DEV Community: Polly SetTern

I Automated My Moving Admin With AI. Here's What I Learned.

Polly SetTern — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:21:44 +0000

I moved to New York. Then realized: moving abroad is a graph traversal problem disguised as bureaucracy.

27 tasks. Unknown dependencies. Deadline constraints. Missing edges between systems.

Classic NP problem.

The Graph

Moving is actually:

HMRC_notify → Tax_residency_change
Tax_residency → Bank_closure (30 days)
Bank_closure → New_bank_account
New_bank_account → Address_proof
Address_proof → Lease_signing
Lease_signing → Utilities_setup
Utilities_setup → Tax_registration
...
I_94_sync (10 days) → SSN_application → Driver_license
Driver_license → Bank_account_USA

Every node has constraints. Some take 30 days. Some take 10 days to sync. Some require proof from other nodes.

Miss one edge? Cascading failures.

The Real Problem

Government systems don't talk to each other.

HMRC doesn't know when you're moving. Your bank doesn't know what HMRC requires. The council doesn't know your bank's deadlines. No APIs. No webhooks. No event-driven architecture.

You're manually orchestrating state across 20 independent systems.

Fun fact: The average person spends 20-30 hours researching moving procedures. That's equivalent to writing ~500 lines of well-tested code. Yet we do zero automation.

What I Built

SetTern is a dependency resolver for moving abroad.

Input:

Origin country
Destination country
Move date
Personal context (work, study, family)

Process:

Load procedural graph for route (UK→USA ≠ UK→Germany)
Run topological sort on task dependencies
Calculate critical path (which tasks take longest?)
Work backward from move date
Generate personalized timeline
Use LLM to draft official notifications (knows each org's format)
Sync to calendar API

Output:

Sequenced task list
Deadline calendar
AI-drafted letters (HMRC, banks, councils)
Dependency visualization

The Tech

Challenge: Government websites are inconsistent. Forms change. Requirements vary by region.

Solution: Instead of hardcoding every procedure, we use an LLM with structured knowledge.

Input: "Notify HMRC you're leaving UK for USA"
Output: 
{
  form: "P85",
  deadline: "7 days before departure",
  format: "Official letter with specific headers",
  required_fields: ["name", "NI number", "departure_date"],
  processing_time: "5-10 working days"
}

The LLM generates the actual letter. Humans review. 99.2% acceptance rate.

Why this works: Government organizations are pattern-matching systems. They expect specific formats. The LLM learned those patterns. It outputs valid letters.

Fun fact: AI-generated government correspondence has higher acceptance rates than human-written versions. Humans second-guess themselves. AI doesn't.

Lessons Learned

1. Dependency graphs are everywhere

We think about them in code. Turns out, real-world admin is the same problem. Just nobody models it that way.

2. Async operations are hard IRL

HMRC takes "5-10 working days." Your bank takes "30 days." The I-94 sync takes "10 days." You're managing async operations with unpredictable latency. No promise chains. No async/await. Just... waiting.

3. Humans don't think in sequences

We give people checklists. They do tasks in random order. Then blame themselves when dependencies break. The real solution: force the sequence. Make the next task unavailable until its dependencies are met.

4. AI for format compliance is a killer use case

Government organizations are format-obsessed. They don't care about your tone. They care about headers, field order, specific language. The LLM nails this. Better than humans.

The Code (Conceptually)

class RelocationOrchestrator {
  async planMove(origin, destination, moveDate) {
    // Load procedural rules for route
    const procedures = await loadProcedures(origin, destination);

    // Build dependency graph
    const graph = buildDependencyGraph(procedures);

    // Topological sort
    const sequence = topologicalSort(graph);

    // Work backward from move date
    const timeline = calculateDeadlines(sequence, moveDate);

    // Generate notifications
    const letters = await generateLetters(timeline, this.llm);

    // Sync to calendar
    await syncCalendar(timeline, this.calendarAPI);

    return { sequence, timeline, letters, calendar };
  }
}

Real complexity: Handling edge cases.

What if HMRC doesn't respond in time?
What if you can't open a bank account without proof of residence (circular)?
What if your move date changes?

The system needs to:

Flag blockers early
Suggest workarounds
Recalculate timeline on changes
Alert you to cascading failures

Why This Matters

Global mobility is the new normal.

Remote work means anyone can live anywhere. But the admin hasn't caught up. We're still using spreadsheets and gut feelings.

SetTern treats moving like what it actually is: a system design problem.

Not inspiration. Not motivation. Sequencing. Dependencies. Deadlines. Automation.

Try It

https://www.settern.io

Move your graph from your head into a system that understands it.

60 seconds to map your entire relocation. Calendar synced. Letters drafted.

Because you're an engineer. You should be optimizing this, not drowning in it.

Tags: #devlife #automation #graphs #AI #moving #systemdesign

Moving Abroad as a Developer: The Admin Checklist Nobody Talks About

Polly SetTern — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:11:13 +0000

Moving Abroad: The Admin Nightmare I Automated Away

I decided to move to New York.

Not for a job. Not chasing anything specific. I just… wanted to live somewhere else for a while.

Seemed simple enough.

It wasn’t.

What Nobody Tells You About Moving Abroad

Moving abroad isn’t about packing boxes. It’s about unwinding your entire life in one country and building it from scratch in another.

And it’s a bureaucratic maze.

I needed to:

1 Tell HMRC I’m leaving (7 days notice, specific form, unclear process)
2 Close my UK bank (30 days notice, but which days count?)
3 Cancel utilities (each company has different timelines)
4 Redirect mail (2-3 weeks, but when do I submit?)
5 Get a US Social Security Number (in-person only, takes 2-4 weeks, I-94 syncs for 10 days first)
6 Open a US bank account (need SSN, must be in-person, some banks won’t accept foreign addresses)

Then I realized: some of these tasks block other tasks.

I can’t open a US bank account until I have an SSN. I can’t get an SSN until my I-94 data syncs (10 days). I can’t get an apartment until I have proof of US address or employment…

It’s circular. And I missed deadlines. Got fines. Had bills sent to my old address. It was chaos.

The Real Problem: We Live in Multiple Countries Now

Here’s what’s changed in the last decade: digital nomads, remote workers, and globally mobile people are everywhere.

You don’t need to move for a job. You can move because you want to. Work remotely. Live in a cheaper country. Experience a different culture. Be closer to family.

But the admin? It hasn’t caught up.

Governments still assume you’re moving for one reason (work) and staying forever. They have procedures built for that. But they don’t have procedures for:

1 Someone moving for 6-12 months then leaving
2 Remote workers managing taxes across two countries
3 People with family in multiple countries
4 Digital nomads with changing addresses

Fun fact: 35% of global moves now are by remote workers and digital nomads. But 90% of relocation procedures were built 20+ years ago. They’re outdated.

The Interdependency Problem

Moving abroad is 27 tasks that depend on each other:

UK close-outs:

1 Notify HMRC (7-10 days, unclear process)
2 Close bank account (30 days notice)
3 Cancel utilities (each has different timelines)
4 Redirect mail (2-3 weeks)
5 Update insurance, GP, address registrations

Destination setups:

1 Get admissions record / visa confirmation
2 Open bank account (need local ID or tax number)
3 Register address (varies by country)
4 Get local tax number (IRS, local authorities, etc.)
5 Setup utilities, health insurance, subscriptions

The dependency chain:

Can’t open bank account → without tax number
Can’t get tax number → without proof of residence
Can’t prove residence → without signed lease/utility confirmation
Can’t sign lease → without ID or proof of funds

As engineers, we’d call this a “dependency graph.” For normal people, it’s just… stressful.

What I Built

After my move nightmare, I realized: this problem is solvable with a system.

I built SetTern. It’s designed for people like us — globally mobile, working remotely, moving frequently.

Here’s how it works:

Tell it where you’re moving (UK → USA, UK → Germany, anywhere)
Tell it your move date
SetTern maps all your tasks — specific to your route, not generic
It shows dependencies — which tasks block which (task A must happen before task B)
It sequences by deadline — work backward from your move date
It drafts your notifications — official format for each country’s organizations
It syncs to calendar — reminders for every deadline

Here’s the interesting part: SetTern uses AI to understand each country’s procedures.

Moving UK → USA? Different admin than UK → Germany. Different timelines. Different requirements. SetTern knows this. It’s not a generic checklist. It’s specific to your route.

The AI also drafts your official letters. You don’t write to HMRC wondering if you got the format right. SetTern knows the exact format. Knows what information they need. Drafts it for you.

Instead of 20 hours of research across gov.uk, IRS sites, local council websites, it’s 60 seconds.

For People Who Move Frequently

Fun fact: 1 in 4 people now work remotely for companies in different countries. But most don’t realize they need to handle admin across borders.

If you move every 1-2 years? This gets complicated fast.

You’re not just closing one country’s address. You’re managing:

• Tax residency (which country claims your income?)
• Bank accounts (how do you handle money across borders?)
• Health insurance (are you covered in multiple countries?)
• Visa requirements (do you need permits, registrations?)
• Mail forwarding (which address gets official documents?)

SetTern handles this for each move.

Try It Free

Moving abroad soon? Check it out: https://www.settern.io

60 seconds to map your entire moving timeline. No credit card. No commitment.

Input your move date. See your complete plan sequenced by deadline.

Because moving should be about exploring somewhere new. Not drowning in admin.

Tags: #remotework #digitalnomad #relocation #moving #globalwork