For your convenience, we can e-mail you this guide in a variety of formats.

PRE-PLANNING YOUR MOVE
Deciding to move overseas is a major step in your life and it is advisable to begin pre-planning your move the very day you can learn of your relocation. There will be many changes ahead, adjustments to a new environment, climatic and cultural changes, not to mention the excitment of experiencing a foreign country.

The following ‘moving guide’ is designed to help you preparate for your move , answer your questions, and calm your fears. It will assist in making this transition an organised and smooth endeavor with a few ‘surprises’ as possible.

LEGAL AFFAIRS
Depending on your own particular circunstances ... before you go...

• Arrange for a power of attorney for your affairs during your absence.
• Be sure you will, and that of your spouse, is up-to-date.
• Appoint a legal guardian for your children in case circunstances deprive them of your care.
• Reserve a safe deposit box at your bank as a depository for important documents and other valuables you don’t want to take with you.
• Check the contents of your safe deposit box; arrange to leave the key with a responsible person your lawyer, executor of your state, person to whom you have given power of attorney.
• Have copies made of all valuable and legal documents you are taking with you birth and marriage certificates, letters of credit, bank drafts, and social Security Records, children’s school records, and so on. Keep them in your safe deposit box.
• Keep a record of all insurance policies life, accident, medical, homeowner’s, fire theft, auto with your other documents.

KNOW WHAT DOCUMENTS YOU WILL NEED
Passport: if you already have one, check on the expiration date.

Visas: are they required and what kind will you need.

Photographs: find out how many you’ll need and be sure to take more than enough, about a dozen and a negative.

Health records:obtain international health records, school health records and current phisical reports. If vacinations are necessary, they must be recorded in an ‘International Certifications of Vaccination’ booklet, available from most public health offices. Keep it with your passport. All vaccinations can be recorded in this document. In addition, the World Health Organisation may require the ‘International Certificates of Vaccination’ against cholera and yellow fever under certain conditions. Smallpox vaccinations should not be given.

School Records: yours and your children’s. If you’re interested in taking correspondence courses, now is the time to see what is available and the requirements.

Driver’s license: Find out what type of license is acceptable where you are going to live or where your may travel.

Work Documents: If you will be working or your spouse wishes to work, check with the embassy or regional consulate of the country you will reside and ask for specific requirements for residence and employment permits.

Check your insurance information to be sure you’re covered in the country where you’ll be living, make any adjustments.

Take your marriage certificate and baptismal certificates of your children.

Be sure to take all vital documents with you.

DECIDE WHAT YOU WILL DO WITH YOUR HOUSE

Owners:
You may prefer to lease your home to someone for the duration of your stay overseas. But if you plan to sell it, it’s best to get it on the market as soon as possible. If your intention is not to sell, then consider having a relative or friend move in or leave it empty.

Decide who will manage your property on your behalf and what legal authority will be needed.

Renters:
Give your landlords as much notice as possible.

DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR CAR
Sell it.

Ship it. Consider shipping cost, import duty taxes and availability of parts.

Store it. Check how much insurance is required. It’s really nice to come home on vacation and have your own transportation. Be sure the storage company will recharge the battery before you return.

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
This depends on where you are going, Customs restrictions of the country, weight and/or cost limitations placed on your shipment by your employer. Whether or not your employer provides any furnishing at destination, and the SIZE of the apartment or house in which you will live. Consider all the pros and cons carefully before coming to decisions about . . .

Clothing
Purchase items that are generaly difficult to get in foreign countries: lingerie and shoes (especially odd and large sizes).

Begin a list for each person of travel needs: what will be packed for transit and what will be worn on the flight, etc.

Electrical Appliances
Customs duties and possible Customs restrictions, and/or the difference in electrical systems in use may be deterrents to taking your appliances with you.

Check with the Consulate as to which type of current/voltage is in use where you are going, and whether step-down transformers and adapter plugs, if needed are available there.

NOTIFY THE SCHOOL WHICH YOUR CHILDREN WILL ATTEND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Ask for enrolment requirements and whether there is a waiting list.

Arrange for testing if necessary.

Enquire what documents are necessary for registration.

Information about schools abroad can generally be obtained from the Consular office of your destination country.

NOTIFY THE SCHOOL THEY NOW ATTEND AND INFORM THEM OF YOUR INTENTIONS
If you are leaving during the school term, ask for extra work for the children to do in transit.

Arrange with school authorities for the transfer of your children’s school records and credentials, or secure transcripts of them if you prefer to take the records with you.

MAKE ARRANGEMENTS IF YOUR CHILDREN ARE TO REMAIN IN THE ORIGIN COUNTRY
Arrange for legal guardianship and emergency medical care.

Inform the school authorities and possibly your family doctor.

DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR PETS
Arrange for their care while you are gone or have them adopted.

Take them with you ask Rettenmayer about cost and quarantine regulations.

CHECK ON YOUR INSURANCE POLICIES, LAST WILL AND TAX RECORDS
Find out from your insurance agent whether your Homeowners Policies will be valid in the area which you are bound.

It may be necessary to take out new policies at destination.

Leave all the necessary information with an appropriate person and, if necessary, appoint an executor.

