PCS from Korea to Italy: Step-by-Step Checklist
If you’ve got orders moving you from Korea to Italy, here’s the short version: the move is very doable, but the order you do things in matters more than anyone tells you, and one step (the Missione visa) can get you turned around at the airport if you skip it. This is the full step-by-step checklist for a PCS from Camp Humphreys to Vicenza, with real timelines, the costs that caught us off guard, and what I’d do differently.
I did this exact move myself, and I found the information genuinely hard to pin down.
USAG Italy publishes a solid official PCS guide for Vicenza that you should absolutely read, but talk to anyone who’s actually PCS’d here and they’ll tell you the same thing: the real process has gaps the guide doesn’t fill. Consider this the version I wish I’d had.
Quick answers (the things everyone asks first)
Do I need the Missione (D) visa before I fly to Italy? Yes. It needs to be in your no-fee passport before you land. Without it, you can be turned around at the airport.
Where do I apply for the visa from Korea? The Italian Embassy in Seoul (Yongsan) through the Prenotami system, or through Ft. Belvoir. My turnaround was about two weeks.
How long does car shipping from Korea to Italy take? Plan for around four months. I shipped my Mazda on September 22, and it landed in Vicenza on January 24.
How long do household goods take? Months, not weeks. We packed out in mid-September, and our shipment arrived in early December, roughly two and a half months later.
Does the military reimburse pet travel? As of July 2024, yes, up to $2,500 for one pet under the updated Joint Travel Regulations. The catch: a lot of the people processing it don’t fully know the new rules, so be ready to advocate for yourself.
Your Korea-to-Italy PCS timeline at a glance
Your Korea to Italy PCS Checklist
Tap each step as you knock it out. This is the order I’d actually do it in. Your progress saves automatically.
Before you leave Korea
After you arrive in Vicenza
Reset checklist
Note: these are the timeframes that worked for my move. Yours will shift with your report date, so use this as a sequence, not a calendar.
Start saving before you do anything else
If your household runs on a single income because of frequent moves, like a lot of ours do, this is the part to take seriously early. Start setting money aside the moment a move looks likely.
The expense that genuinely shocked us was car insurance in Italy. We’d been loyal USAA customers for years, and the quoted rate still made my jaw drop.
You’ll also need a car once you arrive, and used-car prices in Italy are nothing like Korea. We bought a perfectly good vehicle in Korea for $1,000. In Italy, after two weeks of shopping around, we settled on a 2007 Honda Civic for $4,500. Budget for that gap before it surprises you.
Get an International Driving Permit (IDP)
Check that your driver’s license is still valid, then apply for an International Driving Permit through AAA. You’ll want this for driving around Europe, partly because some European countries don’t recognize the SETAF driver’s license you’ll get later. It’s cheap, it’s fast, and it saves you a headache at a border.
Complete your overseas medical screening (yes, even if you’re already overseas)
Every overseas move requires a medical screening and evaluation so the gaining installation can confirm it can support your family’s needs. This applies even if you’re already stationed overseas, which trips people up.
Here’s how I made it painless: I already had a routine appointment booked back in December 2022 for March 2023 (the wait was six months at the time). When that appointment came around and our orders were in motion, I brought the screening paperwork with me, explained what was happening, and my doctor handled it right there. If you’ve got an appointment on the books, use it.
Renew your no-fee passport early
No-fee passports are required for overseas duty stations, and the moment I learned about Italy I realized mine was close to expiring. The renewal took about eight weeks start to finish, so this is one of the first big things to knock out.
One warning from experience: the passport offices are not all equally helpful. The office at Osan Airbase was fantastic. An airman there answered my email quickly and walked me through everything (and yes, Army personnel can use Osan’s office). The Camp Humphreys office, on the other hand, was reluctant to help and told me I didn’t need to renew at all, which was flat-out wrong. If one office gives you a brush-off, try another.
What is the Missione (D) visa, and do you need it before you land?
Yes, and this is the single most important thing in this guide. Italy handles military dependents differently from Germany, Poland, or Korea. Dependents must apply for an Italian Missione (D) Visa, and it needs to be in your no-fee passport before you land in Italy. This is not a “sort it out when you get there” situation. They will turn you around.
You can apply two ways:
- The Italian Embassy in Seoul
- Ft. Belvoir
I chose the Italian Embassy in Seoul, and I’ll walk through that appointment below.
Book your lodging: Ederle Inn or a hotel off post
As soon as your hard-copy orders come in, book a room at the Ederle Inn. Rooms are limited, so don’t wait, and have a backup ready in case they’re full.
How to book your visa appointment at the Italian Embassy in Seoul
Timing matters here. A few things to get right:
- Make sure your orders are published and your flights are arranged before your appointment.
- Book through the Italian Embassy in Seoul’s Prenotami system.
- Print the correct form ahead of time using the embassy’s checklist:
My turnaround was about two weeks.
What nobody warned me about: the appointment itself is a process. The embassy is in a large building in Yongsan, and they make you wait outside the doors and ring a bell to be let in. You’ll lock up your belongings, go through metal detectors, and they only let one or two people in at a time. If you have kids, you can bring them in with you.
