PCSing OCONUS is not for the weak. Dealing with this during the COVID-19 pandemic is a double whammy! In my case, I was also pregnant and traveling with two large dogs ALONE. The complicated process didn’t allow me to travel with my husband, as he needed to report before my travel requirements were complete. Fortunately, we survived the PCS and made it to Grafenwohr, Germany, in one piece. If you want to know how we did it and what mistakes to avoid, then keep reading!
Step 0: Get a Headstart
Timing is so important. The further along you are in the process, the less control you will have over when things will get done. Set yourself up for success by getting the small things out of the way that could cause delays later. For me, one of those delays was my Dependent ID. During COVID, the process of getting a new one was more complicated than it needed to be, causing a delay of at least a month. Make sure you gather any documentation you think you may need as soon as you get word that you *MIGHT* be PCSing OCONUS. Even without hard orders, having the small things taken care of will be valuable no matter where you are stationed.
Some of the things you should consider gathering are:
- Dependent ID’s
- Drivers License
- Tourist Passports
- Birth Certificates or Visas
- Marriage License
- Power of Attorney
- COVID-19 Proof Vaccine (If applicable)
- 10 Copies of your spouse’s orders
This will make all of the other steps flow smoothly.
If your driver’s license is going to expire during your time in Germany, it is best to renew it before you leave. Your German driver’s license will only be active as long as your US license is. Some states in the U.S. make it difficult to obtain a new license, even for military families stationed overseas. I’ve met a few people who are unable to drive for the rest of their OCONUS assignment because their license expired, and the state that originally issued it wouldn’t issue them a new one without them applying for it in person. Save yourself the trouble and just renew before you leave.
Have a “Medical History and Physical Examination” within 12 months of your PCS date. This examination can be done on or off post, depending on the kind of medical coverage you have. You will need this to start the EFMP process (more on that later).
Apply for a tourist passport if you don’t have one or renew it if it expires during your time in Germany. This can save you so much time! If, for some reason, you do not get your No Fee Passport back in time, you may be able to travel with your tourist passport, but don’t count on it. Either way, you will want your tourist passport to explore Europe once you arrive, because your No Fee is not used for leisurely trips.
Work on getting your German driver’s license and international license. When you arrive in Germany, you will want to legally drive without delay! You can complete this later if you would prefer, but getting this done when the checklist is small will give you one less thing to do when things become overwhelming.
Take care of any open recalls on vehicles you plan to bring to Germany.
Sell or plan to store anything you do not want to bring. Downsize your belongings as best you can.
Step 1: Schedule EFMP
EFMP is the Exceptional Family Member Program, used to support military families with special medical or educational needs. Your family must be cleared with EFMP, or you will not be granted command sponsorship, which is required to join your spouse overseas. Call or email the nearest EFMP office. They will send you any documents that need to be filled out and brought to the appointment. The typical documents they will need are:
- Europe Memorandum initialed and signed by a Service Member
- DA Form 5888 Request for Command Sponsorship: This form can be requested from the Military Personnel Division (MPD). It must be authenticated by them. To obtain this form, I was required to show my spouse’s orders and a notarized DD Form 1172.
- DA Form 7246 EFMP Medical Questionnaire (one per family)
- Proof of a “medical history and Physical Exam” within the last 12 months. Submit within 24 hours of EFMP appointment.
Depending on the outcome of your appointment, more documents may be requested.
COVID Edition: During the 2020 lockdown, many employees were teleworking, and virtual appointments were available during this time. All documents were submitted online. Moving forward, this may continue to be an option.
During the Appointment, the EFMP staff will complete and sign the DD Form 7246 and DA 5888. If you completed EFMP at another post other than where your husband is stationed, submit your EFMP documents to that post’s EFMP office as well. After that, your service member will need to submit these documents to their S1, unless your EFMP office opts to send them on their own. If they do, be sure to have your spouse check that they were received.
You will find more resources about EFMP in Grafenwhor here and contact information on the right side of the page.
