10 Financial Documents to Download Before You Move Abroad

The worst time to discover that you need an old bank statement is after the account has been closed, your local SIM has expired and the bank requires an in-person visit.

Moving abroad can cut off access to more than your bank. Your employer may disable its payroll portal after your final working day. An investment platform may require verification through a phone number you no longer use. A government website may send documents to an old address.

Rules differ between countries, but the practical problem is the same: financial records are easier to collect before you move than after you lose access to the systems holding them.

Before leaving, download these 10 types of documents and keep them in a secure archive.

1. Bank statements

Download statements for every account you use, including current, savings, business and foreign-currency accounts.

Keep at least the previous 12 months. Consider saving three years or more if you are self-employed, own property, receive income from several sources or regularly transfer money between countries.

A landlord or new bank could ask for six months of statements shortly after you arrive. By then, the account holding those records may already be closed or locked behind an inactive phone number.

Bank statements can help you:

• Show your savings or regular income
• Prepare a tax return
• Explain large international transfers
• Provide records to an accountant
• Support a rental, mortgage or visa application
• Confirm payments made before your move

Always retain the original PDFs. An immigration authority, bank, landlord or lender may require an official document issued by the bank rather than an edited spreadsheet.

PDFs are less convenient when you or your accountant need to search, sort or categorise hundreds of transactions. BankConverter converts supported PDF bank statements into CSV files that can be opened in spreadsheet or accounting software.

The conversion takes place locally in the user’s browser. According to BankConverter, the contents of the bank statement are not uploaded to its servers or sent to a third-party processing service.

Keep both formats: the original PDF as the official source document and the CSV as a working copy for reviewing and organising transactions.

2. Previous tax returns

Save your recent tax returns, tax assessments and supporting schedules.

A new accountant will use this history to understand your employment income, business activity, investments, property and taxes already paid. Previous returns can also help establish when your tax residence changed and whether you still have filing obligations in your former country.

Leaving a country or changing your registered address does not automatically end tax residency. Countries can consider the number of days you spend there, the location of your permanent home and where your personal and economic relationships are centred.

Our guide to dual tax residency for expats explains how two countries can initially treat the same person as a tax resident and how tax treaties can help resolve the overlap.

3. Payslips and annual income statements

Download your payslips and annual income summaries before your final working day.

Some employers disable payroll access as soon as a contract ends. Recovering documents later can mean contacting HR from abroad and waiting for records that you could have downloaded in minutes.

Keep documents showing:

• Your salary and bonuses
• Taxes and social contributions withheld
• The consistency of your income
• Your employment dates
• Other compensation or benefits

Also save your signed employment contract and any document confirming the end of your employment.

When moving for a new job, keep the signed offer and new employment contract. You can use them to prove income when applying for housing, a bank account or a residence permit.

4. Savings and investment statements

Download statements from savings accounts, brokerage platforms, investment apps and other places where you hold financial assets.

Keep records showing:

• Purchase and sale dates
• The original purchase price
• Dividends and interest received
• Brokerage and transaction fees
• Taxes withheld
• Transfers between platforms
• The number and type of assets held

You may need these details to calculate gains or losses after becoming tax-resident in another country. A statement showing only the current value of an investment is not enough if you later need to prove what you originally paid for it.

Savings statements can also help demonstrate that you have enough resources to support yourself. The evidence required depends on the destination and immigration route, so check the official requirements for the permit you plan to apply for.

5. Pension and retirement records

Save statements from state, employer-sponsored and private pension plans.

Keep a record of your contributions, employer contributions, withdrawals and current account value. You should also retain documents explaining the legal type of each account.

A pension that receives favourable tax treatment in one country can be treated differently in another. Transferring or withdrawing money can also create an unexpected tax bill.

Do not move retirement funds simply to consolidate your finances before relocating. First check how the transfer will be treated in both countries.

6. Loan, mortgage and credit agreements

Save the original agreements and recent statements for:

• Mortgages
• Personal loans
• Car financing
• Credit cards
• Student loans
• Other outstanding debts

Include records showing the remaining balance and your repayment history.

Check whether the lender requires you to report a change of address or country of residence. Some financial products are only available to residents of a particular country, and moving can affect how the account operates.

Your repayment history can also help when applying for housing or financial services abroad, especially when your new country’s credit system has no record of you.

7. Property documents

When you own a home or other property, keep copies of:

• The purchase agreement
• Mortgage records
• Property tax statements
• Renovation and improvement invoices
• Insurance policies
• Rental agreements
• Records of rental income and expenses
• Documents showing the purchase price and acquisition costs

Do not discard renovation invoices after the work is complete. Some tax systems allow qualifying improvements to be considered when calculating the taxable gain on a future sale.

Renting out your former home can also create reporting obligations in the country where the property is located and in your new country of tax residence.

8. Freelance and business records

Freelancers and business owners need a separate archive containing:

• Client contracts
• Issued and received invoices
• Expense receipts
• Bookkeeping reports
• Business bank statements
• Payroll records
• Company registration documents
• VAT or sales-tax records

Clearly document transfers between business and personal accounts. Do the same when moving money between two accounts that you own.

Without records from both sides, a transfer can look like unexplained income months or years later.

Many countries require business and tax documents to be retained for several years. Keeping a five-to-seven-year archive is a sensible practical baseline, but confirm the official retention period where you or your business file taxes.

9. Evidence of taxes already paid

Keep tax payment confirmations, withholding certificates, social security statements and official tax assessments.

You may need these documents to claim relief from double taxation. A tax treaty can provide a credit or exemption for tax paid in another country, but you still need evidence of the income and the foreign tax payment.

Citizenship can also matter. For example, the IRS guidance for US citizens and resident aliens abroad explains that US citizens and resident aliens remain subject to US rules on worldwide income while living abroad.

That is a US-specific rule. Check the obligations connected to your citizenship, previous residence and new residence rather than assuming that leaving ends every filing requirement.

10. Evidence of large transfers and sources of funds

Save supporting documents for money connected to:

• A property sale
• An inheritance
• A financial gift
• Investment proceeds
• A business sale
• A loan
• Transfers between your own accounts

A statement can prove that money arrived, but it does not always explain where the money came from.

For example, transfer the proceeds from a property sale into a new account and the receiving bank may ask for the sale agreement before allowing you to use the funds.

Keep the related sale contract, inheritance record, gift declaration, loan agreement or investment statement. The first request for this evidence will often come from the institution receiving the money, not from the country you are leaving.

Create your archive before access disappears

Store the original files in one secure archive and keep an encrypted backup in a second location.

Scan documents that only exist on paper, especially records that would require an in-person visit to replace. Keep official PDFs unchanged. Clearly label spreadsheets, translations and summaries as working copies rather than original documents.

Also check how you currently access each account. Update recovery details before cancelling a local phone number, closing an email address or leaving an address where replacement codes and letters could still be delivered.

For a broader overview of banking, budgeting and tax preparation, read our expat financial planning guide.

Do this several weeks before departure, not the night before your flight. Once a bank account, payroll portal or government login stops working, recovering a single document from abroad can take longer than collecting the entire archive in advance.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, immigration or financial advice.