Shop around for shipping companies. Look into the shipping options and rates of different shipping companies before choosing a company that suits your shipping needs.
Choose air shipping, sea shipping, or both. Sending your belongings by air is typically more expensive than sending items by sea, but shipping by sea can take weeks, and you may have valuable items that you need immediately upon arriving at your new overseas home.
Understand the custom procedures for exporting and importing your belongings. Prepare all the documents and custom forms to clear customs. Calculate the exporting and importing fees and taxes.
Pack your belongings, or hire a company to pack for you. Shipping companies can pack your belongings and transport them to the shipping yard for you, or you can do this yourself. Packing and transporting your personal effects is less expensive than paying a company to do this work for you.
Create a full inventory list of the items you pack and label each box and container. List each packed item, the value of each item, the total number of items, the total weight and the total cubic feet or meters.
Load your packed items into a shipping container. A shipping company can do this work for you, or you can have a shipping container delivered to your house to pack yourself.
Deliver the shipping container to the shipping yard with all relevant documents, forms, inventory list and payment. Alternatively, have a shipping company organize container delivery and processing on your behalf.
Collect your belongings at the overseas port, or have them delivered to your new overseas home. Have shipping documents ready and be prepared to pay importing fees and taxes. Alternatively, pay a shipping company to take care of the importing and unpacking process.
