San Francisco is a long sail and a difficult delivery, which is an unusual combination. Getting the goods to California takes about a month. Getting them up the last hill can take a specialist vehicle.
We connect your enquiry with a vetted international moving company from our network that works the Bay Area, including the access problems that make this city different from anywhere else in California.
Household goods for San Francisco normally arrive through Oakland, with 2026 schedules putting the run from the UK at roughly thirty one to thirty three days port to port. Door to door, most moves take six to eight weeks.
Tell us about the street before the survey, not after. Gradient, width and parking decide whether a full size vehicle can reach you, and that decision changes the price rather than just the plan.
thirty one to thirty three days at sea into Oakland, then a short bay crossing, with the street gradient deciding the vehicle more often than the volume does.
Gradient, width and parking matter more here than the number of rooms. A photo of the approach helps enormously.
A moving company from the network confirms the sailing into Oakland, the container option, clearance and how the goods make the final run to your door.
Quote, timetable, packing and delivery plan all come from them in writing, and you decide from there.
Bay Area shipments clear at Oakland before the crossing to the city, and the rules are the same as anywhere: goods used by you, or in a household where you lived, for a year normally enter free of duty.
The detail is on the duty free eligibility page.
Bay Area shipments clear at Oakland, and the rules do not change for a difficult delivery address. Effects qualify for free entry where they were used by you, or in a household where you were resident, for a year, and are not intended for sale or for another person.
CBP Form 3299 is the declaration for goods arriving apart from you, with newer items itemised on their own. Effects landing more than ten years after your last arrival from the country where they were used normally lose the relief entirely.
How your status affects the shipment is answered inconsistently across the industry, so put the question to CBP yourself and keep the answer in writing.
Check these before the inventory is finalised:
Oakland handles the container traffic for the Bay Area, so goods bound for San Francisco clear there and then cross the bay by road. It is a short final stage on paper and a slow one at the wrong time of day.
The sea leg is among the longest on the American map, so this is another route where sending a small air consignment ahead of the container earns its cost for most people.
Published 2026 schedules put the sailing to Oakland at roughly thirty one to thirty three days port to port. Door to door, most moves run six to eight weeks.
Oakland handles container traffic for the Bay Area. Goods clear there and then cross the bay by road to the delivery address.
Because the streets decide the vehicle. Gradient, width and parking often mean a smaller vehicle for the final run, and that affects the quote.
Usually yes, and they take time to arrange. Raise it early rather than on the day of delivery.
On a month long sailing, a small air consignment covering the first few weeks is usually money well spent.
Yes, though narrow stairs and turns may mean dismantling larger pieces. Mention the property type at enquiry stage.
Because a full size vehicle often cannot make the gradient or the turn. Goods transfer to something smaller for the final stretch, which is a normal arrangement here and a chargeable one.
Longer than most people expect, which is why it is raised at survey rather than on the morning. Ask the moving company to handle it as part of the booking.
Not always. Narrow stairs and tight turns defeat larger pieces regularly, so measure the doorway and the landing before deciding what ships.
Send the collection address, the San Francisco delivery address with a note on the street and parking, your date and a rough inventory. A moving company from our network takes it from there.
A 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 do not carry out moves. Your San Francisco move is arranged and quoted by the moving company we introduce.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder.