Relocation Packages: What to Ask Your Employer Before You Say Yes

September 29, 2026

Last checked: September 2026. Relocation policies, tax treatment of relocation benefits and visa rules for family members change often and differ by employer and country. Treat figures as a starting point for your own research.

An offer to move abroad with your job is exciting. It can also arrive with a deadline, a thick policy document and a lot of pressure to say yes quickly. This guide is for the moment between the offer and your signature. It explains what a relocation package usually covers, which parts matter most for a family, and what to ask before you agree to a cross-border corporate move.

If you want the bigger picture first, read how corporate relocation works. This article focuses on one thing: getting a package that fits your whole household, not just the person on the payroll.

What does a relocation package usually include?

There is no standard package. What you are offered depends on your employer, your seniority, the length of the move and whether you are on a temporary assignment or a permanent transfer. Most include some of these:

Travel and shipping: flights for the family, and household goods up to a weight or volume limit.
Temporary housing: a serviced apartment or hotel while you find a long-term home.
A look-see trip: a short visit before the move to see the city, homes and schools.
Home-finding help: an agent or consultant for rentals and registrations.
Immigration and tax support: visas for the family, and tax advice and returns.
Schooling: help finding a school, and sometimes school fees.
Partner support: career coaching, job search help, language lessons or a set budget.
Allowances: a one-off payment for miscellaneous costs, and sometimes ongoing housing or cost-of-living allowances.
Home leave and repatriation: trips home during the move and the cost of coming back at the end.

Many employers now split their policy into "core" benefits everyone gets and "flexible" benefits chosen by need. In KPMG's 2022 Global Assignment Policies and Practices survey of 375 mobility professionals, 52% said their policies included core and flexible parts. If your employer uses this model, the flexible part is where family needs often get met, or missed. Ask to see the full list, not just what you were given by default.

Published surveys from firms such as Worldwide ERC, Cartus and AIRINC mostly sit behind member paywalls. Be wary of precise "average package" figures with no clear source. Your own costs are what count. Our guide to the real cost of a family relocation will help you build a budget to measure the offer against.

Lump sum or managed move: which is better for a family?

This is often the first big choice. With a lump sum, your employer gives you a fixed amount and you organise and pay for the move yourself. With a managed move, the employer or a relocation management company arranges and pays suppliers directly. Some packages mix the two.

Question	Lump sum	Managed move
Who organises the move?	You do	The employer or its relocation company
Who carries the risk if costs rise?	You	Mostly the employer
Can you keep what you don't spend?	Usually yes	No
Choice of suppliers	Full choice	Usually limited to approved suppliers
Tax	Often taxed as income, so check what you receive after tax	Some items may be treated differently, depending on the country
Best for	Families with time, local knowledge and a clear budget	Families with little time, complex needs, or moving to a very unfamiliar place

A lump sum can look generous on paper. Ask whether it is before or after tax, and price your real family costs before you compare.

A managed move takes work off your plate, but only if the people involved add something. Ask exactly what the relocation company or consultant will do, and what they will not do.

From experience: Our employer provided a relocation consultant. In the end, the only real thing the consultant produced was a set of quotes. We had already found those suppliers ourselves, and the quotes we had sourced were cheaper.

If you are offered a consultant, ask for a written list of what they will deliver, whether you can use your own cheaper suppliers, and whether unused budget can move to something you need more, such as longer temporary housing.

How much temporary housing should you ask for?

Many packages offer around 30 days. How much a family needs depends on how much is already sorted before you land. If the lease, school place and permits are still open, ask for up to 90 days, or for the right to extend.

Thirty days can sound like plenty until you list what has to happen in that time. You need to see homes, apply for a lease and often wait for a residence permit, a local bank account or payslips before a landlord will accept you. If school places depend on your address, you may need to know the school before you choose the home, or the other way round. Your shipment may still be at sea. Sea freight on long routes often takes six to twelve weeks door to door.

Rushing leads to expensive mistakes, like a lease far from school. In a 2025 survey of more than 10,500 working professionals in 19 countries, run by the Canadian Employee Relocation Council with Ipsos, 57% reported challenges finding housing for international transfers, and 76% said they would look to their employer for help securing temporary housing.

From experience: We had two weeks in temporary housing, and for us that was enough.

If your employer will not extend the time, ask whether the temporary housing budget can be paid as an amount instead, so you can choose a cheaper, longer stay.

Should you visit before you sign?

Yes, if at all possible. A look-see trip (also called a pre-decision or orientation trip) lets you see the city before you commit. It is most useful when it happens before you sign, not after.

