So You’re Actually Doing This
Alright. You’ve been Googling “moving abroad with kids” at midnight for the past three weeks, you’ve gone down multiple Reddit rabbit holes, and you’re somewhere between excited and terrified. Welcome to the club.
Moving abroad with kids is one of those things that sounds either incredibly brave or slightly unhinged depending on who you talk to. Your parents probably think you’ve lost it. Your coworker who spent a semester in Barcelona keeps telling you it’ll be “life changing.” And your kids are either pumped or refusing to speak to you about it.
Here’s the truth: thousands of American families relocate internationally every single year. It’s not as rare or as crazy as it feels when you’re lying awake at 2am wondering how on earth you’re going to ship your dog to Portugal. But it does take serious planning. Like, way more planning than you think.
We moved our family overseas and made pretty much every mistake in the book, which is exactly why we built Rooted Abroad. So you don’t have to learn everything the hard way like we did.
Here’s what you actually need to know.
The Timeline Is Longer Than You Think
Most families underestimate how long an international move actually takes to plan. I’m not talking about packing boxes. I mean the stuff that has to happen months before you ever touch a suitcase.
Visa processing alone can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months depending on the country. Some countries require apostilled documents, which is a fancy way of saying your birth certificates and marriage license need to be verified by the state, and that takes weeks. FBI background checks? 8 to 12 weeks. School enrollment deadlines at international schools abroad? Some of those fill up 6 to 9 months in advance.
If you’re moving abroad with kids, you want to give yourself at minimum 6 months of planning time. Ideally 12. The families who start planning a year out are the ones who actually enjoy the process instead of white-knuckling through it.
We built our 12-Month Countdown Planner specifically for this reason. It breaks down exactly what you need to do each month so nothing falls through the cracks. But even if you don’t use our planner, get yourself some kind of a system. A spreadsheet, a notebook, whatever works. Just don’t wing it.
Visas: The Part Nobody Warns You About
Here’s something that surprises a lot of families: just because you want to move to a country doesn’t mean that country wants you to move there. At least not without a pretty specific visa.
The visa situation is different for every single country and it changes constantly. What worked for that blogger who moved to Spain in 2022 might not be an option anymore. Countries update their immigration policies all the time, and what you read on a forum from two years ago could be completely outdated.
In general, here are the main visa categories families tend to use:
Work visas are for families where one parent has a job offer or transfer from a company in the destination country. This is usually the most straightforward path because the employer handles a lot of the paperwork.
Digital nomad visas have exploded in popularity. As of 2025, over 70 countries now offer some version of a remote work visa. These usually require proof of income (typically $2,000 to $5,000 per month depending on the country) and health insurance.
Freelancer and self-employment visas are common in Europe. Portugal’s D7 visa and Germany’s freelancer visa are popular options for American families.
Retirement visas exist in countries like Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama if you meet income or savings thresholds.
The key thing to know is that you need to start this process early and ideally talk to an immigration attorney who specializes in your destination country. Don’t rely on Facebook groups alone for immigration advice. Seriously.
Schools: Your Biggest Decision
If you’re moving abroad with kids of school age, choosing the right school is probably going to be the thing that keeps you up at night the most. And honestly? It should be pretty high on your priority list because it directly affects how quickly your kids adjust.
You generally have four options:
International schools teach in English, often follow an IB or American curriculum, and are full of other expat kids. They’re familiar and comfortable but they can be expensive, sometimes $10,000 to $30,000 per year per kid. The upside is your child won’t have a language barrier on day one.
Bilingual schools split instruction between English and the local language. This is a nice middle ground that gives your kid language immersion without throwing them completely in the deep end.
Local public schools are free (or very cheap) and provide total immersion. Younger kids tend to do amazingly well in these environments and can become fluent in the local language within a year. Older kids and especially teenagers usually have a harder transition.
Homeschooling is an option in many countries, though the legality and requirements vary. Some countries like Portugal are quite flexible. Others, like Germany, essentially don’t allow it.
Whatever you choose, understand that your kid’s grades will probably dip temporarily. Thats normal. New curriculum, new social dynamics, possibly a new language. Give it a full semester before you start worrying. Research consistently shows that kids who push through the initial adjustment period often outperform their peers long-term because of the cognitive benefits of multilingual and multicultural exposure.
Healthcare: Don’t Skip This Step
American healthcare is expensive but at least you know how it works. Moving abroad means figuring out a completely new system, and you need to have this sorted before you leave.
