Millions of people live and work far from the countries where they received most of their healthcare. When you move, your medical history doesn't move with you — it stays scattered across old clinics, foreign hospital systems, and paper records that may be in a language your new doctor can't read.
This guide is for anyone who has moved countries, is planning to, or regularly travels for long periods — and wants to make sure their health history remains complete, portable and accessible wherever they are.
Why this matters more than most people realise
A doctor treating you for the first time has no access to your previous history unless you bring it. They can't see that you had your appendix removed in 2018, that you're allergic to penicillin, or that your last cholesterol test showed your LDL was trending upward. Without that context, they may order redundant tests, miss patterns that would be obvious in a trend, or prescribe something that conflicts with your existing medications.
For expats, this problem is compounded: your records may be in different languages, held under different identification systems, and formatted according to different local standards.
Before you move: what to gather
- A complete list of current medications with generic names, doses and the conditions they treat
- Your vaccination history — including any travel vaccines
- Blood type and any known allergies, with the reactions documented
- Copies of your most recent blood panels (FBC, metabolic panel, lipids, thyroid) — ideally from the last two years
- Any specialist letters, discharge summaries or operative notes
- A summary from your GP covering your main health conditions and current management
- Dental and optometry records — often overlooked
- Mental health records, if applicable
Requesting records in practice
Most countries entitle you to copies of your medical records on request. Hospitals typically have a health information or medical records department; GP practices will have their own process. Expect to wait up to 30 days in many jurisdictions — so start before you move.
Ask for digital copies in PDF format wherever possible. Paper degrades, gets lost and can't be searched. If records are in a language other than English, consider having key documents (allergy lists, operative notes, specialist summaries) professionally translated.
Organising records for portability
A platform like Looms is particularly well suited to the expat situation: records can be uploaded from anywhere in the world, tagged by type and provider, and shared with a new doctor via a time-limited link — no physical handover required. Your history follows you, not your old clinic. Our guide to the records worth keeping for life covers which documents matter most across every move.
- Upload key documents and tag them by type (lab result, discharge summary, operative note, etc.)
- Add notes to records with context — why the test was ordered, what was decided
- Keep a current medications list updated whenever a prescription changes
- Save your Emergency Card with blood type, allergies and emergency contacts so it's scannable in any country
Arriving in a new country: first steps
- Register with a GP or primary care doctor as soon as possible — don't wait until you're ill
- Bring a summary of your health history to the first appointment — a printed or digital one-pager is ideal
- Ask what the local equivalent of your regular medications is — brand names differ by country
- Check whether your vaccinations are up to date for the new region — requirements vary
"Your medical history is one of the most valuable things you own. It should cross borders with you."
Dr. Lina Haddad, CMO, Looms