The very thought of moving to a new country sounds like an exciting adventure. Shifting to a foreign land requires advance planning, especially the finance aspects to make your settling down phase comfortable in the new country. Amid deciding on transportation, immigration, custom clearances, travel plans and more, you need to make a comprehensive financial checklist to ensure a smooth transition to the new country.
If you are planning to move abroad soon, here are a few financial tasks that you must keep in mind before you leave the country.
- Online banking: It is important that you update your bank accounts by activating the internet banking service before you leave the country to make transactions hassle-free. Not only that, increase your bank mandate amount and also make sure you keep your Indian phone number active to receive one-time passwords (OTPs) or messages. Non-Indian Residents (NRIs) are exempted from linking their Aadhaar and PAN with the bank account, but it needs to be updated with the income tax portal. Once you move abroad and stay there for more than 182 days, you will be required to change your status to NRI at the bank. Also, you need to activate international transactions on your savings account.
- Life Insurance Policy: Before you move out of the country, check your life insurance policy papers thoroughly. It is important for you to be aware of whether the insurer will pay the sum insured in case of any kind of exigencies in a foreign land. Some insurers settle insurance claim amounts in Indian currency in case of the death of an individual in a foreign country. If you are relocating to a country that your insurer deems to be high-risk, they may not even offer any coverage. So, it’s always better to cross-check.
- Health Insurance: Just like your life insurance policy, go through your health insurance papers as well. Check whether they cover your medical treatment costs overseas. If it does not, then make sure to get an insurance policy which covers such costs in foreign countries.
- Important Documents: Moving to a foreign country means extended paperwork and one of the most important documents is your passport. If you do not have a passport, or it is about to expire, sort these out a couple of months in advance, as these things take time. You will also be required to apply for a VISA for the country you are going to. This is yet another paperwork that takes time. Make sure to file all your important documents such as your birth certificate or adoption papers, marriage certificate, medical records, driver’s license, divorce papers, school records, marriage certificates and such. Check out for any errors and get them fixed beforehand.
- Income Tax Return (ITR): Before you leave, make sure you file your income tax return. In the foreign destination you may require all tax clearances from your native country. Apart from this, it’s important to check about Income Tax norms related to NRIs and the tax obligations NRIs need to comply with.