Ask for the trip to include your partner, and your children if they are old enough to have a view. Use it to:

Visit two or three neighbourhoods at school-run time, not just on a quiet afternoon.
Visit shortlisted schools and ask about places for your children's year groups.
Check rental listings against what you are being offered for housing.
Price a normal weekly shop, childcare and transport.

If the trip is only offered after you accept, ask whether your acceptance can depend on it. It is a fair question.

From experience: We did visit before we moved, but more by coincidence than by plan. It still helped.

What should you ask about schools and school fees?

School is often the biggest cost in a family move, and the one most often left vague in the package. International school fees in many cities are high, and they rise most years. Ask:

Are school fees covered? In full, in part, or up to a cap? For how many children?
What else is covered? Application fees, deposits, capital or building levies, uniforms, transport and exam fees can add up quickly.
Is there school search support? Someone who knows which schools have places, not just a list of names.
What happens if there is no place? Some popular schools have waiting lists. Ask whether the employer can help, or whether the start date can move.
Is the benefit taxed? In some countries, employer-paid school fees count as taxable income.

If fees are not covered, raise them in your salary discussion. A pay rise can disappear quickly once you add school fees.

Planning your own move? Get our free 120-task family relocation checklist and cost planner, so you can see every step before you start. Get the free checklist

Why should partner career support be a line item?

For many families, the hardest part of a corporate move is the partner who gives up a job, a network and an income to come along. This affects whether the move lasts.

In the Permits Foundation's 2022 survey of 730 expatriate partners, 53% were not working in their new country, and 84% of those wanted to. Only 20% had been given the chance to talk to the employer about their own career concerns. The same survey found that 94% saw countries that allow partners to work as more attractive destinations.

So do not accept vague promises of "support". Ask for partner support as a named item in writing. That could be:

Help with a work permit or confirmation that the partner visa allows work.
A set budget for career coaching, retraining, a course or professional registration.
Language lessons for the partner, not only the employee.
Flexibility on the start date so the partner can hand over their own work properly.

Before any of this, check whether your partner can legally work at all. Our guide to whether your partner can work there explains what to look for. For support after you arrive, see how to support your partner after the move. And if you are still deciding whose career should shape the move, read who leads the move.

What tax and immigration support should be included?

Immigration. Ask who handles visas and permits, and who pays. Check that the support covers every family member, not just the employee. Ask whether the partner's visa allows work, and what happens to the family's status if the job ends early.

Tax. Ask these questions and check the answers with a qualified tax adviser:

Will I get tax advice before I move, paid for by the employer?
Will the employer pay for tax returns in both countries for the year I leave and the year I arrive, and for the whole assignment?
Are relocation benefits taxable here, and if so, will they be "grossed up" (the employer pays the extra tax)?
Is there tax equalisation? This means you pay roughly what you would have paid at home, and the employer covers the difference. It is common on long-term assignments: in KPMG's 2022 survey, 88% of participants tax equalised their assignees. It is less common on permanent transfers.
What happens to my pension and social security contributions?

What should you know about home leave and repatriation?

Home leave is a paid trip back to your home country, often once a year. It matters more than people expect, especially if you have ageing parents or children who want to see grandparents. Ask how many trips, for whom, and whether you can use the budget for family to visit you instead.

Repatriation is the cost of moving back at the end. Ask:

Is return shipping and travel covered, and under what conditions?
Is repatriation covered if the employer ends the role early? What if you resign?
Is there a job to come back to, or is this a one-way move?
If the marriage or relationship ends while abroad, is there support for the partner and children to return?

That last question is uncomfortable, but the accompanying partner often has no independent right to stay. Know the answer in advance.

What is a clawback clause, and how do you protect yourself?

Most employers ask you to sign a repayment agreement, also called a clawback. It says that if you leave the company within a set period, you must pay back some or all of the relocation costs.

Terms vary. A common pattern, described by relocation management firms, is a period of one to two years: you repay everything if you leave in the first year, and a reducing amount after that. Read yours carefully and ask:

What triggers repayment? Resigning is usual. Being made redundant, or the employer cancelling the move, should not be.
Does the amount reduce month by month? A monthly reduction is fairer than a cliff edge.
What exactly is repayable? Some agreements include the tax the employer paid on your behalf, which can make the bill much larger.
Is there an exception for family emergencies? For example, a serious illness in the family back home.
Which country's law applies? Whether a clawback can be enforced depends on local employment law. Check with an employment lawyer if the amount is large.

Local-plus or expat package: what's the difference?

The type of package tells you a lot about how the employer sees your move.

