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Most people plan a move to Algeria forwards: pick a date, book a mover, sort the paperwork. On this corridor that runs into trouble, because the Algerian side has a deadline that starts before the goods do. If you are moving under a Certificate of Change of Residence, the move must be completed within six months of the day the certificate is issued. So the useful order is backwards from that date, and the UK tasks slot in around it.
The British half is genuinely straightforward once the sequence is right. Your goods are collected from any UK address, packed for sea, delivered to a load port, declared for export and put on a vessel. None of it is difficult. It just takes longer than people expect, and it cannot start until you know when your certificate lands.
The Algerian half is covered separately: customs and the CCR for the paperwork, container shipping for the sea leg and port choice, and part loads for how shared container pricing works.
Coverage is national. The Algeria lane is worked from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow most often, but a crew reaches any address. What varies is the road distance to the load port and the access at your door, and only one of those is about geography.
The shortest runs to the container ports, and the widest choice of consolidation dates because most groupage services build their loads in the south east. London and the home counties in particular tend to have the most frequent departures, which matters more for a part load than for a full container.
Both add road distance to reach the loading port, and Northern Ireland adds a sea crossing before the sea crossing. Expect a collection premium and fewer consolidation slots. Aberdeen and the Highlands sit at the top of that spread. Booking earlier helps more here than anywhere else in the country.
A third floor flat with no lift and permit parking costs more to empty than a house with a driveway, wherever it is. Tell the surveyor about stairs, lift size, parking restrictions and how far the vehicle can get from the door. It changes crew size and time on site, which is most of a collection day's cost.
Common on this route, because UK tenancies and Algerian consular dates rarely line up neatly. Short term storage in the UK is easy to arrange. Just keep the six month CCR window in view, since goods sitting in a warehouse are still inside that clock, and it does not pause.
Since the UK left the EU, goods leaving Great Britain for anywhere outside the UK need a customs export declaration. Algeria was always outside the EU, so nothing changed about the destination, but the paperwork on the British side became formal for everyone rather than only for long haul.
In practice your mover or their customs agent files it. Declarations go through HMRC's Customs Declaration Service, which fully replaced the older CHIEF system by March 2024. What the agent needs from you is an accurate packing list and honest values. That list should match the inventory you are legalising at the Algerian consulate, because two documents describing the same container differently is a problem that surfaces at the far end.
A declaration is a legal document. Goods without one do not leave, which is why it is worth letting the mover handle it rather than improvising.
Usually not. Government guidance is that an EORI number is not required to move non-controlled goods for personal use only, and a one off private household shipment normally falls outside the requirement. Plenty of pages tell private movers otherwise.
Where you do need one is if you are moving business equipment, stock or anything being traded rather than lived with. A GB EORI is free from HMRC and takes a few working days. If your shipment is a mix of home and business, say so up front so the agent can advise before the container is packed.
Felixstowe, London Gateway and Southampton carry the regular connections to the Algerian coast, and between them they cover the sailings a household shipment will realistically use. Which one your goods leave from is decided by the carrier's schedule and the consolidation point, not by which is nearest to you.
That surprises people, and it is worth understanding: a box collected in Manchester may well travel south to load, because the departure that fits your dates leaves from the south east. The road leg inside the UK is cheap compared with waiting a fortnight for the next northern sailing. Which Algerian port it arrives at is a separate decision, covered on the container shipping page.
Send your UK collection address, the Algerian delivery address, a rough volume, your target month and your CCR date if you have one. We come back with one certified company that runs this lane. No charge, and no obligation to book.
Six to eight weeks is comfortable for a full container on chosen dates, and longer over the summer when the diaspora traffic peaks. A shared container can often be arranged sooner because you are giving up the fixed date. Scotland and Northern Ireland benefit most from booking early, since consolidation slots are thinner.
Your mover or their customs agent, through HMRC's Customs Declaration Service. What they need from you is an accurate valued packing list. Keep it consistent with the inventory you legalise at the Algerian consulate, because a mismatch between the two is exactly the sort of thing that stalls a clearance at the far end.
Yes, and it is common while a tenancy ends or a consular file is processed. The one thing to watch is the CCR window. The six months runs from the certificate being issued, not from the goods sailing, so time in a UK warehouse eats into it.
Someone does, and it is easier if it is you, because the packing list is built as the crew works. If a relative or friend is covering it, give them your inventory in advance and make sure they know what is not going. At the Algerian end the rules are stricter, and a CCR holder has to attend the clearance personally.
This guide is maintained by Darren Benjamin, who founded International Removals Companies in 2010 and has over 20 years in the logistics industry. Since 2013 he has also been Secretary and Manager of a UK removal company, a role verifiable on Companies House.
UK export requirements checked August 2026 against GOV.UK guidance on customs declarations and EORI numbers. Next review August 2027. Customs rules change, so confirm the current position on GOV.UK before you commit to dates. Read our Google reviews.
Collection address, delivery address, rough volume, target month and your CCR date if you have one. One vetted company checks the collection, the sailing and the declaration, then comes back to you.
Send your move detailsWe match removal enquiries with one vetted, FIDI FAIM and BAR Overseas certified international moving company from the AGM Group network, at no charge. We are not a removal company.
Timings shown are planning guidance. Collection dates, sailings, declarations and insurance are confirmed by the matched mover before booking.