What are the first steps you should take when moving to another country?

I currenty am in the US and plan on moving to New Zealand in about a year and a half. Am I gonna need to sell all my furniture and large items, and buy replacements once I move to New Zealand? Just any basic information or tips on moving out-of-country would be appreciated especially from anyone with experience.

98% of New Zealanders speak English.

Research their laws - New Zealand has nationalized healthcare - they won't accept obese people as new citizens as they're considered a burden to their healthcare system. They even go so far to give a body mass index test... you fail it, you can visit, but don't plan on staying, unless you lose the weight to conform to their standards.

Research local customs - research the "Ring of Fire" - New Zealand is beautiful country, but they have earthquakes frequently.

Compare living expenses - how high is housing costs - can you buy a house before you become a citizen? How high are groceries - what is and what is not available. Can you own or take a firearm/ammo with you?

Probaly a translator!!

I'd say you'd want to bring as little as possible due to the costs and buy it all there if you can.

If you have animals check quarantine laws.

Obviously have a job before you go or your visit will be short lived.

It depends how much you like your current furniture and how much you're prepared to pay to have it shipped. I moved from England to the USA and the USAF paid for our move and we still didn't ship everything. My appliances wouldn't have worked because of the voltage differences, so those were the first things to go! Moving overseas can be very stressful, but for us, the end result was fantastic! You might want to research which of your favorite non-perishable food and drink items are not readily available there too! Stock up and make sure you have someone prepared to ship goody parcels when you run out! LOL It all helps, trust me!

Oh and unless you cannot bear to be parted from pets, try to avoid shipping them. My cat hated it and was never the same after a 16hr flight via Chicago to Dallas!

Good luck with the move!

Speaking from personal experience, pack light! It's not worth shipping over furniture and large items, plus it can get very expensive to do so. If you're planning on renting, you may not even need furniture so it would be a wasted effort anyway. I don't know about NZ but when I moved to the UK, furnished flats are the norm so there was no need for me to worry about any large items. Just clothing and other essentials - really, whatever I could pack into a few large suitcases. Also, unless you have really expensive electronics, they're not worth bringing either. The only thing I brought was my laptop. Even though you can get electrical adapters, it's not wise to use your stuff on them full time because the cycle rates are different and it's just not efficient. It's for this same reason that any electrical clocks will be useless and won't keep proper time, so leave those behind. Also, a lot of countries use different radio frequencies so your stereo may be a waste of space to bring as well. For instance, we use the odd frequencies (94.5) but in the UK they use the even (101.2). I don't know about NZ though. If you must bring your DVD player with you to play stuff from home, unlock it to play all regions first so you won't need to buy another one after you move. You can find out how to do this on the web, but if you need help, just add your make and model and I'll get you the info. I hope this helps and good luck!

I'm in Chicago but marrying an Englishman this summer and moving to the UK. I am doing all this stuff right now. Here is what I have learned so far:

1. Read about the country you are moving to. Add their newspapers to your feeds each day and try to make some online friends from there. Not only is it good to know the local politics, it will also help you pick up on local sayings and attitudes. I know we all speak english, but it's quite different from place to place and you will settle in easier if you understand the customs.

2. SELL YOUR STUFF. Hardly anything is really worth moving unless it's an heirloom or especially valuable. Even if you can afford to move it, housing varies greatly from one country to another, and things that make sense in one place sometimes don't fit right somewhere else. For instance, in the US, my nice queen size bed is nicely sized for my room, but there is NO WAY it won't dwarf the much smaller bedrooms in the UK. Appliances won't work, so ditch them too, right down to your curling iron. Go through your clothing! Chicago is freezing and the weather is much milder in the UK, and I am finding that I probably won't use half of my winter clothes there. It's not worth the shipping.

3. The more friends you make in NZ, the more you can quiz them about what to leave behind, or which things are inordinately expensive in NZ that you might want to bring with you. (In my case, computers are much cheaper in the US than the UK, so I am actually bringing my big monitors and finding power converters for them.)

4. Start yourself a nice address book RIGHT NOW so that you can stay in touch with your friends at home. You will miss them when you go. I stayed six months overseas each year for the last two years and it's incredibly lonely sometimes. However, I would never trade it for anything because it's brought me so much joy in the good times. Don't forget where you came from, and don't be afraid to be who you are when you get there. Blending in is good... to a point.

Good luck to you!