When I was hired for my role as an SRE at http://imvu.com/ I had approximately zero savings. They were unable or unwilling to give me cash for my relocation bonus before my first employed day, but they were willing to pay for various moving expenses directly, renting me a moving van, paying for a hotel partway, renting a storage unit, and while I stayed on a friend's couch while looking for an apartment, I have heard of them paying for hotel accommodations for new hires while they were looking for housing before they received their relocation bonus or first paycheck. It's not uncommon at all, just be up-front and ask for it when discussing compensation and signing terms.

Microsoft paid my entire relocation expense and I never (directly) saw a bill or paid a dime for it. I know Qualcomm does the same thing. I was on the hook for a year - if I quit before one year was up, I owed Microsoft some pro-rated amount of money.

In 1999 or 2000 I turned down an offer from Microsoft, and they asked if I owned a house and if I needed Microsoft to buy that house to get me to say yes. I don't know how that would have worked, but it was an impressive offer.

I have friends who work for Amazon (AWS). When relocation was discussed, they were just cut a check for the expected costs (and then some).

Not necessarily. My last internship paid my relocation expenses, they just mailed me a visa gift card with the money a month or two before I started.

Amazon paid for my entire move (Europe to SF) without me having to incur any expenses beyond the taxi to and from the airports.

Not necessarily. I would have thought the company paying directly was preferable, since then they can see invoices, and query costs beforehand.

My employer paid to transport my belongings, all I did was get a few quotes. It was useful for them to be involved, since they knew about necessary insurance etc, but an international move was new to me.

They also offered to transfer my relocation bonus to me as soon as the contract was signed, but I didn't need the cash so I waited until I'd opened a local bank account in the appropriate currency.

In the tech industry, I think you're generally given the option between all-expenses-paid and a lump sum paid in advance. That was my experience. The only caveat is that the money is potentially owed back prorated based on how long you stay with the company.