OCONUS PCS Checklist — Everything Before You Go Overseas

I've PCSed overseas three times and helped about forty people through theirs. Every single one of them hit a moment around week six where they stared at a pile of paperwork and thought, "I'm not going to make it."

You're going to make it. But you need a checklist, and it needs to be brutal about timelines, because OCONUS moves have roughly 10 times the administrative steps of a CONUS PCS, and half of them have hard deadlines that nobody tells you about until you miss one.

This is the OCONUS PCS checklist I wish someone had handed me before my first overseas tour. Print it. Tape it to your fridge. Work it week by week and you'll show up at your gaining base with your sanity, your family, and your household goods all within the same calendar quarter.

Standard disclaimer: Entitlements change. I'm pulling from the 2026 JTR and current regs, but always verify with Finance and MPF before making financial decisions. Your situation, rank, and dependent status all matter.

12 Weeks Out: The Paperwork Nobody Warns You About

The day you get OCONUS orders, your to-do list triples. Start here.

Passports — Yes, You Need Two

Most overseas assignments require both a no-fee (official) passport and a tourist passport. The no-fee passport comes through your MPF. The tourist passport is on you, through the State Department.

Here's what kills people: the tourist passport takes 6-8 weeks for routine processing. If you don't start this in your first week of having orders, you're paying $60 extra for expedited processing and still sweating.

Action items:

• Go to MPF with orders in hand. Start the no-fee passport application for yourself and all dependents
• Apply for tourist passports (or renewals) for every family member. Do this the same week
• Make 10 extra passport photos while you're at it. You'll need them for SOFA documents, ration cards, and base passes overseas

Command Sponsorship (If Accompanied Tour)

If you're bringing dependents, you need command sponsorship approved by the gaining unit. This is not automatic. It requires:

• Enrollment in EFMP (Exceptional Family Member Program) screening
• Medical and dental clearance for every dependent (more on that below)
• A gaining commander who signs off

Start this process immediately. If command sponsorship gets delayed, everything else — housing, school enrollment, dependent travel — gets delayed with it.

Medical and Dental Screening

Every family member needs overseas medical and dental clearance. This is not your annual PHA. This is a specific screening that says, "This person can receive adequate care at the gaining location."

Book these appointments now. Dental is usually the bottleneck — if anyone needs work done, you want to know at 12 weeks, not 4 weeks.

The EFMP screening is separate and also mandatory. If a family member has any enrolled condition, the gaining base medical group has to confirm they can support it. I've seen assignments get changed at this stage. Better to know early.

8 Weeks Out: Your Stuff and Your Car

HHG Shipment — The Big One

The government ships your household goods overseas. Weight allowances are by rank, same as CONUS. The difference: international shipping takes 8-12 weeks by sea.

That means if you want your stuff to arrive anywhere close to when you do, you need to schedule your HHG packout now.

Call the Transportation Management Office (TMO) and get on the schedule. Peak PCS season (May-August) fills up fast.

Key OCONUS HHG details:

• Weight limits are the same as CONUS (by rank and dependent status)
• Anything that goes by sea takes 2-3 months. Plan accordingly
• Get a pre-move survey scheduled. TMO will send someone to eyeball your stuff and estimate weight

Unaccompanied Baggage — Your Survival Kit

Separate from your main HHG shipment, you get an unaccompanied baggage (UB) shipment. This is typically about 10% of your total HHG weight allowance, and it ships by air, so it arrives in 2-4 weeks instead of 2-3 months.

This is your lifeline. Pack it smart:

• Sheets, pillows, towels (enough for everyone)
• A few pots, pans, plates, utensils
• Kids' favorite stuff, enough toys and books to survive a month
• Uniforms and work gear
• Basic tools
• Anything you'll lose your mind without for 8 weeks

I cannot stress this enough: your UB shipment is the difference between camping in an empty apartment for two months and actually living.

POV Shipping

The government will ship one privately owned vehicle to most overseas locations. Some locations allow two if you have dependents — this depends on the specific country and installation.

Start the Vehicle Processing Center (VPC) paperwork now. Your car needs to meet the destination country's requirements (emissions, safety inspection, sometimes modifications like headlight conversions).

POV shipping takes 4-8 weeks depending on destination. If you're going to the Pacific, closer to 8.

Thinking about selling your car and buying overseas? Sometimes that's the right call, especially for short tours or locations where American-spec vehicles are a headache. Talk to someone who's already at your gaining base before deciding.

6 Weeks Out: The Life Logistics

School Liaison Contact

If you have school-age kids, contact the School Liaison Officer (SLO) at your gaining installation now. DoDEA schools overseas have enrollment processes, and international schools off-base have application deadlines.

Get your kids' school records, immunization records, and any IEP/504 documentation organized into a folder. You'll need it all.

