An international move is a different animal from a cross-country one. The timeline is longer, the paperwork is heavier, and the decisions you make three months out shape what your first week in a new country looks like. Whether you’re going abroad for a job, an academic posting, a military assignment, or a personal chapter, planning ahead pays off. Here’s what Utah families should understand before booking an overseas move.
Start Six Months Out, Not Six Weeks
Domestic moves often come together in a month or two. International moves rarely do. Between shipping transit times, customs paperwork, destination requirements, and lining your household up with your visa or work start date, most international relocations need four to six months of lead time. A container leaving the Port of Long Beach for Europe can spend three to six weeks on the water alone before it even clears customs on the other end.
Book your mover early. Reputable international movers in Salt Lake City schedule their summer container slots well in advance, and the good ones fill up.
Understand Air Freight Versus Ocean Freight
Most international household moves use one of two shipping modes, and the choice affects both your budget and your first weeks abroad. Air freight is fast, arriving in days rather than weeks, but it costs more and volume is limited. It’s the right choice for essential boxes: clothes, work materials, medications, a laptop, and things you can’t be without.
Ocean freight is the workhorse of international moving. Your goods travel in a shipping container, either sharing space with other shipments (LCL, less than container load) or filling a container of your own (FCL, full container load). It’s slower but far more economical for anything larger than a suitcase or two. Most families use a combination: a small air shipment of essentials and the bulk of the household by sea.
Pro Tip: Pack a small air freight shipment with what you actually need for your first month abroad. When your ocean container is still six weeks out, and you’re living in a rental with a suitcase, having your coffee maker, your good knives, and your kids’ favorite bedding show up in a few days changes the whole experience.
Know What Customs Won’t Let You Ship
Every country has its own list of prohibited and restricted imports, usually longer than people expect. Food, plants, seeds, certain wood products, alcohol beyond personal quantities, and many pharmaceuticals get flagged at the border. Firearms and ammunition are heavily regulated or banned outright in most destinations. Even a house plant or jar of honey can cause problems. On the U.S. side, when you return, Customs and Border Protection has its own rules for bringing household goods back. Your international mover provides inventory forms and guidance in both directions, and your coordinator should walk you through destination specifics before packing day.
Insurance and Valuation Work Differently
Domestic valuation coverage doesn’t automatically translate to international. Marine insurance, which covers your goods in transit on the ocean, is a separate product. Ask your mover for a clear breakdown of coverage and confirm what’s covered from door to door versus port to port. For higher-value items, you may want additional coverage that reflects replacement cost rather than depreciated value. Document your belongings before they’re packed. Photos and a written inventory of anything valuable protect you if a claim ever needs to be filed.
Pets, Vehicles, and Firearms Need Their Own Plan
These three categories trip up more Utah families than anything else on an international move.
Pets need destination-specific health certificates, and most countries require a USDA-accredited veterinarian to issue the paperwork within a set window before departure. The USDA APHIS pet travel guide is the starting point for what your destination requires. Begin this process a few months out.
Vehicles carry their own import rules that vary widely by country, and shipping a car is often more expensive than selling it in Utah and buying a comparable one abroad.
Firearms are the most restricted category. Most countries prohibit private import entirely, and storage or sale before you go is usually the practical answer.
Work With One Point of Contact
International moves involve many parts: your Utah-based mover, a van line, freight forwarders, destination agents, and customs brokers. The advantage of using an established local agent tied into a global network is having one coordinator who owns the whole chain. Arrow Moving & Storage works as a Mayflower agent with access to UniGroup Worldwide’s network across more than 180 countries, so your coordinator in Salt Lake City stays with you from planning through delivery abroad.
If you’re vetting movers yourself, the FMCSA’s Protect Your Move site is a solid starting point. Look for documented international experience, not a domestic operation that occasionally handles overseas jobs.
Your Overseas Chapter Starts With the Right Partner
Arrow Moving and Storage has helped Salt Lake City families relocate around the world since 1936. Our international moving team coordinates the paperwork, logistics, and destination handoff, so you can focus on the transition itself. Contact us today for a free international moving estimate, and let’s get your next chapter off to a confident start.