Coming home is not the outbound move played backwards. The freight is familiar and the paperwork is not, and the paperwork is the part that has a deadline.
We connect your enquiry with a vetted international moving company from our network that runs the route in this direction as routinely as the other.
Deep sea container volume into Britain lands at a small number of gateways, principally Felixstowe, Southampton and London Gateway. From there goods clear and travel on to your address.
Transfer of Residence relief is not applied at the border by default. It is applied for beforehand, and shipping without having done so is how people end up paying charges they were entitled to avoid.
the shipping works the same way in reverse, with east coast departures reaching UK ports in roughly two weeks. What changes completely is the customs side, because the UK has its own relief and it must be applied for in advance.
The freight side is symmetrical. The same container options, the same routes, the same difference between an Atlantic crossing and a Pacific one, and the same relationship between volume and cost.
The customs side is not symmetrical at all. Coming into the UK you are dealing with UK requirements and UK relief, which have their own conditions and their own application process.
The practical consequence is sequencing. On an outbound move the paperwork travels with the shipment. On a return move part of it has to be done before the shipment sails.
| What to do | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Start the relief application early | It is applied for before the goods arrive, and the timing is the part people get wrong rather than the form. |
| Decide where the goods go on arrival | Returning without a house arranged is common, so storage at the UK end is worth pricing at the same time. |
| List anything bought in America recently | The same logic applies in this direction: recently acquired goods sit differently from long used ones. |
From east coast ports, roughly two weeks at sea to the main UK gateways, with door to door timings extending that as usual.
Deep sea container volume concentrates on Felixstowe, Southampton and London Gateway. Which one depends on the service used.
Transfer of Residence relief exists for people moving their normal home to the UK. It has conditions and it must be applied for in advance.
Before the goods arrive. Applying late, or not at all, is the most common reason people pay charges they need not have.
Not materially. The same container options and routes apply. The customs requirements are what change.
Recently acquired goods are treated differently from long used household effects, in this direction as in the other.
Vehicles are shipped and cleared separately, and UK requirements apply on arrival. Raise it at enquiry stage.
Storage in the UK is straightforward and much cheaper arranged in advance than at short notice.
Someone does, and the relief application should already be in. Both are easier arranged before the shipment sails.
Send your US collection address, your UK delivery address or area, the move date and a rough inventory. A moving company from our network quotes the return leg.
Send your move detailsA Working Member of AGM Group. Enquiries are connected with vetted FIDI FAIM certified and BAR Overseas accredited international moving companies from the network.
We are an enquiry service and not customs agents. UK relief conditions are set by HMRC and should be confirmed on GOV.UK before shipping.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder.