep or drop Medicare
- Whether your state tax residency actually ends when you leave
- What to do with accounts that may not follow you abroad
Those are the points where a checklist hands over to professionals who can see the whole picture. The timeline’s job is to make sure that handover happens early enough to matter.
Important disclosures
Tax residency, filing and immigration requirements depend on your facts and your destination. Confirm them with qualified U.S. and local professionals.
Educational information only. This article is for general educational and informational purposes only. It is not personalized tax, legal, immigration, investment, financial planning, insurance, accounting or estate planning advice, and it cannot account for every reader’s citizenship, residence, domicile, tax status, objectives or jurisdiction. Consult appropriately qualified U.S. and local professionals before making decisions or taking action.
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Tax, legal and immigration rules change. These rules are complex, fact dependent and subject to change. Deadlines, thresholds, tax rates, treaty provisions and reporting obligations may change after publication. Figures are as of September 2026. This site does not provide tax preparation, immigration filing or legal representation.
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A longer version with full sources appears on US Expat: Moving Abroad Checklist 2026: 12-Month Timeline.