Mailing your belongings over to the US

[Pixelz 0]

I'm looking for any insight on mailing belongings over to the US a few days before flying over with your K-1 Visa. Things like clothes/perscriptions/photographs/sketch pads (I had considered mailing my PC but I starting to think I'll just give it to a family member and purchase a new one).

So I've looked at courier companies and checked out prices etc. But my main concern is are there additional fees/paperwork that I would need to fill out? Like will my boxes go though customs and get charged? Would it end up being cheaper to take additional suitcases through the airline? (In which case it'd be cheaper to replace most clothing haha...)

For anyone who has sent their belongings over - any information would be appreciated!

[Fr8dog 312]

I looked into the shipping thing, but in the end decided it would be cheaper/easier to just replace everything.

Electronics: unless it's a 110/230 volt. There is no reason to bring it. And even if it is, you would still need to replace the plugs or get conversion plugs. (So all that was left was a laptop and cellphone. (I did pull some harddrives out of my regular computer and filled some USB sticks)

Clothes: Go through your wardrobe and see what you still actually wear versus what you think you still wear. (could have been 2 suitcases, but since clothes are cheaper in the US versus Holland. I only brought half a suitcase.

Furniture: Bulky and heavy stuff that, in the end, was better of getting sold than lugged across the pond.

Car: I really wanted to bring my car (cool little roadster), but even if I could import it (no vin-number so not really an option) the parts would become really expensive.

Photo's: Digital age baby. On the USB stick they went, the rest got tossed.

Paperwork: Now that stuff is important, so it filled the rest of the suitcase.

In the end I sold/donated most of my stuff (made several grand on it) and just took one suitcase. If you do end up with 2 to 3 boxes or suitcases, it's more than likely cheaper and faster to bring them as extra luggage versus shipping them.

For me the difference between shipping it all and selling it all was around 14k. That's a lot of money.

Edited March 25, 2016 by Fr8dog

[Ortolan 381]

We shipped a few boxes (maybe 5 or so) through DHL, and it was pretty expensive. Then took the rest in suitcases over a few visits back and forth while we were waiting for the CR-1 visa to be approved.

[Pixelz 0]

Thanks Fr8dog some really useful stuff in there.

We shipped a few boxes (maybe 5 or so) through DHL, and it was pretty expensive. Then took the rest in suitcases over a few visits back and forth while we were waiting for the CR-1 visa to be approved.

The quoted cost of shipping doesn't look too bad. What I'm worried about is the customs side of things, how much extra do you end up paying? I also read that the courier company would want additional paperwork copies of visa/passport stamp etc which makes it sound like I'd have to mail them after entering the states on my visa so that i actually have the relevant paperwork...

[Caryh 5,206]

Personal effects are duty free when you move to the USA or return after living abroad. But they do need to go through customs and be cleared through customs. Generally its best to get a broker to handle this for you.

[Caryh 5,206]

BTW my wife is an import analyst for a customs brokerage, so she gets these calls all the time. Although her work is mainly commercial and they only handle personal goods for clients who have a commercial relationship with them.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/351/related/1/~/moving-to-the-u.s.---importing-personal-and-household-effects%2C-relative-or

[Ortolan 381]

We didn't have to pay any extra fees. We did have to fill out forms that listed exactly what was in each box, and on receipt, all of the boxes were opened and everything examined. Some things (glassware....it was dumb to ship this) got broken or damaged. A couple of small items went missing entirely. So lesson learned: don't ship anything really expensive that you would hate to lose. This kind of helps you filter out a lot of stuff. Carry anything you'd really hate to lose with you in your suitcase.

[gavw72 23]

I used SevenSeas Worldwide. They provided the boxes, tape & all necessary paperwork. Cost £380 for a 26kg box, 13kg box & my 27" iMac (dual power so useable in the US). Arrived 4 days after I did my POE with the boxes in good order! Did have to chase as they were held in customs for 24hrs but no real issues. Had to provide passport & visa scans for the paperwork when the boxes were collected in the uk.

[AMZJ 61]

I'm using baggage hub, they provided the boxes. They quoted me £470 for 5 boxes (they are big boxes!!) and I paid a £50 deposit. They do need visa info from you though. I obviously don't have a visa yet. So far I've filled up 2 boxes and I am hoping to not fill more than another 1-2 boxes as I don't really want to pay the full £470. I am not taking any furniture. I will take my laptop and a few personal items, some of my nicer clothing, some of my art work. Whatever I can't take will go to family... if I can take some of my larger canvas' my aunt has been pestering me for them for years so I know she'd have them. Mostly I just have DVD's and picture frames left to pack.

Because it's personal possessions I won't get charged duty/customs.

Edited March 28, 2016 by AMZJ

[yuna628 9,717]

My husband brought most of everything he could with him in multiple cases of luggage. An upgraded cabin class via air-miles allowed him many more bags, with the option of paying for additional.This included the more valuable items like hard drives, laptops, consoles, and electronics as well as books and discs. Duty doesn't apply when you are immigrating, so bring as much as you can within reason. His parents shipped some items via royal mail at a later date, pretty expensive and took a while as I recall. Paperwork and perscriptions are valuable items and should always travel with you. Most electronics can be used with converter plugs in the US, and that's what he still does. Everything else was consolidated, donated, or sold. Shipping companies were too expensive and not practical for us. He took additional coverage on electronic losses for travel insurance (call the company or consider a one-way travel insurance which ends as soon as you go through the POE). Obviously taking a desktop PC isn't practical, and unless it is something high performance for gaming I wouldn't consider it.