Moving to a new country is exciting, but the logistics are slightly more complicated for temporary-long term moves. Here’s a synthesis of the tips I’m getting from friends who have already done the move.
Banking
In my research I didn’t find one great credit card to rule them all. People seem to love the Capital One for their excellent customer service and kind attention to foreign fees. You may want to consider getting a local bank account and credit card if you want to start building credit abroad. Regardless, the most important factors are
- no international fees
- no annual fees
- points or cash back bonuses
- no atm fees
- credit card has a chip
Phone
Transfer your phone number to Google Voice to keep getting messages from the US while you’re overseas.
- Start this process by unlocking your phone
- Once you get to your new city (or a day before departure) transfer your phone number to Google Voice. This will cancel your US phone plan.
- In your new city, buy a local SIM card for your unlocked phone.
- If you travel to other nearby cities often, you can buy pre-paid simcards and swap them out so you can text/call local numbers
Some rely mostly on Facebook Messenger and Facetime for text, voice, and messaging communication. This makes sense if you want to avoid giving out your new phone number.
The US Post Office will forward your mail for one year (in six month chunks) for $1.05. Mail is sent piece by piece. You can also forward your mail to a P.O. Box which is fairly straight forward if a friend will sort your mail. Or you can have the P.O. Box mail forwarded to your new address but according to Quora that’s become slightly more difficult since 9/11.