Customs documents for moving to Europe

Usually not: transfer of residence relief lets household goods into an EU country free of duty and import VAT, if you qualify. The conditions are set by Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 for duty and Council Directive 2009/132/EC for VAT:

• your normal residence has been outside the EU for at least the last 12 months;
• you have owned and used the goods there for at least six months;
• they are for the same use in your new home;
• they arrive within 12 months of you moving in;
• you do not sell, lend, hire out or pledge them for 12 months without telling customs.

Alcohol, tobacco and commercial vehicles never qualify, and you must claim relief. Switzerland has its own rules.

A move of your main home needs these six documents:

• Passport photo page
• Itemised valued inventory
• Proof of your home in the UK
• Proof of your new address
• Authorisation for our destination agent
• Ownership and use declaration

Each country then adds its own, such as Cerfa 10070 for France or Form 18.44 for Switzerland; a vehicle or inherited goods add more, and a second home changes the list. Some of these we prepare for you from the inventory you build for your quote; the rest you upload in your move portal. Customs can ask for more if something is unclear, so send what you have early rather than all at once at the end.

Switzerland is outside the EU, so it has its own customs rules and more paperwork, and our customs documentation fee is £140 more than for an EU country. The main differences:

• relief is claimed on Form 18.44, for household effects you have used for six months and will keep using;
• the form goes to customs in duplicate, each copy signed by you in ink, so we post it to you: a scan will not do;
• as a UK citizen you need your Swiss residence permit, or other proof you are moving there;
• clearance is at a customs office for commercial goods, in its opening hours.

Swiss customs (BAZG) explain the procedure (opens in a new tab).

Yes, but in an EU country you will normally pay import VAT, and any duty due, on everything you send. Transfer of residence relief is only for a move of your main home, and EU law has no relief for a second home: French customs, for one, tax the whole move on the value of your list and invoices.

Switzerland is different. Household goods for a Swiss home you buy or rent long-term can come in duty-free on Form 18.44, if:

• you have used them yourself for at least six months;
• you will keep using them there;
• they are imported close to when you buy or sign the lease.

Vehicles and animals are excluded. Swiss customs (BAZG) explain the rule (opens in a new tab).

Yes, usually: relief depends on where your normal residence has been, not on what you own. Customs judge that by where your life is centred: family, work, children's school, home and finances. If it has been outside the EU (the UK counts) for at least the last 12 months, goods you have owned and used there for six months qualify on the usual conditions. The paperwork changes:

• tell us it is now your main home, so we declare a transfer of residence, not a second-home move;
• be ready to show you now live there, with a residence card or registration certificate.

Switzerland asks only that you move your home there and have used the goods for six months.

They are the forms you claim relief on, Cerfa 10070 in France and Form 18.44 in Switzerland, and we fill both in for you from your inventory. You check them and sign.

• Cerfa 10070 is the French customs declaration for bringing your belongings into France free of duty and VAT from outside the EU. It goes in with your signed inventory, in two copies, and proof of your old and new homes.
• Form 18.44 is the Swiss customs declaration for household effects. It must carry your own ink signature and go to customs in duplicate, so we post it to you and you post it back.

French customs explain what Cerfa 10070 needs (opens in a new tab).

They do not qualify for relief, so expect to pay import VAT, and any duty due, on them. Relief is only for things you have owned and used for at least six months before you leave your old home, and something still boxed and never used does not count. So:

• list recent purchases on your inventory with what you paid;
• keep the receipts: customs use them to value those goods, and to check when you bought everything else;
• customs can make exceptions in special cases, but do not plan on one.

Switzerland is the same: anything used for less than six months goes at the foot of the Form 18.44 list, with its value, to be taxed.

Yes to both, within limits. In an EU country your goods can come in several loads, as long as each arrives within 12 months of you taking up residence; French customs want later loads listed on the first inventory. Sending goods before you move is allowed under Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, if:

• you undertake to take up residence within six months;
• customs hold a security, in a form and amount they set, until you do.

Our customs agent arranges both. The six months' use then runs to the day they arrive. Switzerland has its own rule: declare later loads on a separate list at the first clearance, and bring them within 2 years of your move.