Step 2: Amend Orders & Command Sponsorship
Let your service member handle this one. The MPD does not like to deal with spouses for this step, even with a power of attorney. First, your service member must submit a Concurrent Family travel request to the MPD to get the ball rolling. They will guide him through the process and let him know the list of documents they are looking for. Some of the documents will be from the previous step, so be sure to complete EFMP first, or your service member will be turned away.
The MPD will forward this concurrent family request to Germany IMCOM for approval. Once the travel request is approved, your family can move forward with the command sponsorship. The MPD will handle this process as well.
I recommend you keep calling in and checking on the status of your command sponsorship, especially if you are running low on time. It is easy for them to forget about you. This was the most time-consuming part of the process because our file was sitting on a desk for longer than it needed to.
Step 3: Sponsor
Ensure your service member is signed up for a sponsor here.
Your sponsor will provide even greater resources for your move to Germany. They will answer most of your common questions or direct you to the right place. Unfortunately, my husband and I did not have access to a sponsor during our PCS (Thanks, COVID), and it was much more challenging than it should have been!
You can contact your sponsor for help with many things during your PCS, including airport pickup, viewing potential homes, rides to the store, and many more things! Keep in mind, they may also have families and other responsibilities outside of you. They are not required to do these things, but they typically will do their best to help you in any way they can. Your sponsor is also going to be in charge of helping you find a home when you arrive. Be sure to contact them so they know what you need. You must provide them with the following information:
- orders
- contact info
- flight info
- Number of Dependents
- Number of Pets and Type
- EFMP requirements for housing (If applicable)
- Special Requests or considerations (Ex: A house with a yard if they are house hunting on your behalf)
Covid Edition: Sponsors attempted to secure homes for the family before their arrival to Germany to initiate the quarantine period. Oftentimes they would video chat two locations and allow the family to pick between them. This process may be changing again and service members may be able to choose their own homes in the future. This was the process when we arrived.
Step 3: No Fee Passport
Before moving ahead with this step, make sure you have the sponsorship command and amended orders in hand. If you do not, you will likely not be able to apply for a no-fee passport. The list of documents you will need includes:
- Amended orders
- Notarized DS3050 for youth applicants with absent parent (if applicable)
- DS11 Passport Application filled out online and printed
- Two passport Photos Per Person
- Original Marriage Certificate (in addition to any prior divorce decrees)
- Original Birth Certificate with a raised seal for each applicant
- Other Passports (If applicable)
- Military ID’s
- Driver’s license (If applicable)
- Front and Back Copy of the Sponsor’s ID, unless they can attend the appointment with you
- All Applicants must be present (including children)
Be sure to contact the on-post passport office to set up an appointment or learn about their walk-in hours. Bring the above documents to your appointment, and the clerk will process your application and contact you when your no-fee passport arrives. Depending on backlogged orders, they typically predict its arrival 6-10 weeks. It is possible to get it back in 4 weeks, as I did, but it really depends. It would be best to apply for it as early as you can in the process. Do not pay extra for expedited services unless instructed to do so, because the passports will not be processed any faster, and you may not be able to get a refund.
Step 4: Book Lodging in Advance
If you plan to stay in a hotel upon arrival, especially on post, booking in advance is important. The hotels sometimes get booked up quickly, so as soon as your family has orders in hand. If you are traveling with pets, be sure to check that the hotel allows pets and note any associated fees. Most will charge a daily fee, so keep that in your budget plans.
Email the hotel of your choice, send your service member’s orders, and submit a reservation request. Ensure you have confirmation of the reservation; you may need to show this later. Be sure to update your reservation if anything changes.
We didn’t stay in a hotel upon our arrival, because we went straight into our government housing off post (COVID ERA).
You’ll find more information and resources on lodging here.
Step 5: Schedule Flights
If you are still awaiting your passports, you can still call your travel office and set up your flights. Be sure to mention to them if you are traveling with animals so they can give you specific directions on how to make that happen. By default, you and your service member will be traveling Patriot Express if there is available space. Otherwise they will book you with the contracted Airline for the area you will be flying from. If for some reason you request to travel with a different airline than the one they offer (due to Pets, scheduling issues, etc.), they will often accommodate your family, but the service member may (not always) need approval from his command. If so, they will guide your service member through this process. Keep in mind you will be responsible for the price difference in the flights. To give you an idea, it was a $20 difference for me to switch from American Airlines to Delta so I could take advantage of flying with my large dogs as “checked baggage” for $200 per dog (much more cost-effective than pet shipping quotes of 25K). If you do travel with another commercial airline than the army contracted one, you may have to pay for the flights upfront, with reimbursements later.