Tax returns and documents should be left where they are readily available.

DECIDE WHAT TO DO ABOUT YOUR ACCOUNTS
Credit Cards: Take them or leave them behind, cancel or apply for more appropriate ones.

Charge Accounts: Switch to limited checking, submit a Power-of-Attorney and/or add a signature card, or close them out.

Make arrangements for payment of loans.

leave your jewellery in a safety deposit box, entrust them with a friend or take them along. Consider other high value items such as savings bonds and valuable collections and papers.

Make arrangements for monthly income: Advise your bank of your leaving and check the safest methods of money transfers.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE
You will be subject to the exchange controls imposed by your destination country, i.e. the amount of money you can bring into or take out of the country may be strictly limited. Obtain information concerning this from either the Consulate or your bank in advance of your departure date. Keep in mind that exchange rates fluctuate and the dollars you take along may be worth more or less in foreign currency than you expected.

You may find an adjustable money converter or currency conversion table convenient. Your bank, Travel agent, or international airline should be able to provide one.

CONTACT VOTER REGISTRATION AND REQUEST ABSENTEE BALLOTS
You’ll need your current address, foreign address and signature. This can be done by mail.

Check voting requirements.

MAKE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS AND HOTEL RESERVATIONS
If you are making your own travel plans and paying all connected expenses, you’ll find the services of a reliable travel agent a big help in saving you time, trouble and frayed nerves.

Travel agents are experts at their business, they have hotel, motel and transportation informationat their fingertips, make and confirm hotel reservations, and can obtain all necessary bus, train, plane and/or steamship tickets, and can advise about passports and visas. Except for expenditures made on your behalf (transportation costs, hotel reservation deposits, and so on), there is no charge for these services.

Use the "Carry-With-Me" checklist in the back of this guide to be sure you don’t forget anything. A briefcase with a sturdy lock is convenient for carrying important documents.

MAKE NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Post Office.

Lawyers, Doctors. 

Magazines, Book Clubs, newspapers, etc.

Insurance Companies.

Banks and loan companies.

UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS BOOK

COMPLETE ALL MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS
Update International vaccination records.

Complete a basical school phisycal for children before you go. This is a good idea for the whole family.

Have prescriptions filled. Know the generic name rather than the brand name of medication that you may need to refil in a foreign country.

Order an extra pair of glases or contact lenses and get a copy of the prescription.

BEGIN REDUCING YOUR SUPPLY OF STAPLE FOODS.
Canned goods, flour, sugar, laundry soap, house hold cleaners .

OBTAIN YOUR TRAVELLERS’S CHEQUES
Also obtain some currency of the country or countries to which you’ll be going. Small bills and change are usefull for phone calls, tips, taxi fares ...

ARRANGE FOR UTILITIES AND SERVICES TO BE TURNED OFF ONE DAY AFTER YOUR SHIPMENT IS UPLIFTED OR MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE PAYMENT OF YOUR OUTSTANDING ACCOUNTS.

Telephone: be sure L. Rettenmayer has a contact number for you if you will be staying with friends or relatives prior to departure.

Telephone number___________________

Electricity telephone number__________________

Gas telephone number__________________

Refuse telephone number__________________

Gardener telephone number__________________

Newspaper telephone number__________________

Water telephone number__________________

PLACE ALL DOCUMENTS AND ITEMS NEEDED DURING TRANSIT TOGETHER IN ONE LOCATION
Passports, tickets and address book, important papers.

Secure all valuables, ensure that they will not be packed by mistake with your storage, surface or air shipments. Plan to carry items of value; stamp collections, jewellery, birth and marriage records and other documents.

BE PREPARED FOR PACKING DAY
Get a good night’s sleep. Easier said than done when you have so much in your mind, but if you have planned well there should not be anything to worry about. The shipment is the least of your worries with the L. Rettenmayer packing team at work.

Plan a simple breakfast that is easy to clean up after.

See that small children are taken care of by a friend, sitter or day care center.

Be available to answer questions and sign the L. Rettenmayer inventory, an Quality Control Report.

MAKE A FINAL CHECK OF CLOSETS, CUPBOARDS, GAS, LIGHTS AND WINDOWS. SEE THAT ALL THE KEYS ARE ACCOUNTED FOR

HERE ARE SOME GENERAL ITEMS THAT YOU MAY WANT TO TAKE:

1. Plastic containers such as Tupperware or tins to store your staples. These are generally common items in most countries, but if you have them and shipping room allows, take them.
2. Items such as hooks, peg boards, space savers for your cupboards, clothes pins and hangers, a sieve, garlic press, peeler, and other kitchen gadgets you’re used to having.
3. Measuring cups and spoons.
4. A blender great for making your own baby food.
5. A pressure cooker if you’ll be living at a high altitude.
6. A refrigerator, even if you need a transformer. Some foreign countries have very small refrigerators because shopping is done daily. A freezer if fresh foods come only seasonally (fruits, vegetables, etc.).
7. Toiletries: ensure that you pack all your special toiletries which may be necessary en route and in your first weeks at your new location.
8. Emergency medical supplies: put together a handy kit of aspirins, bandages, antiseptics, include remedies for any intestinal disorders, cold medications, disposable thermometres, a water bottle, etc. etc.