Housing

Contact the gaining base housing office. Overseas housing works differently than CONUS:

• On-base housing often has waitlists. Get on the list immediately
• Off-base housing may require command approval and usually involves a housing referral office
• You may live in temporary lodging (TLF/hotel) for weeks while waiting. This is where TLA comes in

Banking and Finance Setup

• Open a USAA or similar account that doesn't charge international ATM fees, if you don't already have one
• Alert your bank about your move so they don't freeze your card when charges show up in Germany
• Research whether your gaining location uses mostly cash, card, or a mix
• Verify your DLA entitlement with Finance. For 2026 with dependents, examples: E-5 gets $3,548.02, E-7 gets $3,551.31, O-3 gets $4,041.88. Your exact amount depends on rank, dependent status, and whether government quarters are involved at either end

If you want a personalized breakdown of every entitlement tied to your specific rank, dependents, and destination, PCS Copilot builds that for you at pcscopilot.com/intake — one-time $15.99, takes about 10 minutes.

4 Weeks Out: Pets, Phones, and Final Details

Pets — Start This Earlier If Going to Japan or the UK

Pet requirements vary wildly by country:

If you're going to Japan and you have pets, this section should have been your first phone call. The quarantine preparation process can take 7+ months. I'm serious. Start the day you get orders.

For everywhere else: vet visit for health certificate (within 10 days of travel), make sure microchip and rabies are current, and research your specific country's import requirements through APHIS (USDA).

Phone Plan

• Research if your current carrier works overseas (some T-Mobile plans include international data)
• Many people switch to a local SIM card at the gaining location — much cheaper
• Make sure you can still receive texts for two-factor authentication on U.S. accounts
• Google Voice or similar for a persistent U.S. number

Mail

• Set up a mail forwarding service. Military-specific ones exist and are worth the money
• Update your address with the IRS, your bank, insurance, and anywhere that sends you physical mail
• Cancel subscriptions that won't follow you (looking at you, gym membership from 2019)

2 Weeks Out: Final Appointments and Copies

The Copy Everything Phase

Make physical and digital copies of:

• Orders (at least 15 copies — you will use them all)
• Passports (every page, every family member)
• Birth certificates, marriage certificate
• Medical and dental records
• POV shipping documents
• Insurance policies
• Power of attorney (get a general and a special POA from legal)

Final Out Appointments

You know the drill, but overseas adds steps:

• MPF final out
• Finance (verify all entitlements are set up — MALT at $0.205/mile to your port or departure airport, DLA, TLA enrollment at gaining base, per diem)
• TMO (confirm HHG and UB pickup dates)
• Legal (POA, will update)
• Medical records pickup (if not electronic)
• EFMP clearance confirmation

Pro tip: Your MALT entitlement covers mileage to the airport or port of embarkation at $0.205/mile. It's not a lot, but it's yours. Make sure Finance has it right.

1 Week Out: Pack Smart, Breathe

Carry-On Survival Kit

You're about to fly internationally, probably with a family, definitely exhausted. Pack a carry-on with:

• All documents (never check these)
• Medications for everyone (30-day supply minimum)
• Phone chargers and adapters for your destination country
• Snacks for kids (and yourself — airport food at 0400 hits different)
• Change of clothes for everyone
• Entertainment for the flight (tablets charged, headphones accessible)

Confirm Everything

• Call TMO: is the HHG picked up?
• Call VPC: is the POV in the system?
• Check in for your flight
• Confirm temporary lodging reservation at the gaining base
• Have your sponsor's phone number saved (and screenshot it — don't rely on having data when you land)

Arrival: TLA and Getting Settled

When you land, you're not done with the money part.

Temporary Lodging Allowance (TLA) covers lodging and meals while you're in temporary housing at the overseas location. You can receive TLA for up to 60 days (typical), and the rates vary by location. TLA is administered by the gaining installation, not your losing base.

First-week priorities:

1. In-process with your gaining unit (they'll hand you another checklist)
2. Register with the housing office
3. Get your TLA paperwork started immediately — Finance at the gaining base handles this
4. Enroll kids in school
5. Get your ration card and SOFA documentation
6. Set up a local bank account if needed
7. Find the commissary and the good coffee shop. You'll need both

The Actual Hard Part

OCONUS PCS moves are a grind. There's no way around it. The paperwork is real, the timelines are tight, and something will go sideways — your HHG will miss its ship date, your pet's health certificate will have a typo, the housing waitlist will be longer than advertised.

But here's the thing: thousands of people do this every year, and they figure it out. You'll figure it out too. Work this OCONUS PCS checklist week by week, keep a folder (physical and digital) of every document, and verify everything with Finance and MPF before you assume you're good.

And if you want all of this tailored to your exact situation — your rank, your dependents, your specific gaining base, your entitlements down to the dollar — that's what I built PCS Copilot to do.

PCS Copilot generates a custom version of this checklist with your exact rank, dependents, and orders. $15.99, refund if it's not useful, no account required. pcscopilot.com/intake

Roger is an active duty AF member who has PCSed more times than he'd like to count. PCS Copilot was built because the checklist on the fridge kept getting longer and the briefings kept getting shorter.