An expat (or assignment) package is usually for a fixed period, often one to five years, with a planned return. You may stay on your home payroll and receive allowances for housing, cost of living, school fees and home leave, often with tax equalisation. This is the most generous type, and it is becoming less common outside senior or strategic roles. AIRINC's 2026 long-term assignment survey describes full "balance sheet" packages being used more and more for strategic assignments only.

A local-plus package puts you on a local contract and local salary, with some extras for a limited time. Extras might include a housing allowance for a year or two, school fees for a transition period, or a home trip. It is common in regional hubs in Asia and the Gulf.

A permanent transfer makes you a local employee, with help for the move itself only.

None of these is wrong. What matters is that your pay and support match the life you will actually have. On local-plus, ask when each extra ends and plan for that date from day one.

Is the package still negotiable after you've said yes?

Often, yes. Many people think the package is fixed once they accept the role. In practice, the detailed relocation agreement or assignment letter often comes later, and there is room to ask for changes until you sign it. Even after arrival, many companies have an "exceptions" process for costs the policy did not foresee.

Tips:

Ask in writing, and ask once. Send one clear list, not a stream of requests.
Explain the business reason. "Being able to extend temporary housing if we need it means I can focus on the role from week one" lands better than "we'd like more time".
Offer trades. If the budget is fixed, suggest moving money from something you don't need to something you do.
Get every change confirmed in writing before you give notice at your current job, sell a home or tell the children's school.

From experience: Next time, we would ask the employer for more help with partner and spouse welfare. In our experience, support usually stops at paying for a container and the partner's visa.

The relocation package checklist: what to ask your employer

Use this table as your negotiation script. The "typical answer" column is what families often hear first. It is a starting point, not a final answer.

What to ask	Why it matters	Typical first answer
Can I see the full policy, including flexible benefits?	You can't ask for what you don't know exists	A summary; the full policy on request
Is this a lump sum, managed move or both? Is the lump sum before or after tax?	Tax can reduce a lump sum a lot	Often paid before tax
Can we extend temporary housing, up to 90 days, if we need it?	Leases, permits and schools take time	Around 30 days; more by exception
Can the look-see trip happen before I sign, with my partner?	You decide with real information	Sometimes offered only after acceptance
Are school fees covered? What about deposits, levies and transport?	Fees can outweigh a salary increase	Covered on assignments; less often on permanent moves
Is partner career support a named budget?	The partner's settling affects whether the move lasts	"We'll support your partner", with no detail
Who handles visas for every family member? Can my partner work?	Some dependant visas don't allow work	Visas covered; work rights need checking
Is there paid tax advice and tax return help in both countries?	Leaving and arrival years are complex	Often yes on assignments
How many home leave trips, and for whom?	Family ties and wellbeing	Often one a year on assignments; rare on permanent moves
Is repatriation covered if the role ends or I resign?	You don't want to be stuck	Covered if the employer ends it; not if you resign
What are the clawback terms? Does it reduce monthly? Does it include tax?	Leaving early can cost a lot	One to two years, often reducing
Is this local-plus or expat? When does each allowance end?	Your budget changes when extras stop	Extras for one to two years on local-plus
Can unused budget move to other items?	Lets you fit the package to your family	Sometimes, especially on core-flex policies

A note for HR and global mobility teams

If you design or manage relocation policies, the questions above are the ones families are asking. Clear written answers, a named partner support budget and realistic temporary housing periods reduce early returns and help people settle faster. We work with organisations on family-focused relocation support. See how we work with organisations.

Frequently asked questions

Is a relocation lump sum taxable?

In many countries, yes, it is treated as income. Rules differ, so check with a qualified tax adviser and ask your employer whether the amount will be grossed up to cover the tax.

How long is a typical relocation repayment period?

Commonly one to two years, often reducing over time. Check exactly what triggers repayment and whether it includes tax paid on your behalf.

What is a cross-border corporate move?

It is when your employer moves you to work in another country, either on a temporary assignment or a permanent transfer. The package, contract and tax position can all change, so treat it as a new job offer and read every document.

What if my employer won't include partner support?

Ask whether other budget lines can be moved to cover it, or ask for flexibility on the start date. Then plan partner support as a household cost in your own budget.

Should I accept before seeing the relocation agreement?

If you can, wait until you have seen the key terms in writing: package type, housing, schooling, clawback and repatriation. If you must accept the role first, say clearly that you are accepting subject to agreeing the relocation terms.

Still weighing up where your family would thrive? Take the 2-minute family destination quiz to see which destinations fit your family's needs before you sit down to negotiate.

Want the whole move in the right order? The Global Relocation System takes your family through all five stages, Decide, Prepare, Transit, Arrive and Thrive, with a master checklist, planning templates and a budget tool. See what is inside the system

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