Cross-border Relocation

An organization’s ability to move employees between countries quickly, compliantly, and cost-effectively with minimal upheaval to the employee contributes to the continued growth of the business.

A Cross-border/Permanent Relocation policy is developed to enable the best and brightest employees to make this permanent workplace change swift and effective and settle them in their new role and environment as efficiently as possible. International relocations are a high-cost employment arrangement for any company. They are a necessary and worthwhile investment in our employees and the future of the business. The policy details and allowances have been developed to address the specific additional costs associated with a relocation to ensure that the employee is not financially impacted by accepting the relocation.

A cross-border or permanent international relocation is when an employee accepts the offer to permanently transfer their work location to another country and physically relocates their family and home to take up this new employment. A local assessment has already taken place to source an employee locally but the specific skill set, experience, and competencies of the employee mean that they are the right choice for the relocation and can meet the immigration requirements to live and work in the destination country.

Common Benefits of Cross-border Relocation

Benefits for the Origin Country:

• Pre-decision Travel
• Home Sale Assistance
• House Hunting Trip(s)
• Miscellaneous Expense Allowance
• Household Goods Shipment(s)
• Vehicle Shipment(s)
• Immigration Services
• Tax Consulting and Preparation

• Home Finding Assistance
• Final Move Travel
• Settling-In Assistance
• School Consulting
• Local Registrations and Licenses
• Cost of Living Allowance
• Language Training
• Intercultural Training
• Spouse/Partner Assistance
• Tax Consulting and Preparation

Common Definitions

• Home Country: Also known as the home location, it refers to the country from which the employee is permanently departing (Origin).
• Host Country: Also known as the host location, it refers to the country to which the employee is permanently relocating (Destination).
• Permanent International Relocation: Refers to the permanent move across a border from the home country to the host country. In this process, the employee’s home employment contract ends, and they start a new permanent employment contract in the host country.
• Employee: The individual who is undertaking the permanent international relocation offered by their employer.
• Home Country HR: The HR Manager who currently manages the employee’s employment contract in the home (origin) country.
• Host Country HR: The future HR Manager who is responsible for the employee and the main point of contact in the host (destination) country. They assist in facilitating permanent international relocations.
• Geography: Refers to specific regions of the world, such as EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Asia (India, China, South East Asia), and the Americas (North and South America and Canada).
• Dependents: In the context of various policies, dependents are family members who live with the employee in their primary residence prior to the relocation. This includes the employee’s spouse, children, stepchildren (if the employee has legal and financial responsibility for them), as well as long-term partners (regardless of their gender). The age limit for dependent children is typically 21, assuming they are physically and mentally capable. However, this age limit does not apply if the dependent is physically or mentally disabled.