Shipping your pets from Korea to Italy
This was, hands down, my least favorite part of the whole move. The EU has specific requirements, and your vet needs to be current on them. Start the process with the vet at Camp Humphreys, and start it early. Here’s how our timeline ran:
- June 2023: Rabies vaccination, so they were cleared for the titer test.
- July 2023: Thirty days after the rabies shot, the vet did a blood draw for the FAVN test, which is required before departure.
- August 2023: We went to the travel office and arranged flights for us and the pets. We had to fly into Rome, because Venice Marco Polo runs smaller regional aircraft that couldn’t fit our dog crates. We absorbed the cost and booked a rental car for the drive north.
As of July 2024, the military reimburses pet travel up to $2,500 for one pet under the updated Joint Travel Regulations. I’ll be honest: I’ve seen this go badly, with people stuck dealing with reps who don’t understand their own new process. So fight for your pets and keep every receipt.
In September 2023 we used Gina Nam at First Class Pet on Camp Humphreys, a boarding facility we already trusted. Her services included a pet escort to Incheon Airport on flight day, a two-to-three night boarding stay, and a staff member who took our dogs to the Pyeongtaek port for the required Health Certificate. Worth every cent.
When should you schedule your household goods packout?
Earlier than you think. We’d been through a delayed packout once already, between Poland and Korea, and we were not doing that again.
We needed to be out of Korea by November 5, so we scheduled the movers for September 18. Our team told us our Requested Delivery Date would be January 19, 2024. In reality, our shipment arrived on December 5, well ahead of the official RDD, which tells you how loose those dates really are.
My one non-negotiable tip: put AirTags in your shipment. They won’t start pinging until your boxes leave Korea, but once they do it’s oddly comforting to watch. Ours traveled Japan, then the Strait of Singapore, then Malta, then France, and finally Vicenza.
How long does car shipping from Korea to Italy take?
About four months, so plan around that gap. We shipped our Mazda on September 22, 2023, and it arrived in Vicenza on January 24, 2024. Vehicles coming from Korea to Europe take a while, which is exactly why we ended up buying that $4,500 Honda Civic locally. You’ll likely need wheels long before your shipped car shows up.
You’ve made it to Vicenza. Now what?
First, breathe, and let yourself get settled. You’ll be in lodging while you house-hunt, and community organizations come to the Ederle Inn to serve breakfast and dinner. Ask at the front desk which days they run.
For a car, there’s a BOSS (Better Opportunity for Single Soldiers) lot right across from the Commissary with vehicles for sale, though the prices may surprise you. People also post cars constantly in the local Facebook groups, which are honestly one of your best resources for everything:
Army Community Services at Caserma Ederle
ACS runs a lending closet, which is a lifesaver while you wait on your household goods. If you need kitchenware or basics, ask what they have available.
They also host a three-day welcome class, “Benvenuti Vicenza,” and I’d genuinely encourage you to take it. It’s informative, it’s fun, and it’s how you meet people and take a few trips outside the city right away. SETAF and ACS offer language classes too, with schedules posted on the ACS site and their Facebook page.
If you’re job hunting, go see the Employment Readiness Specialist. They can help with your resume and often have a current list of openings on base. Despite what you might hear, don’t lose hope. Spouses do find work here.
Getting your driver’s license and Permesso di Soggiorno
Once you and your service member are in-processing, turn your attention to your driver’s license and your Permesso di Soggiorno. The Military Processing Facility, conveniently right across from the Ederle Inn, handles this.
For the license, you’ll attend an in-person orientation and pass an online test through Joint Knowledge Online. After you pass, you and your service member go in to have the license issued. Be prepared to be quizzed. I wasn’t, but I’ve heard stories about the person doing the quizzing not being especially friendly.
Remember that Missione visa? The Permesso di Soggiorno is why you needed it, so bring your paperwork. My process took about two weeks, followed by a separate appointment a month later at the downtown police station to get my fingerprints recorded, which the local police require. Carry your Permesso with you always, because if the police ever stop you, they’ll ask for it. Expect roughly another two weeks for processing.
What I’d do differently
If I were doing this move again, here’s what I’d tell myself:
- Start the pet process even earlier. The rabies-then-FAVN timeline is rigid, and there’s no rushing it. Build in buffer.
- Budget for car sticker shock from day one. Between Italian insurance and a $4,500 used car, the vehicle situation cost far more than I’d planned for.
- Don’t take the first passport-office answer as gospel. If one office tells you something doesn’t add up, ask another. Bad info nearly cost me weeks.
- AirTag the household goods before they leave. Worth it for peace of mind alone.
- Treat the Missione visa as the very first hard deadline. Everything else is recoverable. Landing without it is not.
My biggest advice
Get off base. Walk across the street and have dinner at Scanapoli, take the bus to Piazza dei Signori, and look around. You’re in Italia.
And give yourself grace. It is completely okay to feel like you have no idea what’s going on, because for a while you won’t, and that’s normal in a new season of life. This one is an adventure worth having.