To start the flight reservation process, your spouse will be required to fill out & sign the port call form provided by the travel office agent. You will also need to provide them with a copy of your spouse’s amended orders. Your service member should notify their sponsor and gaining unit as soon as they receive flight reservations.
Start planning how you will get from the airport to post. You sponsor may pick you up, or you may need to take shuttle. My husband arrived a month before us, he rented a vehicle from on post and picked us up. Whatever your circumstances, arrange this in advance so you have a plan immediately after landing.
Step 5: Schedule HHG & UAB
UAB or unaccompanied baggage is supposed to be a form of “express” shipment. Typically, people pack things like cookware, linens, board games , etc. This shipment is designed to arrive before your household goods shipment (HHG). Some people swear by UAB’s and others think scheduling them is a waste of time. I’ve heard horror stories of items arriving way after HHG arrived. So it’s kind of a gamble. You don’t really know what’s going to happen, especially overseas.
For our shipments, I made sure that the things I packed in our UAB were also things available in our HHG shipment. For example, I didn’t place ALL of the cookware in one shipment or the other. So, regardless which one arrived first, we had our necessities available.
Also keep in mind, ACS has a robust relocation and readiness program available to you. This includes a lending closet with most items you may need until your goods arrive.
To begin this process, you must first separate the items into different shipments if you do plan to schedule a UAB. If not, then skip this step.
To schedule your shipment, log in to https://dps.move.mil/cust. This is also where you will later submit any damage or loss claims you may experience.
Contact the DPS to complete your counseling (can be completed online). The resources they provide will fill you in on your unique restrictions. For example, remember the downsizing I mentioned in step 0? This is where that comes into play. You are only allotted a certain weight allowance based on the service member’s rank. If you surpass this, your family will be responsible for the difference in cost, which can be significant, considering it is an overseas move.
You will be allowed a certain weight for Professional books, papers, and equipment that do not count against your total allowance. The DPS agent will let you know how much. They will also counsel you on how your household items should be prepped for the movers.
On your scheduled day, the movers will pack your entire house up and load it onto a truck while you supervise the process. You will later receive a notification of your shipment’s arrival in Germany.
For reference on how long shipments can take, our HHG was shipped in November and arrived by the end of January. Our UAB arrived about 2 weeks beforehand. We took advantage of the military loaner furniture available to service members until our items arrived.
You are allowed to use the military lender appliances like washers, dryers, and refrigerators for the entire tour. Keep in mind that if you intend to bring your own appliances, they may not be functional if you are not able to secure a government-owned housing with American outlets available. Appliances that are unusable will be stored at your own expense.
If you choose to schedule a UAB, I recommend scheduling this shipment the day after HHG. If, for some reason, the movers left small things behind, you may be able to toss them in with the UAB shipment rather than get rid of them.
Step 6: Schedule POV shipments
Unless your family is dual military, only one vehicle is typically allowed overseas shipment on government expense. If you plan to ship a second or third vehicle, you will have to do so at your own expense. To begin the process of shipping your allowed vehicle, go to pcsmypov.com and schedule when you would like to drop off your vehicle and at which port. You basically just follow all of the steps on the website. It has pretty resourceful guides.
Port locations for drop off include:
- Los Angeles, CA
- San Diego, Ca
- Dallas, Texas
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Charleston, North Carolina
- Orlando, Florida
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Denver, Colorado
- Norfolk, Virginia
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Edison, New Jersey
- Kent, Washington
- Carolina, Puerto Rico
- Ottawa, Canada (By Special Appointment)
- U.S Virgin Islands (By special Appointment)
Documents you will need:
- Pre-shipping Storage Form (If applicable)
- Shipper Acknowledgment Form
- Third Party Approval (If vehicle is not paid off or being leased)
- Copy of Title Front and Back (if owned)
- Printed Proof that your vehicle has no open recalls, which you can get here
- Orders and any Amendments
- Valid ID (expired will not work)
- Vehicle Registration must be ACTIVE!
