Moving internationally is probably the most stressful type of relocation. It is not enough to put your items in a moving truck and call it a day. For example, if you’re moving to Kuwait, you will probably need to ship your items there either by airplane or by ship. Without movers Kuwait, this can be extremely expensive and complicated. You are entering a new country with your personal items, so you need to respect customs. This means collecting all the necessary documents, packing your items properly, transporting them, and so much more. If you plan to do this anytime soon, here are all the tips for shipping personal items overseas. Even if a moving company is going to be responsible for this, you still need to know what it entails.
Shipping personal items overseas – what you can and cannot ship
First of all, your need to see what you can and cannot ship to your new country. Usually, most personal items can be shipped in a shipping container. However, this might be different according to a country. For this reason, if you are moving to Kuwait, you should find and hire the best shipping company in Kuwait. Why it is important to hire a good shipping company? First of all, if you’re called shipping items that are forbidden, you will have huge problems. In order to avoid this unpleasant situation, it would be better to hire professionals. A shipping company would already have the list with all forbidden items. You can run through the items that you want to ship and see if you can. This will save you both money and time. It can be quite expensive to pay penalty fees if you try to ship something forbidden.
The size of your shipment
Usually, there are no limits on how many items you can ship overseas. However, the more items you have, the higher the price will be. For this reason, when you are moving internationally, it is important to declutter your items. It is quite unnecessary to relocate every single thing that you ever owned. For this reason, before you start packing your items, you should declutter them. Move only the items that you really need. Everything else that can be easily replaced leave behind. In addition to this, you need to see with custom agents the amount that you can move before you have to pay for duties. As you might know, usually, you have to pay duties and taxes if you are importing something. Since you are shipping your items probably in a shipping container, see if you need to pay and how much.
Shipping personal items overseas in a container
When you are shipping your items, you should put your items in a shipping container. It would be a waste of time and money to ship your items in separate boxes. Mind you, you should pack your items in boxes but then put those boxes in a shipping container. If you hire a shipping company, see if they will deliver the container to your house. Usually, you can keep the container for a couple of hours, sometimes for a day or two. However, you need to inform the shipping company in advance about the time frame. Generally, it is free to keep the container for a couple of hours, but if you need more, you will have to pay. For this reason, pack everything in advance and just load the container once it arrives. If your new accommodation is not ready, you can check warehousing companies in Kuwait.
Loading the shipping container
As mentioned before, you should pack everything in advance before they deliver your shipping container. This way, you would not have to pay additional fees. If you do not have enough time to prepare everything, then, you can just pay for a couple more days. Usually, these containers come with a lock and key. So, you can lock the container during the night or any time you are not close to it. This way, your items will be safe. Additionally, you are responsible for loading the container in most cases. It would be quite difficult and exhausting to load the container by yourself. For this reason, it would be better if you can ask your friends or family members to help you. Since a shipping container does not come with a ramp like moving trucks do, you will need to either rent or make an improvised ramp.
Shipping personal items overseas and customs
You should know by now all the rules and regulations when it comes to shipping things internationally. Every shipment needs to go through customs, including your container. You do not have to worry too much about customs if you hire a shipping company. They will take care of transport and import. However, it is always better to check the official website of customs of your new country. For example, if you are moving to Kuwait, then, you should visit the official page of customs of Kuwait. You can find an English version of the website as well. If you need to ask anything, they have provided contact information too. This applies to any country. Make sure to check all the rules and regulations, especially about forbidden items. As mentioned before, a shipping company will already be familiar with all these rules, so find one for yourself.
What to do?
As you can see, these would be all the tips for shipping personal items overseas. Here is a small recap.
- Find and hire a shipping company
- Declutter your items
- Pack your items in the boxes
- Load a shipping container
- Check all the rules and regulations
- See if you need to rent a warehouse or not
- Get good enough insurance
Once your items are delivered, see if they all reached your new destination in good condition. If not, you can claim insurance.