IOM has a strong history in pre-departure and post-arrival services and works in four areas:
- movement and transportation assistance
- case processing
- health assessments
- overseas language training and/or cultural orientation.
Pre-departure and post-arrival training are integration tools that are increasingly requested by both receiving and sending governments to prepare and facilitate the integration of potential migrants in origin countries.

IOM has been working to more closely link pre-departure and post-arrival training so that migrants receive comprehensive and coherent support all along the integration “continuum”. Trainings are participatory and learner-centric in order to maximize effectiveness. Between 2011 and 2015, a total of 205,955 migrants participated in customized tailored training programmes, carried out in over 75 countries worldwide. In 2015 alone, IOM implemented over 29 different migrant training projects globally, including 23 pre-departure, 5 post-arrival and 1 on-site training programme. These trainings provided orientation for a total of 41,467 migrants representing 66 different nationalities; reflecting an increase of over 3,000 individuals compared to 2014 figures.

For example, IOM has collaborated with the Norwegian Government to develop the Norwegian Cultural Orientation (NORCO) programme for refugees. The programme assists quota refugees prior to their departure, and continues support once they have settled in Norway. The support includes use of bi-cultural trainers and gender-sensitive trainings. IOM also supports the establishment and operation of various Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) globally, as a “one-stop shop” for information and services for migrants in both source and host countries. MRCs offer a space for migrants to obtain accurate information how to navigate the migration process through a variety of approaches such as individualized legal counseling, hotlines, information dissemination campaigns and websites.