International Relocations Services Explained

International relocation services are the logistics, compliance and family support a company uses to physically move an employee from one country to another.

The work includes everything from enrolling the kids in school in the destination, with visa coordination, household goods shipping, and tax structuring.

This is different from a global mobility program, which is the policy and strategy layer that sits above individual moves. International relocation is the execution layer, the actual move itself.

A single international relocation involves coordination across legal, immigration, tax, real estate, logistics, education, and healthcare systems in two countries at once.

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What’s Included in an International Relocation

Visa and immigration coordination. Work permits, residence permits, dependent visas, and renewals across the destination country. ARC handles this through our global visa services program in 140+ countries.

Departure services. Home sale or lease termination, school withdrawal, banking, vehicle disposal, and other arrangements in the departure country.

Household goods shipping. International freight, customs documentation, transit insurance, port handling, and door-to-door delivery. Shipping internationally involves regulations the average household mover never deals with.

Destination services. Home finding, school searches, area orientation, banking and utility setup, healthcare registration, and getting the family functional in week one.

Our Speciality. Cultural and language training. Language classes for the employee and family, plus orientation on local customs and business culture. This sounds optional and is actually one of the biggest predictors of whether the assignment succeeds.

Settling in and ongoing support. Spouse career assistance, school issues, healthcare questions, lease renewals, and the dozens of small problems that come up after the move is technically complete.

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How an International Relocation Actually Works

The full lifecycle of a corporate international move runs 8 to 16 weeks from kickoff to settled, sometimes longer for complex destinations. Here’s what each phase looks like.

Weeks 1–2: Kickoff and assessment. ARC’s counselor meets with HR and the employee to confirm assignment details, destination, family composition, timing, and policy coverage. Visa work starts immediately since it has the longest lead time.

Weeks 2–6: Visa and documentation. Document collection, apostille and legalization, application filing, and consulate scheduling. This is where most delays happen. Pre-decision and family counseling happen in parallel.

Weeks 4–10: Departure planning. Home sale or lease termination, household goods survey, packing date scheduling, vehicle disposal, and final preparations in the departure country.

Weeks 8–12: Shipping and travel. Household goods packed and shipped (transit times run 4 to 10 weeks depending on destination), employee and family flights coordinated, temporary housing arranged on either end as needed.

Weeks 10–14: Arrival and destination services. Airport pickup, temporary housing, home finding, school enrollment, banking setup, utility connection, and orientation.

Weeks 14–16: Settling in. Permanent housing move-in, household goods delivery and unpacking, ongoing support handoff, spouse career assistance kicks in.

Post-move: Assignment management. Lease renewals, ongoing tax filings, dependent visa renewals, school issues, and check-ins continue for the duration of the assignment.

Tight assignments can compress some of this, though anything under 8 weeks usually means either an emergency move with elevated costs or shortcuts that show up as problems later.

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