Pre-Move Checklist: The 12 Things to Settle Before You Leave the US

Much of the work of moving abroad happens before the flight, while you still have a US address, a US bank and time to compare options. These twelve items follow the practical sequence of a move, not a ranking of importance. Each one is a conversation to have with your CPA, counsel or plan provider.

This is general information. Your CPA and counsel confirm the details for your case.

1. Keep your US tax filing on the calendar

Leaving the country does not end your US return. As a US citizen, your worldwide income is generally subject to US income tax wherever you live, and the same filing requirements apply as in the United States. ¹ Decide now who will prepare your returns once you are abroad.

2. Separate the filing extension from the payment date

If you live abroad and your main place of business is outside the US on the regular due date, you get an automatic 2-month extension to file and pay. Interest still runs on any tax not paid by the regular due date. ¹ Plan your first payment around the original deadline, not the extended one.

3. Inventory every foreign account for the FBAR

A local bank account opened for rent and bills counts. Once your foreign accounts together exceed $10,000 at any time in the year, an FBAR is required. ² List every account you will open, including ones where you only have signature authority.

4. Check whether Form 8938 will apply

Form 8938 has its own, higher thresholds for people living abroad. If you are unmarried, Form 8938 applies once your specified foreign assets exceed $200,000 at year end or $300,000 at any time; on a joint return, the figures are $400,000 and $600,000. ²

5. Plan how you leave your state

State residency does not end with a change of address. New York, for example, says your domicile does not change until you show with clear and convincing evidence that you have abandoned it and established a new one, and that filing a certificate of domicile or registering to vote elsewhere is not enough. ³ Other states apply their own tests, so review yours before you decide what to do with your home.

6. Arrange to vote from abroad

Every state must let overseas voters register and vote by absentee ballot in elections for federal office. ⁴ Exercising that right does not, by itself, affect your residence or domicile for any federal, state or local tax purpose. ⁵

7. Confirm your Social Security payments can follow you

If you are a US citizen, you can generally continue to receive Social Security payments while outside the US, as long as you are eligible and live in a country where the SSA can send payments. ⁶ The Treasury prohibits payments to people residing in Cuba or North Korea. ⁶ Update your address and payment details with the SSA before you move.

8. Replace Medicare with cover that works abroad

Medicare coverage outside the US is limited, and in most situations Medicare won't pay for health care or supplies you get abroad. ⁷ Arrange international health insurance that starts the day you arrive.

9. Decide on Medicare Part B with the penalty in view

Dropping or delaying Part B can cost you later. Without a Special Enrollment Period, the late enrollment penalty is an extra 10% for each full 12-month period you could have had Part B but did not sign up. ⁸ Weigh that against the premiums you would pay while living abroad.

10. Plan retirement withdrawals and withholding

Moving changes how retirement distributions are handled. For a payment delivered outside the US, you cannot elect out of federal withholding unless you certify that you are not a US citizen or resident, or an expatriate covered by section 877. ⁹ Ask your plan administrator how distributions to a foreign address are processed before you rely on them for living costs.

11. Refresh your estate plan with current figures

For 2026, the basic estate exclusion is $15,000,000, the annual gift exclusion is $19,000, and the annual exclusion for gifts to a spouse who is not a US citizen is $194,000. ¹⁰ If your spouse is not a US citizen, or your assets will sit in several countries, review your wills and beneficiary designations with counsel in both places.

12. Clear any serious tax debt before it reaches your passport

The IRS must notify the State Department of taxpayers certified as owing a seriously delinquent tax debt, and the State Department is generally prohibited from issuing or renewing their passports and may revoke or limit a valid one. ¹ Resolve any such debt before you depend on your passport to live abroad.

What this means for you

A well-prepared move separates what continues from what changes. Your US filing, foreign-account reporting and passport status continue, and Medicare largely stops working for you. State residency, benefits, retirement withdrawals and your estate plan change in ways that depend on what you settle before you leave.

What to do this month

• Book a pre-move review with your CPA covering filing, extensions, payments and foreign accounts.
• Write down every account, property and policy you will hold abroad in your first year.
• Contact the SSA and your retirement plan administrators about address and payment changes.
• Compare international health plans and decide on Medicare Part B with the penalty in view.

The FNC angle

A move is smoother when residency, banking and structure are ready before you arrive. FNC focuses on that side of the checklist: the residence route that fits your timing, the bank accounts you will need on day one and any company or holding structure your plans require. One of FNC's completed engagements combined a Panama SA company and residency card with a Georgian account. Your CPA covers the US tax items above, and qualified counsel covers estate and immigration law.