Removals to the UAE: Customs, Personal Effects and Cars

The conditions are strict about whose name is on the shipment: “The personal effects and household items must be brought into the country in the name of the foreigner intending to reside in the country.” A foreigner must also show proof of work and residence in the UAE. The page does not say which document counts as that proof, so ask Customs or the firm.

Two more limits sit in the same list. “The personal effects and household items must be used items.” And the load has to look like a home, since it “must be in quantities appropriate to furnishing a house”. A shipment of twenty identical new sofas would not look like a home.

The list itself is not a casual note. The exemption page says “The exemption requester shall submit a packing list showing the full contents.” Ask the removal firm for an itemised inventory that matches the cartons, and keep it with your passport copy.

The same page points to a separate Customs rule book, Customs Policy No. DCP8, for anything it does not spell out. We could not open that policy. The UK-side papers are covered in our UK customs documentation checklist.

The clearance procedure sets the rate for a load that looks commercial: “In case the inspectors find out that these goods are brand new and in commercial quantities, a 5% Customs duty shall be levied thereon.” The individuals' page repeats the 5% and adds that used personal goods are exempt “after being checked by the customs inspectors”.

So an inspection can happen even when you qualify. Leave the cartons accessible and agree with the firm who attends if Customs asks to open one.

The papers depend on who ships it. Through a shipping company they are the original invoice, a packing list, the bill of lading and a passport or Emirates ID copy; a private importer needs a passport copy and the invoice. Registration, testing and the age or specification limits for vehicles were not on the pages we could read, so this guide gives none. Our general car shipping guide covers the shipping steps.

GOV.UK warns that the position varies by place: “Depending on the Emirate, there may be: taxes on some services and goods municipal taxes customs duties”. If your shipment lands at a port or airport outside Dubai, ask the removal firm which authority clears it and whether it applies the same exemption. The Dubai page and the Abu Dhabi page deal with the roads at each end.

Dubai Customs gives percentages, never a dirham amount, so none appears here. Ask your mover for a written statement of what it will and will not clear for you, and see the UAE hub for the other emirates.