This edition of TheBridgeGuy is going to be a little different. As some of you may know, I recently made a huge move, picking up my life in Olympia, Washington and moving to the island of O’ahu. And when I was preparing for this move all those months ago, I found precious little information on the process. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today.
Moving to a different location within the Federal government is known as a Permanent Change of Station (PCS). Many associate the PCS process with the military, but civilian employees also receive this benefit if the move is deemed to be in the interest of the government. Military service members probably utilize the PCS process more often than civilians due to the unique nature of their jobs, so the majority of moves are military.
If the bulletin for your position says moving expenses may be authorized, that means you’re eligible for a PCS move. Basically, the government will pay to move you and your family to your new duty station. The benefits the government will pay are generous, but it is difficult to find information about what they entail. But a full disclaimer, your results may vary. This was my experience, so yours may differ.
The PCS process gets triggered once your background check has been completed and you’ve received your final offer letter from Human Resources. The PCS move team for your department will be in touch to go over the process, explain your benefits, and start the necessary paperwork.
Paperwork
A member of the PCS move team will contact you to start the PCS process. This means fillable forms – my favorite!
- Continued Service Agreement – in my case, I had to agree to work for the Federal government for at least 12 months. If I leave before 12 months, then I would be obligated to pay back some or all of the benefits from the PCS move
- Move Questionnaire – this form has question about where you are moving from, where you are moving to, whether you have a family going with you, whether a car will be shipped and whether you will need temporary lodging in your new duty station
- Moving Service Authorization Form – you’ll include an authorization number given to you by the PCS team, what services you’re requesting, and when you are reporting for work
- Direct Deposit Form – this allows your reimbursements to be paid to you by direct deposit, which is required by some departments
Once you return these forms, the PCS team will setup a counseling call with you to discuss the benefits. They’ll ask you questions about buying a home, selling a home, renting your current home, temporary lodging and whether you want to go to your new city early to look for housing. Once you’ve had this call, the PCS team will prepare your travel authorization (sometimes referred to as travel orders). Do not travel or incur any expenses prior to receiving these orders.
Benefits
Now we get to the good stuff! A PCS move is reimbursable. With a few exceptions, this means you will need to incur the expenses, and the government will reimburse you. Generally, reimbursement happens quickly if you get to your vouchers quickly.
The government gives you one year from the date you started the new job to complete the move and request reimbursement. You can extend this up to one year for a total of two years, but you must request the extension within 30 days of the initial expiration date.
The benefits for your move will be explained in an email, so it is easy to go back and reference. Again, your move may vary…but below are the benefits I had as part of my move.
1. Miscellaneous Expense – For a single person, this is $905. No receipts are needed and it can be claimed on any voucher. I believe the amount is $1810 if you are married.
2. House Hunting – the government will pay for you and your spouse to travel to the new city to look for a new place to live. This cannot exceed 10 consecutive days, which includes travel days. Roundtrip airfare, rental car and fuel are paid for. This trip must occur prior to your start date.
Airfare must be booked through the government travel agent (SATO) and paid for either by government travel card or direct billing. This is cumbersome, especially if you are transferring between agencies and will not have a travel card between the end of your old job and the beginning of the new job. I used direct booking, where I sent the itinerary from SATO to the PCS team, who paid for the tickets.
Lodging was paid for by the fixed amount method. For Honolulu, lodging plus pier diem was $365 per day. I was paid 5x this amount as a flat amount. But parking, tolls, taxis or mileage, basically anything transportation related was reimbursed.
3. Enroute travel – this includes airfare and transportation to and from the airport. Depending on the duration, you may receive per diem. If the travel is one day, you don’t get per diem. Airfare rules are the same as for House Hunting, so this is cumbersome.
4. Temporary Quarters (TQ) – you are initially authorized up to 30 days of temporary quarters in your new city. You can extend this up to a maximum of 120 days, with approval.
Lodging is reimbursed up to a maximum amount. For Honolulu, this is $202 per night plus tax. You can stay somewhere more expensive, and the government will pay up to $202 towards that. You must provide itemized receipts for lodging.
Meals is a straight per diem amount. For Honolulu, this was $163 per night. No receipts are needed to claim this amount.
One caveat – TQ is paid at 100% for the first 30 days. For the next 30 days, if you request an extension and it is approved, your benefit is only 75%. For each subsequent 30 day period, you only receive 55%. This is to incentivize the employee to find a permanent living situation.
5. Residence Transaction Expenses – the government will pay closing costs on the purchase and sale of a home, or they will pay for property management services if you choose to keep your current home.
On a purchase, the government will pay up to 5% of the purchase price. These are fees which are not already reimbursed by others, such as the seller. There are certain restrictions of what is covered, so check with your PCS representative by sending them the closing disclosure.
On selling a property, the amount the government will pay is up to 10% of the sale price.
For property management, you must provide an agreement and proof of payment for the setup fee. These expenses can be vouchered quarterly or annually. This benefit can be extended to two years with approval.