Most countries require proof of health insurance as part of the visa application. Some have excellent public healthcare systems you can access as a resident (think Canada, Portugal, many EU countries). Others require private insurance.
Here’s what you should do before you leave:
Get everyone’s medical records, vaccination records, and dental records in order. Make copies. Get prescriptions filled for at least 90 days. Talk to your pediatrician about any vaccinations your destination country might require. Look into international health insurance providers like Cigna Global, SafetyWing, or Allianz Care. And figure out whether your American health insurance will cover you abroad (spoiler: it probably won’t, or only in very limited circumstances).
If anyone in your family has ongoing medical needs, prescriptions, or sees specialists, research whether those medications and specialists are available in your destination country. Some medications that are easily available in the US are restricted or called different names abroad.
The Emotional Side Nobody Talks About
Every article about moving abroad with kids focuses on the logistics. Visas, schools, housing, shipping containers. But the emotional side of this move is just as important, maybe more so, and it doesn’t get nearly enough attention.
Your kids are going to grieve. Even if they’re excited about the move, they’re losing something real. Their friends, their school, their bedroom, their grandparents’ house, the park they ride bikes at. For kids, especially between ages 7 and 14, these losses are significant.
Don’t try to fix the grief or rush past it. Let them feel it. Create space for goodbye rituals. Visit favorite places one last time. Take pictures. Write letters. Let your teenager be angry about it if they need to be.
And here’s the part that might sting a little: your kids’ adjustment directly mirrors yours. If you’re stressed and miserable, they will be too. If you’re finding community and exploring and staying positive (even on the hard days), they’ll follow your lead. Taking care of yourself isn’t selfish. It’s literally the most important thing you can do for your children during this transition.
Kids who grow up between cultures, sometimes called Third Culture Kids, develop incredible adaptability, empathy, and global awareness. But they also face real challenges around identity and belonging. If you want to go deeper on this topic, our Raising Third Culture Kids guide covers specific strategies for every age group, from toddlers through teenagers.
Money Stuff You Can’t Ignore
Moving abroad is not cheap. Let’s just get that out in the open.
An international move for a family of four can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 or more depending on how much stuff you’re shipping, what flights cost, temporary housing, visa fees, and the thousand little expenses nobody warns you about. Apostille fees, document translations, school deposits, new appliances because your American ones don’t work on 220 volt power.
Then there’s the ongoing money stuff. You’re still an American citizen, which means you still have to file US taxes every year regardless of where you live. Look into the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) and Foreign Tax Credits. Find a tax professional who specializes in expat taxes. This is not DIY territory.
Also, get yourself set up with an international-friendly bank and money transfer service before you leave. We recommend Wise for international transfers because it saves you a fortune compared to using your regular bank. Charles Schwab is great for a US-based checking account with no international ATM fees.
Pets: Yes, They Can Come Too
About 70% of American households have pets, so this comes up a lot. The short answer is yes, you can absolutely bring your pet abroad. The longer answer is that it requires its own separate planning timeline and paperwork.
You’ll need an ISO-compliant microchip (get this done before the rabies vaccine or you might have to redo the vaccine), a USDA health certificate from a USDA-accredited vet within 10 days of travel, and country-specific requirements that vary wildly. Some countries like Canada are pretty easy. Others like Japan require a 180-day waiting period after blood tests.
We created an entire Moving Abroad with Pets checklist with 60+ action items covering everything from microchipping to airline crate specifications to what to do when you land. If you have a pet, don’t leave this to the last minute. Some of these requirements have to start months before your move date.
The Quick Version (For Skimmers)
Look, I know this is a lot. So here’s the TL;DR version:
Start planning 12 months out if you can. Research visas early and talk to a professional. Pick a school and get on waitlists. Sort out health insurance before you leave. Get your financial house in order including expat tax planning. Let your kids grieve and participate in the process. Take care of yourself so you can take care of them. Start your pet’s paperwork months in advance.
And if you want the full, organized, step-by-step version of all of this broken down into checklists you can actually print and check off? That’s literally what we built at Rooted Abroad. We have country-specific checklists for Canada, Portugal, and Mexico (with more on the way), plus guides for pet relocation, a 12-month countdown planner, and a Third Culture Kids parent guide.
You’re not crazy for wanting to do this. You’re brave. And with the right preparation, you’re going to be just fine.