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Trusted International Moving Network
Accredited Relocation Specialists
Households leaving Gloucestershire for another country spend months thinking about the container and about a fortnight thinking about the rest, which is the wrong way round. The overseas removals side is a solved problem handled by professionals. The list below is the part that is yours, and most of it has to start earlier than people expect.
This is a page about moving to another country. Relocating within the United Kingdom is a domestic move and almost nothing here applies to it. Everything below assumes you are leaving Britain for good or for a fixed term abroad.
A moving company ships goods and clears customs. It does not deregister you from a GP surgery, close your council tax account or advise on your pension.
Be wary of any firm implying otherwise. The ones that stay inside their competence do that part properly.
We match you with one international removal company for the household goods and arrange access to currency exchange. The rest of this list is yours, and it is here because nobody else sets it out in one place.
Animals do not travel with the household goods. They move under separate arrangements with their own health documentation, and the veterinary requirements for some destinations run to months rather than weeks. Rabies titre testing, in particular, has waiting periods built into it that no amount of money will shorten. Begin the day you know you are going.
Visas and residence permits are the second. Some countries want the application lodged before you arrive, some want it after, and the order interacts with your customs relief on the household goods. Getting the sequence wrong can cost you the duty free entry entirely.
School places are the third if you have children. Popular international schools operate waiting lists and the academic year rarely matches a posting date. Enquire a term ahead instead of a month.
Several countries grant relief on used household effects only to people who have already registered as resident. Ship first and register later and you can find the relief refused on goods already at the port. Ask your mover's destination agent what order they need, and follow it.
Birth and marriage certificates, qualifications and driving licences are frequently required in certified or translated form. Obtaining those from abroad is far harder than obtaining them here. Do it before you leave.
If you are buying abroad or moving savings, the exchange rate on that amount will affect your finances more than the entire cost of the removal. It is the single largest financial decision in most overseas moves and it gets a fraction of the attention.
Access to currency exchange through trusted partners is included in what we arrange. We do not publish rates here because they move through the day. Ask when you enquire and you will be put in touch.
Experts in currency exchange
No hidden fees
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Competitive exchange rate
Open an account at the destination before you need it. Doing it from abroad, without a local address or a local tax number, is considerably harder than doing it in person once you have arrived.
None of these is difficult. All of them are tedious to sort out once you are in another country and several hours ahead or behind.
Final meter readings on the day, and written confirmation of closure and not a phone call. Council tax needs notifying separately and will not stop of its own accord because you have left the country.
International redirection is available and worth taking for at least six months. Most people underestimate how much still arrives on paper, particularly anything official that will not email.
Tell HMRC you are leaving. Check what happens to a workplace pension and whether any state entitlement is affected. This is a question for an adviser, not a moving company, and it is better asked before you go.
Request a summary from your GP before deregistering, and take prescriptions and vaccination records with you instead of in the container. Obtaining them afterwards from abroad is slow.
Cancel what will not travel and check what your home and car policies require when a property is empty or let. An unoccupied house frequently voids standard cover after a set number of days.
Passports, certificates, medication, chargers, keys and anything you could not replace. It travels with you. Every year somebody packs a passport into a container and discovers it at the airport.
Destination, rough volume and target month. One international removals company from the network takes the shipment off your list entirely, and not you managing a spread of international moving companies alongside everything above. Nothing to pay either way.
Decide early which furniture is going and which furniture stays. Everything else on this page, from the survey date to the container format, waits on that one answer.
Measure the rooms at the destination before deciding. Shipping furniture that will not fit the new house is the commonest waste on a move abroad.
Agree dismantling and reassembly in writing. They are separate lines, quoted separately, and the one at the far end is the one people forget to ask about.
Start with the destination, not the postcode. A search for international removal companies near me tells you who can collect, which is the easy half. An international removals company that ships to your country weekly and has an agent there is what removes the clearance risk, and that is worth more than proximity.
Eight to twelve weeks ahead for a container, longer between June and September, and a little more for a shared load. European road freight can often be arranged inside a month. Book earlier than you think, because it costs nothing and it preserves your options.
Tell the coordinator as soon as you know. Collections can usually be moved or cancelled with reasonable notice, though the freight booking behind it may carry its own terms. Early notice recovers far more than a late one.
No. We arrange the household move and access to currency exchange. Immigration and conveyancing abroad need qualified professionals in that country, and any moving company telling you otherwise is overreaching. Overseas movers should confirm the reassembly position before you sign anything.
Lead times and sequencing described are general planning guidance drawn from standard relocation practice, and requirements differ by destination country. Tax, pension, immigration and property matters need qualified advice rather than a moving company's opinion. Transfer of Residence procedure for inbound moves from HMRC guidance. No rates or prices are quoted. Reviewed through September 2026 on an annual cycle. Country requirements change, so verify current rules before acting. Read our Google reviews.
A full pack is quoted on request alongside the freight. International movers and packers do the work. Destination country, rough volume and target month. An accredited international moving company takes the shipment while you deal with everything else.
Send your move detailsInternational Removals Companies matches your enquiry to one accredited moving company from the AGM Group network and includes access to currency exchange through trusted partners. Free to use, and we give no immigration or tax advice.
Town pages: Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud, Tetbury.
Other services: Forces removals, European removals, Shipping, Part loads.