International moving tips: checked against the rules
Short tips for a move from India, the UAE or Singapore. Each one is checked against a customs rule or a carrier's terms.
The international moving tips worth following are the ones a customs rule or a carrier's terms back up, which means deciding early what not to ship, choosing sea or air by how each is charged, filing customs papers before their deadlines, and comparing quotes that list what they leave out.
Each tip is short, says what it rests on and links to the guide that goes deeper. For how a door-to-door move runs, see international moving with IMove.
What should you sort out before you ask for quotes?
Before any mover surveys your home, check the customs conditions your destination sets, because some already run, such as how long you must have owned your goods, and decide what stays behind, because a survey can only price what it is shown.
These conditions count back from the day you move:
- In the UK, goods must have been in your possession and used for at least 6 months
- In Singapore, goods must have been owned, used and possessed for at least 3 months
- In Australia, goods owned for less than 12 months are declared on the B534 and assessed for duty and taxes
New goods are the ones these conditions catch. Where you can, buy replacements after you arrive. The rules are set by HMRC (opens in a new tab), Singapore Customs (opens in a new tab) and the Australian Border Force (opens in a new tab).
Weigh each bulky item against buying it again at the destination. The international moving timeline has every customs date by country.
What should you leave out of your shipment, or list separately?
Leave out, or declare, anything that can be a dangerous good by air, such as aerosols, perfume, household chemicals, paint and lighters, and list alcohol and tobacco separately, because the UK and Singapore leave them out of relief and the US and Australian forms ask about them.
Deal with these before packing day:
- Laptops, phones, power banks and e-bikes, since lithium batteries fly depending on how they are packed, their watt-hour rating or lithium content
- Furniture of wood, cane or bamboo, which Australia's B534 asks about
- Garden tools and bikes with soil on them, which the same form asks about
- A car, which has customs rules of its own (see international car shipping)
By air, Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department (opens in a new tab) lists such everyday items as possible dangerous goods. IATA (opens in a new tab) sets the battery rules. By sea, the International Maritime Organization (opens in a new tab)'s IMDG Code applies.
Singapore Customs (opens in a new tab) also leaves motor vehicles out of relief.
Ask your mover how it handles batteries, aerosols and perfume before packing day.
Should your things go by sea, by air or both?
Send most of a household by sea and only what you need early by air, because air freight is charged on chargeable weight, the greater of actual and volume weight, so bulky, light things cost more by air than their weight suggests.
Airline terms such as Vietnam Airlines Cargo’s conditions of carriage (opens in a new tab) set this out. By sea, a container of your own sails once it is loaded. A shared one waits until it is full enough to sail.
If you split a move, each shipment meets the customs rules on its own:
- In Singapore, the air shipment and the sea shipment each need their own Declaration of Facts
- In the UK, goods can arrive in more than one consignment within 12 months of coming to live there
- In Canada, both shipments count as goods to follow and must be on your original list to qualify
Keep passports, visas, original documents and medicines with you. The comparison of sea freight and air freight goes further.
Which customs rules can't wait, before and after you arrive?
The rules that can't wait are the papers due before your goods are shipped, load or land, and the periods after you arrive when selling relieved goods brings the duty back, so find out which apply to you and who files each paper, you or your agent.
The papers by country
File the customs papers before their deadlines. These are the main papers and dates:
- In the USA, a security filing goes in at least 24 hours before a sea shipment loads abroad
- In the UK, a ToR1 form gets you a reference number before the goods are shipped
- In Singapore, a Declaration of Facts goes in before the goods arrive, one for each shipment
- In Canada, you hand your two-part list to the border officer when you first arrive, even with no goods
- In Dubai, customs asks for passport and residency visa copies and a list of the goods
- If you are moving to India, customs may allow baggage dispatched within 1 month of your arrival
Who files them
An air shipment does not use the US filing (US Customs and Border Protection (opens in a new tab)). You or your appointed agent file the Declaration of Facts with Singapore Customs (opens in a new tab). In the UK, an agent can apply for the ToR1 with a letter of authority you sign (HMRC (opens in a new tab)).
In Canada, the officer completes Form BSF186 from your list, or you fill it in before you arrive (CBSA (opens in a new tab)). You show your copy when each later shipment arrives. Dubai Customs (opens in a new tab) and India’s Baggage Rules, 2026 (opens in a new tab) set the last two.
The timeline guide has every date. The international moving process guide says who does each step. Each route has its own page, for India to USA, India to Canada, India to Singapore and India to UAE.
After you arrive
Used household goods that meet the relief conditions can come in free of duty or tax. Dubai exempts used household items once its inspectors check them (Dubai Customs (opens in a new tab)). Selling, lending or giving them away too soon can bring the duty back:
- In Canada, goods sold or given away within 1 year of import owe the duty and taxes first exempted
- Goods given UK relief cannot be lent, hired out or transferred within 12 months of the move
- Goods given Singapore relief must not be sold or given away within 3 months of their arrival
The guide to the hidden costs of international moving sets out each country's conditions.
How do you compare quotes from international movers?
Compare quotes on the same terms by asking each mover for an itemised door-to-door price that lists what it leaves out, such as duty, destination port handling and storage after the free days, because quotes that look far apart can be pricing different jobs.
Ask every mover the same questions:
- Is the price door to door, and what does it leave out?
- Which customs papers do you file, and which are mine?
- How do you handle batteries, aerosols and perfume?
- What protection do my goods travel with, and at what value?
- Where do my goods wait if my home is not ready?
A quote with one total and no lines leaves you nothing to compare.
With IMove, your goods travel with all-risk marine cover at declared replacement value, included as standard. If your home may not be ready, see storage at the destination.
Then ask IMove for a quote and check it against these questions.
Questions about international moving tips
What is the most important international moving tip?
File the customs papers your destination asks for before their deadlines, because those papers decide whether your used household goods come in free of duty or tax, and a late one can cost you that relief even when every other condition is met. Singapore rejects a Declaration of Facts filed after the goods arrive. GST is then due.
Is air freight charged by weight or by volume?
Air freight is charged on chargeable weight, which is the greater of the shipment's actual weight and its volume weight, so a bulky, light shipment is charged on the space it takes up rather than on what it weighs on the scale.
What should you carry with you instead of shipping?
Carry your passports, visas, original documents, medicines and valuables with you, not in either shipment, because you need them to travel and settle in, and customs in Dubai and Singapore asks for copies of your passport and residence papers to clear the goods.
Will new things you buy before the move come in duty-free?
Not always, because relief in several countries depends on how long you have owned or used your goods before you move, so new purchases can fall outside it, as Australia's B534 says of goods owned for less than 12 months, which it assesses for duty. Keep the receipts.
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Tell us where you're moving from and to, what you're taking and your date. We'll come back with a quote you can check against the questions above.