Leaving the UK Permanently: The Complete Checklist for 2026

In 30 Seconds

Leaving the UK permanently is two projects, not one. Project one is the destination: the visa, the home, the school, the bank. Project two is the exit: telling HMRC properly, keeping your National Insurance story straight, handling the house, the loans and the licences. Most people obsess over project one and botch project two, then spend their first year abroad untangling it. This is the full ordered checklist, from six months out to the year after you land. It works for any destination. Where Dubai is different, we say so, because that is the move we run every week.

Before the checklist: two decisions that order everything else

Decision one: where, and on what visa. Everything downstream depends on this, and the realistic options differ wildly by situation. If you have not settled it, start with our comparison of the best countries to move to from the UK.

Decision two: your tax exit plan. When you stop being UK tax resident is decided by the Statutory Residence Test, not by your flight date or your feelings. If you own a company, the order in which you move, pay dividends and sell things can change your bill by six figures. Read our UK exit tax guide and take regulated advice before booking anything. Nothing in this checklist is tax advice.

Three to six months out

  • Visa and paperwork for the destination. Passports with plenty of validity, documents attested or apostilled where required, medicals booked if the destination needs them.
  • Decide what happens to your home. Selling and letting have completely different tax consequences. UK property stays inside the UK tax net even after you leave: rental income remains taxable here, and residential property sales have their own reporting rules for non residents. Get advice on which side of sell versus let you sit before you list anything.
  • Speak to your accountant about the leaving year. Agree who files what: Self Assessment with the residence section, or a P85 if you are a straightforward PAYE leaver. Details in the next section.
  • Schools. Request records and references from current schools. If the destination is Dubai, apply early: good schools hold waiting lists and the school year timing question is real. Our family visa guide covers sequencing the family's move.
  • Pets, if they travel. Vaccination schedules and import permits run on long lead times in most destinations.

One month out

  • Tell your bank you are moving, and keep at least one UK account open. You will need it for refunds, residual bills, and anything HMRC sends. Some banks close accounts on a foreign address, so ask before you update it and move banks if needed.
  • Student loan. If you will be out of the UK for more than three months you must tell the Student Loans Company and complete their overseas income assessment. Skip this and arrears quietly build on the account. Repayments continue from abroad against country specific thresholds.
  • Council tax and the council. Give notice on your dates so billing stops cleanly.
  • Utilities, broadband, TV licence, subscriptions. Final readings booked, cancellations dated, direct debits reviewed rather than nuked, since some cover things you are keeping.
  • Royal Mail redirection. Twelve months to a trusted UK address. A year of redirected post catches everything you forgot.
  • GP and dentist. Request records or a summary printout. Deregister when you leave.
  • Phone number. Keep your UK number alive on a cheap SIM. Every UK bank and government login you own sends codes to it.

The final two weeks

  • Insurance. Cancel or amend car, home and life policies from your leaving date. Arrange health cover for the destination from day one.
  • Driving licence. Check what the destination accepts and whether you will exchange your UK licence there. Sort an International Driving Permit if you need one for the gap.
  • Electoral roll. Register as an overseas voter if you want to keep voting in UK elections.
  • Cash flow for the landing. Budget for deposits, first rents and setup costs in the destination currency, held somewhere you can actually spend it on day one.

Telling HMRC properly

This is the step people get wrong, so here it is precisely, per HMRC's own guidance:

  • If you normally file Self Assessment (company owners, landlords, higher earners): you tell HMRC you have left through your tax return, completing the residence section, form SA109, which goes by post. You cannot tell HMRC you are leaving through their online Self Assessment services.
  • If you are a straightforward PAYE employee who does not file returns: you fill in form P85, including parts 2 and 3 of your P45. Full walkthrough in our P85 guide.
  • Split year treatment can make you non resident from shortly after departure rather than the end of the tax year, depending on your circumstances.
  • Refunds: HMRC works out whether the leaving year overpaid. Cheques are only sent within the UK, to you or a nominee, and most can only be paid into a UK account. This is why the checklist told you to keep one open.
  • After you are non resident: no UK tax on your non UK income, but UK sourced income such as rent can still be taxable here.

After you land

  • Get legal status finished fast: residence visa, local ID, tax registration where the destination has one. In Dubai this whole chain can run in days when sequenced properly: our founder went from landing to banked resident in under 72 hours as a client of our own process. Read the 72 hour diary for the hour by hour version.
  • Open local bank accounts and move standing financial life across: salary, rent, utilities.
  • Local health registration and insurance activation.
  • Tell the SLC your overseas employment details once you have them, completing the overseas income assessment properly.

The year after: the loose ends that bite

  • The leaving year tax return or P85 outcome. Chase it to closure. An open leaving year is the single most common mess we see people carry abroad.
  • National Insurance. Decide whether to keep making voluntary contributions towards your UK State Pension. It is often startlingly cheap relative to what it buys, and it is a positive decision to make with advice, not a default.
  • Keep proof of your non residence: travel records, tenancy or ownership abroad, work contracts. If HMRC ever asks, the Statutory Residence Test runs on evidence.
  • Mind the return rules. Come back within five years and temporary non residence rules can pull certain income and gains back into UK tax. Plan the length of the move honestly.

If the destination is Dubai

The exit list above is identical. The landing is where Dubai differs: the visa chain is days not months, there is no local income tax registration to queue for, and the practical sequence (licence, visa, medical, Emirates ID, bank) rewards being run in the right order by someone who does it weekly. That sequencing is our whole product: a free zone company with first visa at £7,000 all in, published pricing, and a person on the ground. Note the FCDO currently advises against all but essential travel to the UAE due to regional tensions; check the live advice when planning travel. If Dubai is on your shortlist, book a free call and we will map your exact sequence.

FAQs

Do I have to tell HMRC that I am leaving the UK?

Yes. Self Assessment filers do it through the residence section of their return, sent by post. PAYE only leavers use form P85. Not telling HMRC leaves your tax record running as if you never left.

Can I keep my UK bank account after moving abroad?

Often, but banks differ and some close accounts held on foreign addresses. Ask before updating your address and keep at least one UK account: HMRC refunds are sent within the UK and usually must be paid into a UK account.

What happens to my student loan when I move abroad?

It follows you. Leave the UK for more than three months and you must tell the Student Loans Company, complete an overseas income assessment, and repay against your destination country's threshold. Ignore it and arrears build on the account.

Do I still pay UK tax after I leave?

Once genuinely non resident you do not pay UK tax on non UK income, but UK sourced income like rent from a UK property stays taxable in the UK, and returning within five years can trigger the temporary non residence rules.

What happens to my State Pension if I emigrate?

Your existing National Insurance record keeps its value, and many leavers choose to keep paying voluntary contributions to protect the full State Pension. Whether that is worth it depends on your record and destination, so take advice.

How long before the move should I start this checklist?

Six months is comfortable, three is workable, one is chaos. The long lead items are visas, schools, pets and the sell versus let decision on your home.

Related guides

References

This checklist is general information, not tax, legal, immigration or financial advice. Rules change and your situation is specific. Take regulated advice before acting.