- Power of Attorney or letter of Authorization (if a person not listed on the orders is turning in the vehicle)
Note: Spouses who are not listed on the orders can ship POV. Reach out to your Port location for details.
Ensure that your vehicle is prepared per the shipping guidelines to avoid delays.
Your vehicle should be cleaned thoroughly, inside and out. Inspectors will look under the hood and beneath the vehicle. To save time, it may be easier to get it cleaned by a detailer who specializes in preparing vehicles for shipments. Remove all belongings, except for the allowed list of items.
The fuel tank must not be over 1/4 a tank. This is heavily enforced, and your vehicle will be turned away if you do not comply. Electric vehicles should be turned in with a full charge if possible.
You must have an operational key(s) to hand over. The key Fob cannot be cracked or damaged.
Non-permanent mount racks must be removed.
The vehicle itself must be safe and operational, meaning leaks, faulty brakes, bald tires, cracked windshield or mirrors may cause your vehicle to be denied.
Typical Delays:
- Too much fuel
- Unclean vehicle (interior/exterior)
- Missing or incomplete documents
- Late for the appointment
- Open Recalls
- PPCIG requirements not checked
POV Drop Off
You will arrive to your VPC and sign in. They will request your documents and verify all information with you. Together, you will conduct a joint inspection. Then you will complete the departure paperwork with the agent. After that, you just hand over the keys and you’re done. You’ll be notified of your vehicle’s arrival in Germany. Pick up will either be on post or a nearby city, depending on the post you are headed to. For us, our vehicle pick-up was in Wieden, Germany (20-minute commute).
Prepare for Future Maintenance
Vehicle maintenance in Germany is significantly more expensive than in the United States. Some families purchase oil filters and vehicle parts they know will need replacing in advance. You may be permitted to leave these in the vehicle or send them with your household goods shipment.
Step 7: Tie up any loose ends
Now that you’ve completed all of your paperwork and shipped your life to Germany, it’s time to tie up any loose ends. You don’t know how long it will be before you return, so make sure when you leave, you feel comfortable with the way you left things and you have access to everything you need.
Typical things to consider might be:
- School Records & Withdrawals
- Pet Records
- Close or Cancel subscriptions or Accounts (Example: Car wash Subscriptions, Gym Memberships)
- Visit Family
- Sell anything you still have left that you don’t plan to bring (Vehicles, Furniture)
- Gather last-minute paperwork you think you will need (Medical records, Wills, etc.)
- Pay off final bills
- Turn in Keys to your previous dwelling, provide a forwarding address for a deposit you may be owed
- Make sure your bags are packed for the flight
- Snacks for the flight
- Start researching phone plans, and possibly canceling the one you have
- Practice of German, with particular emphasis on airport terminology. This will be your first area of immersion after all!
- Look into any translation apps that will make the transition easier on your family
Step 8: Flying
The hard part is over. Now you just have to show up at the airport ready to take a long (and I mean really Long) nap. Make sure you gathered all of your paperwork in one place the night before so you don’t lose anything important, like passports!
Once you arrive at the airport, you check your bags at the counter and wait for your flight. If you are bringing your dogs along as checked baggage, you will need to take them to the oversize baggage area. For those who have never flown before, the airport has luggage carts to help you with all of your baggage. Be sure to bring loose change, since they may not be free. There are even staff members willing to help for tips.
Do not bring anything on the banned item list! Check what these items are beforehand; you might be surprised. If you bring any of these things, they will be confiscated or thrown away.
Be sure to look into your Airline’s policy so you know how many bags you are allotted. For Delta, it was 5 oversize luggage per person and one carry-on (in 2020). You are typically allowed more baggage per person with military orders on international flights.
Step 8: You Did it!
I hope this guide has been a useful resource for you as you embark on your OCONUS PCS to Germany! As you set off on your adventure, I wish you an incredible experience, filled with stunning sights, vibrant history, and unforgettable moments that you will treasure for years to come!
Additional Resources:
Ayla Ellison 