Moving countries amid the pandemic

Moving to a new place is never easy: you have to look for an apartment, maybe also find a job in your new place, a school for your children (if any), move all your belongings, and worst of all, you will face an incredibly high amount of bureaucracy to deal with during the first days, weeks, months, and even years at your future homeplace. You may also face a new language as well, visa requirements, healthcare, bank and phone providers, and a long etcetera. And the cherry on the cake is now you will face a wide variety of covid restrictions depending on the country of origin and destination.

Fortunately, moving usually has an optimistic and solid-based motivation: a (better) job, joining your partner or family, the start of a new project, … There are plenty of good reasons for moving countries, and indeed living abroad and getting out of your comfort zone can bring a lot of positive things to your life! (as you can see in the recently released Netflix series Emily in Paris).

That said, you will find extra obstacles when moving countries during such an extraordinary situation as the covid-19 pandemic, and it is important to be aware of them as much as possible, so that you can overcome them and avoid wasting time, money and tears. So, you guys be strong and stick to your motivation when you doubt the worth. In the end everything will be fine! For different reasons, I had to do 2 movings during this year 2020, both during the pandemic and between quite affected countries. And I still survived! If you plan to move countries in the following months, just relax and try to be organized so that you can plan eventual difficulties in advance. You have a list of steps to get you ready to move abroad in the blog 👉teaspoonofadventure, which is very complete and the one I check for my movings. I will just try to add some details to consider related to the pandemic context.

One of the first tasks in the list is to choose Day D. Consider potential quarantine periods in your future destination or the need of a negative covid test. Depending on how dramatic is the situation, you might also depend on the available flights or transport means and check if your reasons for crossing countries are compliant with cross-border policies.

Next, focus on ‘closing’ your stage at your place of origin. Talk about your plans of leaving to your flatmates and/or landlord, to your family or associates if you share any ownership, and to the bank if you have a mortgage. You might need to find someone else to replace you or to buy your property. And believe me, you will definitely need time to post adds and organize meetings and visits! Multiple visits at a time might not be allowed, and be prepared to do show-rooms via Skype/zoom/webex/… for those who are interested but cannot attend in-person visits. It might feel risky, but in some occasions you will have no alternative but to trust someone you never saw in person!

You might also need to find accommodation in the destination country. I will not go into detail because finding an apartment is a burden task by itself and can vary from one country to another, but once again, start your search well in advance and prioritize flexible options just in case for any of the multiple covid-related reasons your travel gets dalayed for some days. I have suffered all kind of pains for getting my apartment in Luxembourg and thanks god I had some help from the university. Maybe your employer can provide something temporary for your first weeks. All in all, these things are stressing and take a while, don’t leave it to the last minute.

If you are working at the time prior to the moving, announce you are leaving in advance so that you give your manager time to adapt and reschedule deadlines if necessary, same as you would do when there was no corona. Also, you will probably need to train your replacement, and very likely you will do that through video-conference, which is not the most convenient and again, will take longer than in the old normal. You can organize a farewell videoconference to say goodbye and greet your colleagues for the time shared. Okay, it won’t be the same as the farewell beers but at least you will prove your creativity and your intentions to have a warm discharge.

Finally, check for any special documentation that you might need for the corresponding restrictions on travel. If you cannot find information on the internet, call the corresponding embassy at your origin country. They usually know the very last minute updates and will be able to explain what you need in your specific context (and they will explain it in English -which not all internet forums do- !)

Now you are all good to go! Remember to keep you mask and handwasher close, and also try to be patient and flexible. In the end corona has taught us all the things that are really important to worry about and those that aren’t. Take it easy, stay safe, and all the best for your adventure!