6. Household Goods (HHG) – the government will pay for moving your stuff on your behalf. This is one item that is not reimbursed, it is handled directly by the PCS team. The government will pay to move 18,000 pounds worth of your stuff, with an allowance of 2,000 pounds for packing material. You are responsible for any overages.
The moving company will contact you to setup a time to come estimate your moving weight. They have a formula for this, and you simply walk around and point out what will stay and what will go. You won’t be held to this estimate. An itemized list with weights will be provided to you. If you are overweight, you can decide what stays and what goes on the day of the move. So it is always best to overestimate.
You can also take motorcycles, scooters, basically anything as long as the weight is under 18,000 pounds. In my case, I shipped a motorcycle to Hawaii.
Do not have your HHG shipped to temporary quarters as this can complicate matters. The government will pay for up to 60 days of storage for your HHG, and this can be extended by another 90 days. I was told it is best to not store HHG if it can be helped.
My initial estimate for delivery of HHG was 47 days. It was picked up on 22 May and delivered on 5 August, for a total of 75 days!
7. Personal Vehicle (POV) – the government will ship one personally owned vehicle on your behalf. In my case, the truck came to me. I met them at a parking lot and it was loaded and taken to the port. This is separate from the HHG weight allowance. To my knowledge, there is no weight limit of the vehicle shipped, though if you are having more than one vehicle shipped, have the government ship the heavier car. Note that the vehicle cannot have more than ¼ tank of fuel for it to be accepted.
I was quoted 47 days to ship my car. It was picked up on 22 May and was delivered on 19 June, for a total of 28 days. Note that the government will not pay for a rental car.
8. Taxes – the IRS considers reimbursement for PCS to be taxable. So, the amounts described above are before taxes. But not to fear! The government will pay the federal taxes on your behalf, but you won’t see this refunded to you until tax time the following year. Overall, only the Federal government could concoct such a complicated process like this.
Moving Out
Your moving company will advise you of the dates for packing and loading. For me this was one day each. Thursday, a small team of three showed up in the morning to pack everything up. All you have to do is tell them what goes, and they do the rest. They will pack the trash if you aren’t careful.
Furniture is disassembled, all hardware is marked, everything is wrapped and boxed up. Stickers are used to number each box, and this is inventoried on a list so nothing is forgotten. Remember to keep things aside to have in temporary quarters, such as clothes. Ideally, at the end of your temporary quarters stay you will have your HHG, but this wasn’t my situation. I recommend thinking about a place to sleep, towels, toiletries and other things to get your through.
On Friday, the loading crew showed up. They had what was called a “bingo” sheet for me to fill out as they loaded everything. My mattress was wrapped and crated separately, as what the motorcycle. Everything else was loaded into plywood shipping crates, which were then sealed with caulking and nails.
We played “bingo” while they loaded everything. I would write down the number of the boxes they called out, made sure to write them on the correct crate. This ensured everything was accounted for. Make sure any added boxes or containers not packed by you are disclosed ahead of time. Everything needs to have a sticker on it.
Temporary Quarters
This can be an AirBnb or a hotel, I went with an AirBnB. Make sure to get a receipt for the first 30 days. I ended up extending my stay as I looked for housing. I could have stayed longer since my HHG took longer, but it all worked out.
POV Delivery
My vehicle was delivered to my temporary quarters. I signed a few forms and it was mine. It was very dirty from the trip, but the moving company gave me a voucher for a car wash. In my case, it arrived very quickly.
HHG Delivery
PCS season was in full swing in summer 2026. A lot of moves were occurring. I was notified that my stuff had arrived in Hawaii, but would not be available for delivery until 5 August.
On the day of the move in, the crew showed up with the crates. They want you to witness them break the seal, which ensures no theft can occur.
Same process with the “bingo” sheets, they would call out the numbers of boxes and I would check them off the list.
You are given three choices for move in. They can just bring everything into the residence and leave it wrapped, this is the quickest way. They can do a partial unpack, where the furniture is put back together and placed but the boxes are left up to you. And third is full unpack, which can take all day. I opted for the middle option.
They were done in 3 hours for my stuff. For the motorcycle, it was uncrated and left more me. I had a gas can on hand, since you have to drain the fuel before they’ll accept it. Luckily it started up.
You have up to 75 days from date of delivery to file a claim for any damage, so it is in your best interest to unwrap and look at everything as soon as you can.
Vouchers
I filed vouchers as soon as I could. The miscellaneous expense, house hunting trip and enroute travel were filed together. This is filled out and signed by your new supervisor, then submitted to your PCS team. They promptly paid everything within 3-4 business days.
Temporary quarters can only be vouchered after each 30 day period, which can be a bit of a financial burden for some.
For the time being, I’ve elected not to purchase a place here in Hawaii, but I am selling my house in Olympia. I will update this edition with how that process goes.
Thanks for reading…not really bridge related, but I wanted to provide some information for others going through this process.
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