Moving to America is one of the bigger moves you can make, and most of the cost and most of the worry sits in two places: getting your things onto a ship, and getting them past US customs without a bill you were not expecting.
Tell us where you are going, when, and roughly how much you are taking. We connect you with a vetted international moving company from our network that already runs your route. One company chosen for your move, not six firms ringing you at once.
This page is the index. Below you will find every US city and state we cover, and every guide we have written on cost, customs, packing, pets, vehicles and the journey home.
Quick answer: used household goods owned and used for a year normally enter the USA free of duty on a CBP Form 3299 declaration. Newer items, goods for someone else and shipments arriving more than ten years after your move usually do not.
The city decides the port, the sailing time and the inland leg. 63 destinations are covered below, grouped by region.
Volume decides most of it, then whether you share a container. The cost and quote guides set out what sits inside a price and what does not.
The question that decides whether the move costs what you were quoted. Duty free entry, Form 3299 and the rules by status are all covered.
63 destinations. Each page covers the port your goods arrive through, how long the route takes, what affects the cost and what to expect on delivery day in that city.
38 guides, written from US Customs and Border Protection and CDC sources rather than from other movers' websites.
Household effects enter free of duty where they were for your personal use, or used in a household where you were a resident, for one year, and are not intended for another person or for sale. Furniture bought new before you emigrate fails this test.
Because your goods travel without you on a sea shipment, a declaration on CBP Form 3299 supports the claim for free entry. Anything owned for under twelve months is declared separately on the same form.
As a general rule, effects arriving more than ten years after your last arrival from the country where they were used are not admitted free of duty. This catches people shipping belongings out years after moving.
Currency exchange is included as part of the service, arranged through our partners. Most people moving to America are moving money too, whether that is the proceeds of a house sale or a monthly transfer once they are there.
Accreditations we check across the network: FIDI FAIM Certified, BAR Overseas, IAM, EUROMOVERS and FEDEMAC.
With two questions: which US city you are moving to, and roughly how much is coming. The destination decides the route and the timings, and the volume decides whether you share a container or take one outright. Both are on this page, and the enquiry form takes it from there.
US Customs and Border Protection allows household effects in free of duty where the articles were for your personal use, or used in a household where you were a resident, for one year, and are not intended for another person or for sale. Anything newer is usually dutiable and is declared separately.
Roughly two weeks at sea to the east coast and about a month to the west, and four to eight weeks door to door once collection, clearance and delivery are counted. Inland destinations add a road or rail stage after the goods clear.
It depends on volume above everything else, then on whether you share a container, then on which coast you are landing on. You receive a written quote from the moving company after a survey rather than a figure over the phone.
No. We are a free enquiry service. We connect you with one vetted international moving company from our network that already runs your route, and they quote you and carry out the work directly.
The Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles. Because your goods travel separately from you on a sea shipment, this declaration supports the claim for free entry. The moving company prepares it and you sign it.
Yes, though pets travel separately from household goods on their own arrangements. Every dog entering the United States needs a CDC Dog Import Form receipt, including dogs from the UK, while the requirements for cats are considerably lighter.
Vehicles are shipped, declared and cleared separately from household goods and must satisfy federal emissions and safety requirements. For many UK cars the honest answer is that selling here works out better.
No. The service is free, there is no obligation to book, and your enquiry goes to one suited moving company rather than to a list of firms who all ring you.
Send your UK collection address, your US delivery city, the move date, a rough inventory and any access notes. A moving company from our network checks the route and contacts you with the detail.
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 not a removal company and we do not move anything ourselves. The moving company you are introduced to carries out the work, quotes you directly and holds the contract with you.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder.