SO, what is the actual ‘TO DO’ list at 4 months from leaving?
The first steps had to do with addressing the documentation requirements since we were looking at a time line of roughly four months. Even if you feel you have a lot of time on your hands, it doesn’t hurt to gather items you know you’ll need.
Passports. Done. We have passports which we had renewed ahead of it’s dates in anticipation of the move. They already fit all of the requirements.
Means of income. Done. We originally thought to wait two months after the new monthly picture was posted in the bank accounts. Then we discovered that we could use two months of the IRA statements instead. This shortened the time line immediately.
Proof of a permanent US residence. Done. We had sold our property and bought one out of state and then rented it long term. We are renting where we live now and would close our lease when we were ready to move overseas. This leaves us without a US address. A relative, who FaceTimes with us on a regular basis, lives in Oregon. We stay there on our trips and in our final weeks will be living there as well. We are forwarding our mail to that address and they will verify (on our FaceTiming from France) which items, if any, need forwarding. This is where we will return to notify our condo property management to close any tenant lease at term end, so therefore it is our permanent US address. To prove it for documentation, we drove to Oregon, put the items we had picked out to keep, in our storage and took the DMV tests for a drivers license with the address we shared. Upon our return, we will still need an Oregon license and will only need to change the address to our condo when we finally move into it.
Proof of accommodation in France. Not Done. This is actually our last piece and we are still hunting. Like any other kind of information, the number websites are overwhelming but knowing what we personally need, narrows down the choices considerably.
Letter promising not to seek employment there. Done.
Proof of medical coverage. Done. There are several global insurances available, however our current carrier covers us during travel overseas. Since this is not a permanent move and we are not changing citizenship, we are covered. For Medicare we were told we could either keep paying for coverage while absent or pay a penalty when we return, for starting it up late. But the penalty is permanent – added every month from the time you do start it until your death. However, they said, you can suspend it once started (started when you’re required at age 65) and restart it without the penalty – THEN they said that wasn’t possible. We have time, so we started Medicare for the remaining months and we pay for Medicare even though we can’t use it overseas because the penalties are so horrific – plus the longer you are gone, the higher the monthly penalty is. If we ever come to a decision to stay until our demise, that is when we will stop our Medicare.
Marriage Certificate. Done.
E-Ticket or confirmation. Not Done. Once we pick a place and have a lease, we need to develop the timeline of getting there to reserve the correct months. Working backwards, a maximum of 15 days for the visa approval by the consulate. It shouldn’t take more one to two weeks to get an appointment to see the French consulate. (Added together, that’s about one month so far.) The attorney should have our application packet ready within the week we submit the proof of lease in France and airline ticket confirmation. We guess a week for approval for our lease request by the landlord. (Added together, one month plus two weeks). This guesswork is just that. It could take longer or even shorter. Since we can stay in Oregon for whatever cushion we need, we can buy the airline tickets at least a month and a half after we’ve found a place to rent in France. We will probably cushion ourselves by two months, just to be safe. As long as we have them for use – there is no deadline from the time of Visa approval to its use, leaving the country. It is good for a year but we certainly do not wish to burn too much of that time by delaying our departure.
And that all covers the requirements for our documentation, at this time.
What else is on our ‘TO DO’ list?
Specific to us, here it is:
- All of the financial pieces must be in place. We have some odd accounts to close and need to watch for the retirement funds to ensure they are hitting the right accounts. We moved every bill to automatic online payments, long ago. We need to change the mailing address on everything online to Oregon’s address. We need to finish any questions with our accountant. We need to research and set up what we need to do to address any French tax requirements. We need to notify banks and credit cards of our travel plans close to departure (they recommend two weeks notice). We need to verify there are no issues using the ATM’s (length of pin numbers come into play in some countries), personal checks or opening a local bank account where we end up in France (recommended by banking bloggers).
- Documentation. We’ve put everything on Thumb drive and cloud so that we can access anything needed, quickly. We’ve weeded, scanned, shredded and parked only the absolute core need of original documentation with a relative (birth certificates, SS cards, marriage certificate, etc).
- Health. We have addressed all issues in advance, including medications, downloaded records and finished last appointments. It is recommended when traveling overseas with medications, that you leave them in the original, labled bottles and have a letter from your physician stating they have prescribed the medications for you. We have obtained those letters.
- All of the media we plan to use overseas, needs to be researched – what is applicable to where we are going, what is required to switch it over. We need to ensure that all devices are virus protected and have two authorization password requirements. In this process we have lost some loved apps and found some new ones.
- Service the car which will be left with the relative. Also noted, when they found something to fix, we fortunately had time to do so.
- Finalize the travel items choices. Luggage, clothing and electronics as well as what will be a carry on item, what will be checked in. And checked against the airlines rules, which change often these days.
- Close lease and utilities, Last minute will be cleaning and items run to charity stores. We’ve sold everything not going into to storage, living with furniture and kitchen items designated to donation.
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