Some relocation mistakes are country-specific. These three aren't. They show up in Spain, in Portugal, and everywhere else — and each one is avoidable if you know it's coming.
1. US citizens: your US taxes don't stop when you leave
Americans are taxed on worldwide income no matter where they live. Moving abroad changes how much you may owe — through tools like the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) or foreign tax credits — but it does not change whether you must file. You do.
On top of the return itself: if your foreign accounts together exceed $10,000 at any point in the year, you must report them (FBAR). The penalties for missing this are far out of proportion to the effort of filing it.
The fix: get a cross-border accountant — someone who handles both your US obligations and your new country's system. A purely local accountant in Spain or Portugal typically won't know the US side, and that gap is where expensive surprises live.
2. Don't trust every Google review
Reviews for lawyers and agencies are easy to game, and a five-star page tells you very little about whether they'll answer your emails, meet your deadlines, or handle your specific type of case at all.
The pattern I've seen over and over: someone picks the top search result, pays a retainer, and only discovers months later that the firm rarely handles cases like theirs. The money is hard to get back; the lost time is impossible.
Vetted referrals beat cold searches — ask people who actually completed the process you're starting, and verify the professional's license and track record in your specific category before paying anyone. That gap between "highly rated" and "right for your case" is exactly why this platform exists.
3. Starting everything later than you should
Appointments, document apostilles, certified translations, permit processing — all of it takes longer than the official websites suggest. The single biggest cause of relocation stress isn't any one document. It's starting late.
The fix is sequencing: list your steps, identify the slow ones — visas, NIE or NIF, apostilles — and start those first, even if your move date feels far away. Fast steps can wait; slow steps can't. People who sequence well have boring, uneventful moves. That's the goal.
The short version
File your US taxes and FBAR wherever you live. Choose professionals through vetted referrals, not star ratings. And start the slow bureaucratic steps months before you think you need to.
This article is general information to help you prepare, not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Rules change and every situation is different — always confirm the current requirements for your specific case with a qualified professional.