Plan by date
International moving checklist
Choose your type of move and destination, add a move date, and the checklist lists each task in date order, with the official source for any rule. Your ticks stay on your device.
Loading the checklist...
How it works
How the checklist adapts to your move
Pick leaving the UK, moving to the UK, EU to EU or the rest of the world, then the country or countries. The general tasks apply to every route, and a country's own tasks are added where an official source is on file. If you add a move date, each task gets a do-by date and the plan re-arranges itself when you change it. The moving planner builds on the same tasks and adds the questions to ask a removal company. More are listed under the tools for planning a move.
By direction
The documents that matter most for your direction
Leaving the UK
Check your passport, tell HMRC and the offices that pay you benefits, and see whether your belongings qualify for relief in the country you're moving to. For Germany that is a claim on form 0350 with Zoll, the German customs service (Zoll, transferring residence (opens in a new window)).
Moving to the UK
This is for anyone moving to the UK, whether coming home or arriving for the first time. Check Transfer of Residence relief for your belongings. GOV.UK sets its conditions by where you have lived and how long you have owned the goods, and lists no nationality test. They include 12 months living abroad. You apply for it on form ToR1 and can do so before the goods ship (GOV.UK, Transfer of Residence to Great Britain (opens in a new window)). For a move back from Germany, see moving back to the UK from Germany.
EU to EU
Goods in free circulation move within the EU customs territory in the same way as goods made in the EU (European Commission, importation (opens in a new window)), and Zoll says goods from another EU country are free of duty and tax when they are for your own use (Zoll, travel within the EU (opens in a new window)). Ask your removal company what applies to your move, because a few places that belong to the EU, such as Heligoland, are outside its customs rules (European Commission, territorial scope (opens in a new window)). Whether you must register your new address, and deregister at the old one, depends on the country. Germany requires both (Federal Registration Act, section 17 (opens in a new window)). For a move into Germany, see moving from France to Germany, moving from Italy to Germany and moving from the Netherlands to Germany.
Rest of the world
For a move between two countries when neither is the UK, such as Singapore to Germany, the checklist lists general tasks, and each one says who to ask because we haven't checked those countries' rules. If Germany is one end, its own sourced tasks are added. Moving out of Germany to Singapore? Our Germany to Singapore removals page covers that route.
Germany first
What changes when you move to Germany
Customs relief and registering your address are separate steps. Relief for belongings from outside the EU is claimed with Zoll. The Anmeldung, your address registration, is made at the local registration office within two weeks of moving in, whichever country you come from (Federal Registration Act, section 17 (opens in a new window)). The Germany guide explains both, and the planner and checklist put them in date order. Form 0350 and the relief conditions are set out in the customs guide.
After the move
After you arrive
The last two stages cover registering your address, checking delivered items against your inventory and reporting damage within your removal company's terms, registering a vehicle, and anything with a deadline set by the country you've moved to.
Sources
Sources and facts checked
Questions
Questions about the moving checklist
When should I start planning an international move?
As early as you can. The checklist's first stage is 12 weeks or more before the move, but some official steps have their own waiting periods, such as the 21 days after a pet's rabies vaccination. Your removal company can tell you how far ahead it needs to hear from you.
Does the checklist save my progress?
Only on your device, and only after you tick a task or type a note. Your ticks, route, date and notes are kept in this browser for 180 days since the last change, and the Clear saved data button removes them. If your browser blocks storage, the checklist still works but won't remember anything.
What does Catch up first mean?
When you set a move date, tasks whose do-by date has already passed are grouped under Catch up first, so they are easy to find. They aren't counted as failures; some can still be done.
Is the checklist the same for every country?
The general tasks apply to every route. Germany has its own tasks, each linked to the official source with the date we checked it. Other countries show the general tasks until their facts are checked, one country at a time.
Who carries out the tasks?
You do. Where a removal company does something, such as the survey, the quotation, packing or the shipment's customs paperwork, the task says to ask your removal company. Pets are arranged separately through specialist pet transport providers.
Ready to send your move details?
Your enquiry goes to a suitable partner removal company, which assesses the move, quotes for it and carries it out. The introduction is free. Anything you worked out here can go with it.