COUNTDOWN TO MOVING DAY
You’ll find the following checklist a valuable aid in organising your move and making sure no details connected with it are overlooked. Check off each item as it’s completed and you’ll see at a glance what remains to be done.

• Determine the approximate amount of expenses for which you will be responsible.
• Have passport photos made and apply for your passport.
• Apply for documents needed to enter your destination country.
• Organise financial matters.
• Start looking for a new home (unless your employer is assuming this responsability).
• Make arrangements for disposing of your present home.
• Tour your home from attic to basement; include garage and patio. Decide what to take, what to send to storage, what to discard.
• Make a list of things you want stored until your return.
• Consider having a garage sale to dispose of discards.
• Phone your L. Rettenmayer Consultant; Tell him when and where you are moving and arrange for an estimate to determine the approximate cost of shipping your household effects.
• When the L. Rettenmayer Consultant arrives, show everything that is to be moved. Inquire about warehouse facilities and charges for things you plan to store.
• Understand the details of the move - before you ......
• Take care of legal affairs.
• Decide how you are going to forward your valuables.
• Prepare for children’s school transfers.
• Check up on taxes.
• Consult your insurance agent(s) about overseas insurance coverage.
• Take care of medical concerns.
• Make family travel plans.
• If you are taking your motor vehicle, have it checked to be sure it’s in first class condition and that you have any spare parts or tools you might need.
• Take care of change of address.
• Notify your L. Rettenmayer Consultant if you add to or subtract any items from your household goods shipment, or if there is any change in the date of the move or the destination.
• If you are taking your major electrical appliances, set a date with a reliable service man to prepare them for shipment. Our consultant will be glad to arrange for this service.
• Guard your household goods from damage that could be caused by fire, explosion or leakage, whether they are being shipped or stored
• Dispose of flammables such as fireworks, cleaning fluids, matches, acids, chemistry sets, pressure cans.
• Discard partly used cans of oil, paint, syrup, and similar liquids and semi-liquids that might leak.
• Carefully tape-seal and place in individual waterproof bags any jars or bottles of liquids or semi-liquids you wish to move (although it’s better to discard these too).
• Drain oil and fuel from your power mower and other machinery.
• Check the contents of drawers. Remove all spillable or breakable items You may leave light weight soft goods such as blankets, pillows, sweaters, blouses, shirts and lingerie in the drawers, but they must be listed on the inventory. Heavy items such as sheets and tablecloths will overload and weaken the drawers.
• Empty, clean and dry the refrigerator, home freezer, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and range at least 24 hours before they are to be serviced for shipment or storage.
• The day before the moving day go over the " Carry with me" checklist to be sure nothing essential has been overlooked.

MOVING DAY

• Check to see that all household goods entry forms required by your destination have been completed and that you are following instructions exactly.
• Unless your employer is assuming responsability for moving costs, be prepared to pay shipping charges (Payment of Charges) as soon as the Removalist notifies you of the actual amount due.
• Be on hand when the packing crew arrives. If you must leave it’s essential that you appoint someone to act in your behalf, and notify your Rettenmayer Consultant of this authorisation.
• Have dishes washed and dryed. Leave them in the cabinets, as they’re easy to remove and pack when left in normal storage places.
• Leave mirrors and pictures on the wall. The packers will remove and place them in special cartons. However, packers are not permitted to remove items which have been permanently attached to permises. You must detach such things as drapery hardware, towel racks, electric fixtures and wall-to-wall carpeting in advance if they are to be moved.
• Leave beds assembled; bedclothes removed.
• Have those items to be stored separate from those to be shipped, and items to go in your personal luggage away from both so they aren’t accidentally mixed with either. Have a clear understanding with the packers as to which is which.
• Before packing begins, accompany the head packer on a tour of the premises so he can inspect each article. Be sure the condition of all items is recorded.
• Before the packers leave, make a final check of closets, cabinets and storage areas to be sure nothing has been overlooked.
• Check and sign the Inventory. Keep copy of the inventory.
• Be sure the consultant has an exact destination address at which you can be contacted your new residence, the hotel where you’ll be staying, your employer’s place of business, a friend or relative through whom you can be reached.
• Before leaving with your personal lugage, take another look around to be sure that windows and doors are locked. Leave the keys with a responsible person or in a pre-arranged location.

CARRY WITH ME CHECK LIST

• Passport and Visa.
• Documents pertaining to transportation of household goods and motor vehicle(s)
• International Certificates of Vaccination
• Foreign Customs clearance permits
• Convenience card from front of this guide
• Plane, bus, train and/or steamship tickets
• Duplicate keys - car, lugage
• Jewellery
• Travellers cheques
• Camera and film
• Credit cards
• Sunglasses
• Driver’s license and/or International Driving Permit
• Medical and accident InsurancE I.D. Cards
• Social Security Card
• Extra Passport photos
• Copy of Marriage Certificate or Divorce decree
• Motor vehicle ownership records
• Medical records and prescriptions
• Eyeglass prescriptions
• Children’s school records