Expat basics: before you move to Singapore

I get a lot of messages from people about to move to Singapore who want to know what to do before they arrive. I've only done two international moves but I think we made most of our biggest mistakes the first time and felt pretty on top of things on round two. Here's a list of  things I think are really good to do before you set foot out of your home country. 

Banking Switch your home banking over to an international bank at least a few months before you leave. HSBC and Citibank are good options. Make sure you have some money successfully wired over before you arrive so your first trip to the bank is as smooth as possible. 

Insurance Take out a comprehensive expat health insurance policy from your home country. No, you are not allowed to use travel insurance. We've used David Cummings Insurance in Vancouver and they were great for getting us set up with a plan for our US immigration. We later did a policy with BUPA based in London.

To add an extra note for folks heading to Singapore: I haven't seen any Singaporean health plans that don't absolutely suck. Unless your new job comes with a full expat policy from your home country, assume the local policy they are going to offer you is going to be 80% useless. The crazy thing is, your company's HR department will think their plan is great. They also think it's normal for families to spend all of their retirement savings if someone gets hurt. It's a cultural difference and one that unfortunately can get you in some very serious financial trouble.


A warning to women: expat policies usually do not include maternity coverage. Maternity insurance is an additional policy with a 10 to 12 month waiting period before you can claim. Even the most expensive expat policies do not cover women who are already pregnant. Do not leave your home country pregnant or intend to get pregnant in the first half year of your relocation. I've met far too many trailing spouses in Singapore who ended up playing Russian roulette with their pregnancy. Just to throw a few numbers out there, a C-section could put you out $22,000 sg and a premie baby could be around $250,000 sg. 

Address change.  Moving away when you don't have a forwarding address is really complicated. In Canada you can do int'l mail forwarding but in the US you can't (I guess the US can't imagine anyone leaving?). I recommend getting a mail box at a private mail forwarding company. Set up the address change before you go. Once you arrive, have them bundle mail once a month and send it over. We used Bongo this time and they were awful so just avoid that one. 

Shopping and Shipping online. I changed our credit card billing address to our shipping company address so that I can still shop online at retailers who don't allow shipping overseas. Packages get forwarded on to me. This is only really a good idea when the items have free domestic shipping so you don't end up paying for shipping twice.

itunes. Do not close your itunes account in your home country and open one in Singapore. Itunes in Singapore has very little available and you'll really kick yourself if you do this. The itunes store might decline your purchases if you are outside your home country. If this happenes write to Apple, complain (say you're away on business) and then wait. Within a few days they will customize your account so you can keep ordering fromyour home country itunes store no matter where you are.

VPN basics. We use a VPN for a lot of our online entertainment. Choose one where you can log in to UK sites as well as American ones and you'll end up with a ton of options for live streaming TV shows from the networks sites. (itunes detects VPNs, you still need to write to them if you have an issue). A couple of popular ones are Strong VPN or HMA pro.

Health files. Visit your dentist and get copies of your records and do the same with chiropractors or any other health practitioners you see regularly. Having a file on your current health will help you get set up with new Dr. and health care practitioners.

Squeak. It sucks to be the squeaky wheel but when it comes to a big move, you really need to speak up when a relocation company is pushing you around. Hopefully you get a good one. Closely supervise your movers, read ALL of the fine print especially the insurance. Ask them for the final weight of your shipment after they take it from your home. This might be much less than you were quoted and will allow you more in your relocation budget for other things.

Taxes. You need an expert for taxes when you claim in multiple countries. There are quite a few little things you might need to do before you leave to make sure your banks and the government understand what's going on and have changed your accounts to say you are a non-resident. This is really really important if you don't want to get screwed with Canadian taxes.

Visas. If your company isn't arranging your work visa (BTW this is when I would turn down the job offer) make sure your application is looked over by someone [read: a lawyer, not your know-it-all friend] who really knows the system in that country. There's too much on the line to rely on internet forums or dumb luck.

Stock up Before that moving truck leaves do a big shop for supplies you would like to have in your new home. Here are some suggestions for folks specifically moving to Singapore:

WINE You can in fact move with crates of wine. I believe you just fill out a declaration form and pay the $8 or $9 per bottle flat rate for duty. Wine is, for the most part, not a part of Singaporean culture. There are lots of wine stores popping up but they are more for show than anything else. The wines they carry are 2-4 times the retail price you might be used to at home and you'll never get the vintages that are currently good.

SALON HAIR PRODUCTS Go to a liter sale and stock up on high end shampoos, conditioners, styling products. This stuff is double the price and lots if brands aren't available here. You'll feel pretty smug if you managed to ship it with your movers.

CLOTHING Shopping here really isn't anything to write home about. If it's the right season when you leave do a big shop for summer clothes. (Don't forget ladies, you should stock up on bras especially if you are anything over a B cup.) You will thank me when you arrive and see rack after rack of XXXSM polyester dresses and plastic high heels. Most expats I know shop online and have everything shipped here or they use a local dress-maker. Men also should note that most Singaporean men's clothes run quite small though there is more of a range than there is for women. I suggest men stock up on linen button down shirts. T-shirts are actually really hot (you'll end up looking like you're in a wet t-shirt contest as soon as you step out the door).

LINENS Don't leave your linens behind. Over the past year I haven't found anywhere that sells nice sheets or towels at decent prices. However, DO leave your duvet behind and opt for a couple of light throw blankets.

 COMPUTER STUFF If your Macbook is on it's last legs, replace it. You'll save about $250 USD and a lot of hassle. Also if you are American get your Apple care in the US. It's better to deal with them on the phone than to try to talk to the local B-team. If you were thinking about getting a cinema display, do it now! You'll save about 50%. Bring your printer and a good supply of ink. My printer reatils for $1200 in the US and $2500 in Singapore. Unfortunately inks are region specific so you need to make sure you order your inks online before you run out.

Bring wires, cables but make sure you check transformers to see if they can handle the 240v electricity here. You can get inverters to plug things into but they are very hard to find here and not very safe. 

Cameras are also way more expensive here. If you're on the verge of upgrading to the Canon 5D MarkIII... DO IT. Get some lens while you're at it. 

BOOKS Every time I cruise through a US airport I grab a few books. You'll save a lot doing this and be able to get more recent stuff too. A lot of people I know have switched to buying books for ipad and kindle on Amazon to avoid the obscene book costs here.

KITCHEN STUFF Aside from huge roasting pans which will never fit in your toy oven here, bring what you can. There a lots of things I didn't bring that just don't exist here or are extremely hard to find. If you love cooking, you'll go bananas trying to find good quality reasonably priced tools.

BABY STUFF  Baby stuff from diapers to cribs is INSANELY expensive. Carseats with reasonable safety ratings and 5 point harnesses are nearly impossible to find. It's worth pre-shopping for the next stages and stashing it till you need it here. You'll be very glad you did.