New York is the shortest deep sea run from the UK, which makes it one of the quicker and cheaper US destinations to reach. The harder part is usually the last hundred yards, not the three thousand miles.
Send us your move and we connect you with a vetted international moving company from our network that already works the New York and New Jersey route. One company for your move, chosen because it fits, not because it paid to be listed.
Most household goods travel by sea into the New York and New Jersey port complex. Published carrier schedules in 2026 put the ocean leg at roughly eight to seventeen days port to port depending on the service, with four to six weeks door to door once collection, clearance and delivery are counted.
Shortest Atlantic crossing from the UK · four to six weeks door to door · building access decides the day
Nobody loses sleep over the Atlantic. What decides whether a New York delivery is a good day or a bad one is the building, and the building has usually made its rules long before you arrived.
Ask your building manager three things before you book anything. Which days moves are permitted, whether the service lift has to be reserved and how far ahead, and what the building needs from the moving company in writing. Older walk ups have none of that and a different problem instead: four floors, a turn at every landing, and a sofa that was carried in before somebody fitted a newer bannister.
Crews who work the city plan for this. They will ask what floor you are on before they ask how many rooms you have, and if they do not, that tells you something.
The front door, the narrowest point of the staircase, and the turn at the landing. Those three numbers decide whether a piece goes up whole, goes up dismantled, or does not go up at all. Ten minutes with a tape measure before the survey saves a shipping bill for something that ends up on the pavement.
Ask the building first
Buildings that set move-in windows or want paperwork from the mover are common here. It is far easier to plan for than to discover on the day.
The Atlantic crossing to New York is the shortest on the US map, so this route usually beats every other American destination on both time and price. Direct sailings run frequently, which also means a shared container waits less time to fill than it would on a thinner route.
For most flats and smaller houses that shared container is the right answer. You pay for the space your goods occupy rather than for a whole container, and on this lane the wait for space is measured in days rather than weeks.
What varies more is the last stage. Delivery in Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens depends on parking, lift access and the building's own rules, and a crew that knows the city plans for that. Delivery out in Westchester or across into New Jersey is a different job again, usually easier on access and longer on the drive.
Used household effects that were yours, and lived with, for a year normally enter free of duty on a CBP Form 3299 declaration. The things that catch people are furniture bought new before emigrating, anything travelling for someone else, and boxes described only as miscellaneous. If any of that applies to your shipment it is worth reading properly rather than taking a paragraph's word for it.
Duty free eligibility explained · CBP Form 3299 · Goods owned under twelve months
Carrier schedules published in 2026 put the ocean leg at roughly eight to seventeen days port to port depending on the service. Door to door, once collection, US clearance and delivery are included, most moves run four to six weeks.
Household goods for New York normally arrive through the New York and New Jersey port complex, then clear customs before moving on to your address.
Usually yes. It is the shortest Atlantic crossing from the UK, so the ocean leg is shorter and generally cheaper than a sailing to California.
Rarely. Most one and two bedroom moves fit comfortably into shared container space, and you pay only for what you use.
Tell us at enquiry stage. Buildings that set move-in windows or ask for documents from the moving company are common in New York, and it is far easier to plan for than to discover on the day.
Any number, but it changes the crew size and the length of the day rather than being a yes or no question. Say the floor and whether there is a lift when you enquire.
It is dismantled where the design allows, hoisted where it does not, and occasionally it simply will not go. A survey that asks about the staircase catches this before your things are on a ship.
It happens, usually for large sofas and beds in older buildings with tight turns. It has to be arranged in advance, so raise the possibility early.
Yes, and access is usually easier there. The port is the same, so only the final leg changes.
Household effects used by you for a year normally enter free of duty on a Form 3299 declaration. Newer items are usually dutiable. The customs pages set the rules out in full.
No. The service is free and there is no obligation to book with the company you are introduced to.
Send the collection address, the New York building you are moving into with the floor and whether there is a lift, your date and a rough inventory. A moving company from our network reviews it and comes back to you.
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 do not carry out removals ourselves. We are an enquiry service, and the New York move is handled and quoted by the moving company you are introduced to.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder.