International Movers from Switzerland to the UK
Moving from Switzerland to the UK has a Swiss exit and a British entry. Swiss federal pages set the first and GOV.UK the second, and this page follows the order they put the steps in.
A few short questions. Nothing is sent until you check and confirm.
What happens when you move from Switzerland to the UK?
Two sets of officials handle the paperwork. In Switzerland you leave your commune, hand back the plates of any Swiss-registered car and give customs a list of the goods. In the UK, HMRC must approve your relief before you claim it, and a car or a pet each bring a step of their own. Switzerland is outside the EU, so the load crosses a customs border at both ends.
We are the introduction, not the mover. Your details reach a partner removal company, which confirms it covers the move. Assessing the load and quoting is its job, not ours.
For the opposite direction, see moving from the UK to Switzerland, which deals with permits, Swiss import relief and lorry rules on arrival.
What do you arrange in your Swiss commune before leaving?
The Swiss foreign ministry’s emigration page (opens in a new window) (published 1 February 2026) says anyone who goes abroad for more than three months, gives up their accommodation and does not plan to return soon should deregister from the commune of residence (Abmeldung, in French départ). It adds that the reporting rules at the residents’ office differ from canton to canton, so the canton where you live sets the detail.
That page is written mainly for Swiss citizens, and its deregistration and pension advice refers to them. No official page we read says what a foreign national leaving Switzerland must hand in or by when, and the ch.ch pages on leaving a commune would not load for us. Ask your commune’s residents’ office what it needs from you, and what it gives you once you are deregistered.
The same page says a definitive departure from Switzerland must in any case be reported to the road traffic office. If your residence permit, health insurance or pension plans depend on the date you leave, take that up with the cantonal migration office and your insurers; this page does not cover them.
What happens to Swiss plates and a Swiss-registered car?
A Swiss embassy page on driving licence and vehicle (opens in a new window) (published 27 July 2026) says that after you arrive in your new country you must promptly return the Swiss plates and the registration document. They go to the road traffic office of your last Swiss residence or to the Swiss representation responsible for your new home. Foreign plates and papers are applied for with the authorities where you live.
Customs has its own rule. The BAZG page on vehicle export (opens in a new window) (no date shown) says a vehicle leaving for good must be declared for export without being asked, at a customs office that handles commercial goods. You bring the registration document, even one already cancelled, your passport or identity card and the export declaration in e-dec.
The page says a road vehicle can travel out on export plates or on another vehicle, and that questions about plates go to the cantonal road traffic office. Because the embassy page says to return plates after arrival, ask your canton which plates the car carries for the journey and when the originals go back.
What does Swiss customs ask for when household goods leave?
Less than you might expect. The BAZG page on leaving Switzerland with household goods (opens in a new window) (no date shown) says an inventory list showing your addresses in Switzerland and abroad goes to the export customs office. The page links a list of removal goods dated 6 August 2008, which we did not open.
Declarations for commercial goods can be made Monday to Friday in clearance hours, and some offices also open on Saturday morning; the BAZG directory shows each office. The page gives no deadline, fee or VAT rule, and it says the BAZG cannot advise on foreign rules. For the UK end, HMRC’s pages below apply.
If the load leaves on a lorry, the Swiss lorry rules guide goes through the road restrictions and the heavy-vehicle fee.
Does HMRC’s transfer of residence relief apply to a Swiss move?
HMRC’s transfer of residence guidance (opens in a new window) (updated 12 November 2025) offers relief from customs charges on personal belongings when you move your home to Great Britain, or to Northern Ireland from outside the EU. Switzerland is not an EU member, so the line that exempts EU arrivals in Northern Ireland from applying does not cover a Swiss move; both destinations use the relief.
HMRC sets four tests, and all of them must be met:
- twelve unbroken months of residence outside the UK before the move date
- the goods were already in your hands for six months or more when you moved
- everything is imported inside twelve months of the day you start living in the UK, in as many consignments as needed
- each item will serve the purpose it served before
Drink, tobacco and commercial transport are left out, and so is anything from a second or holiday home, so a Swiss chalet kept for weekends stays outside the claim. For a year after the move date, an item that received relief may not be lent, pledged, hired out or handed on. HMRC wants its approval in hand before the claim, obtained on the ToR1 form.
What goes into the ToR1 application, and when do you file it?
The ToR1 application page (opens in a new window) (HMRC, revised 12 November 2025) allows goods to be declared before they ship, so file while the boxes are still in your Swiss flat. Begin with a list of what is coming. A typed list, a spreadsheet or a phone photo of handwriting works, numbers for groups such as crockery can be rough, and prices and brand names can be left off.
Two address proofs follow. The UK one is a utility bill, bank statement, tenancy or mortgage document from the last three months, or a hotel booking while you have no address yet. The Swiss one is the same kind of paper from the last six months, showing where you usually live; stops on the way need not appear. Set aside a recent Swiss bill before you close accounts and end contracts.
Animals go on the form with a health certificate or passport. For a car, HMRC wants the year, make, model, VIN or chassis number, plate number and purchase date. After approval, procedure code 40 00 C01 must be quoted on the declaration at the UK border, so hand the approval to your removal company as soon as it arrives.
What about a car or a pet coming from Switzerland?
GOV.UK’s guide to telling HMRC about an imported vehicle (opens in a new window) (updated 10 December 2024) allows fourteen days from the car’s arrival to notify HMRC through NOVA. On a shipped car the shipping firm, a customs agent or HMRC’s CARS team files it; if you drive in yourself, you write to the CARS team. Until that is dealt with, the guide says, the car cannot be registered.
The registration page (opens in a new window) (updated 10 December 2024) then asks for any VAT and customs duty owed, proof of vehicle approval, a £55 fee and vehicle tax. It says the V5C certificate can take up to six weeks. For the car’s own journey, read shipping a car when moving abroad.
For cats, dogs and ferrets, GOV.UK’s pet travel document page (opens in a new window) (updated 24 October 2024) lists Switzerland as accepting a pet passport, an animal health certificate or a Great Britain pet health certificate. The wider rules put the microchip ahead of the rabies vaccination and ask for 21 full days after the first vaccination or the last dose of a first course. Dogs also need a tapeworm dose between 24 hours and five days before arrival, and the route must be an approved one.
Questions go to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) pet travel helpline. For animals in general, read moving abroad with a pet.
Who looks after which step, and where to start?
- You
deal with the commune and the canton, apply for the ToR1, and keep the inventory matching what is packed.
- Your removal company
says who files the Swiss export list and the UK import declaration, and which dates it plans. File its replies beside the written quotation.
- Officials
decide the rest: your commune, the canton’s road traffic office, Swiss customs, HMRC and DVLA.
Whether you may live in the UK is decided elsewhere, and this page leaves it aside; GOV.UK’s check if you need a UK visa (opens in a new window) tool is the starting point. For a dated task list, use the moving checklist, and read what international removals cost before comparing quotations.
If a lorry will stand in a city street at the Swiss end, three guides cover the local rules:
- Zurich: how a space for the removal vehicle is arranged in the city.
- Basel: the city’s notice for parking signs on moving day.
- Geneva: the permit for using public space during a move.
- Bern: the free moving permit and the sign order.
- Lausanne: the police reservation of bays.
- Winterthur: blocking marked bays.
- St. Gallen: telling the city police.
Moving out is one half of the picture; the Switzerland removals hub also lists the guides for moving in, for pets and for lorries.
Questions about moving from Switzerland to the UK
Do I have to deregister from my Swiss commune?
The Swiss foreign ministry says anyone leaving for more than three months who gives up their home should deregister, and that the reporting rules differ by canton.
Ask your commune’s residents’ office what it needs from you.
Where do my Swiss number plates go?
A Swiss embassy page says to return the plates and registration document promptly after arrival abroad, to the road traffic office of your last Swiss residence or to the Swiss representation for your new home.
What does Swiss customs need for household goods leaving?
The BAZG says an inventory list showing your addresses in Switzerland and abroad goes to the export customs office.
A private car is registered for export with a copy of its Swiss registration document.
Can I claim HMRC relief on goods moved from Switzerland?
Possibly.
HMRC asks for twelve unbroken months of residence abroad, six months of owning or holding the goods, and import within a year of arrival. Its approval comes first, through the ToR1 form.
How long do I have to report a Swiss car to HMRC?
GOV.UK allows fourteen days from the car’s arrival for the NOVA declaration, and DVLA cannot register the car until that is dealt with.
Tell us about your move from Switzerland to the UK
Give the Swiss commune and postal code where the load starts, your floor and whether there is a lift, your UK postcode and the month you hope to move. Say if a car or a pet is travelling, and whether the goods go to Great Britain or Northern Ireland.
About International Removals Companies
International Removals Companies is an enquiry and introduction service run by DATACONTEXT (UK) LTD, in partnership with AGM Group. We don't move goods ourselves: the removal company quotes for your move and carries it out, so check its credentials and terms before you book. Our service is free. Discuss the quotation and booking terms directly with the removal company.
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- In partnership withAGM Group (agm.group)