After digging through immigration requirements across popular relocation destinations, here are the 3 most common mistakes that push people's move-out date back by 3-6 months:

1. Applying for the wrong visa category. Digital nomad visas, residency-by-investment, and standard work visas have wildly different processing times and requirements. Applying for the wrong one and getting rejected costs you the whole cycle.

2. Not opening a local bank account early enough. Many countries require proof of local funds or a local account for visa approval — but some banks won't open an account without residency proof yet. This chicken-and-egg problem is solvable, but only if you sequence it correctly from day one.

3. Ignoring tax residency triggers. Spending more than a certain number of days in a country (often 183) can trigger tax residency even without a visa. People get blindsided by a tax bill in two countries because they didn't track this.

If you're planning a move abroad, map out your visa category, banking sequence, and tax residency rules BEFORE you set a moving date — not after.