Moving from Russia to US - any recommendations for moving / shipping company?

[millefleur 5,047]

@Wouter I wanted to mention, see if there's an option to get insurance on your items when you find a shipping company. Since some of them are more on the expensive side, might be a good idea.

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,096]

On 10/9/2021 at 7:26 AM, Wouter said:

Finally finally my wife got her CR1 visa and will be moving from Russia to me in the US in 3-4 weeks.

She wants to take a reasonable amount of her stuff that would fit into about 10-15 boxes, no furniture, no kitchenware, no large items.

Just mostly clothes and personal items.

It's too much to fit into 2-3 suitcases so it needs to be shipped.

Stash anything that won't fit on the plane (possibly paying for additional baggage) with family/friends and bring it back next time you visit?

 

The climate anywhere in Russia is nothing like southern California; she's going to want new clothes shortly after she gets here regardless, and most of what she's got is going to be useless.

 

I'm aware that my wife is somewhat atypical for Russian women in how much interest she has in fashion (which is to say not much; she gets her clothes on Amazon mostly), but she was fine with just what she could take on the plane without paying for extra baggage, and that was with a wedding dress in a garment bag using up one of the slots for baggage she had.

[millefleur 5,047]

3 minutes ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

The climate anywhere in Russia is nothing like southern California; she's going to want new clothes shortly after she gets here regardless, and most of what she's got is going to be useless.

That's a great point. Even if she has nicer stuff she doesn't want to get rid of, definitely leave behind the winter (and even fall) stuff in Russia.

 

Maybe have her prioritize the most useful things for a warmer climate and focus on sending that. If she has any irreplaceable personal items (photos, handmade things, sentimental stuff) then consider taking that on the plane, and just shipping clothes, if she's running out of space in her luggage. I wouldn't trust 100% anything in checked baggage and if it's irreplaceable (even if it's not of much value), I think carrying it on the plane makes sense.

[Wouter 143]

We live in Northern California (Bay Area) so it definitely gets cooler here and with Tahoe in the winter those fall and winter clothes will come in handy.

My question wasn't really about whether and what she should take with her, she has been to NorCal many times and lived in the US before so she is quite capable of making up her own mind on what she wants to bring.

My challenge is on how to ship those things from Russia to the US; many thanks to everyone who came up with good suggestions. I will post back here with our experiences.

 

[TBoneTX 46,271]

This has been a very educational thread for those of us who have no dog in the fight but are reading it nevertheless!  

[millefleur 5,047]

Indeed, so few Russians that I have interacted with have ever traveled to America (or even abroad at all) due to cost and difficulty of getting a visa, most of them just assume the entire country is like Florida and LA climatewise. Even when my sister-in-law visited for the first time here, she went on a trip to Cleveland, OH and NYC in February. I tried to explain: "You need to take winter stuff, there's going to be lots of snow!" But she absolutely refused to believe me, insisting the US was some year round sunny paradise, until she arrived and almost froze to death here in her summer clothes!

 

On the flip side, Americans think that Russia is a frozen wasteland the entire year. Not realizing that especially Moscow and Southern Russia get really hot and sunny in the summer.

 

Obviously OP's wife isn't like this, but a lot of Russians have no clue about what it's really like over here! My husband explained to me that this is because in Soviet films, they always showed just normal people with normal apartments. Soviet movies were extremely representative of an "average" life there: smallish apartments, no luxury items, etc. Whereas so many Russians only learn what America is from mass market sitcoms and Hollywood movies (which show everyone living in absurd fictional lifestyles, such as owning huge apartments in NYC or living in extreme luxury in LA...but the character is presented as 'middle class' or even a struggling, dreamer type etc) that Russians just assume those films are also just showing the "average" life of how things are in America. It amazes how much pop culture influences things.

 

[Wouter 143]

Hello everyone,

Finally I can give an update on how it all worked out moving my wife's personal belonging from Russia (Samara) to California (San Francisco).

Her flight on Aeroflot (Moscow->LAX) allowed her two big suitcases (23kg) which took care of her most precious and sensitive belongings.

However, she still had six boxes full of clothes, shoes, coats, handbags, etc which were all precious and unique items she did not want to leave behind.

First I contacted international moving companies, but because this was not a full household move with furniture and kitchenware etc they were not interested in moving just six boxes, with one exception: INTL Movers LLC www.intl-movers.ru . In the end we did not use them but they were very professional and responsive and I would suggest contacting them if you have a larger shipment to send.

We found out that UPS now has a presence in Russia and they told us they could ship the boxes, but that we had to make a detailed packing list for each item specifying what kind of item, the value, the origin of manufacturing, and whether it was used or brand new. This was a huge job but my wife did it. However, when she sent the list to UPS they suddenly told us that they couldn't take the shipment for some vague reason! This was just one day before the boxes were supposed to be picked up. Very disappointing and frustrating. So I would say stay away from UPS.

Scrambling for a solution we contacted DHL Express and they were surprisingly easy in agreeing to take the boxes and even offered a 40% discount as a first-time-customer.

Since we already had the itemized packing list the paperwork was very quick, but they did not know much about US import rules (note: you need CBP form 3299) and we had to fill in that form ourselves. 

They came to pick up the boxes the next day and helped taping them up and took all the paperwork, including US import form 3299 and the packing lists. Even with the discount the cost was about $500 per box. (I know this is a lot of money and that for many people this would be prohibitively expensive, but for us it was worth it and the cost was not so much of an issue but rather the challenge of actually getting it shipped in a reliable and expedient way. So I am just sharing my story here for others who have the same consideration but I realize this may not be a viable option for everyone).

The shipping was supposed to take 3-5 business days but it took 12 days because it got held up in Moscow during several days of 'clearance events' and then in Los Angeles customs for another two days of 'customs clearance' but in the end the boxes arrived at my house yesterday. They had been opened and re-taped, probably by customs, and all looked like they had been through a rough experience, but since they were filled with clothes there was no damage done (but I would definitely not send anything breakable by this method).

The experience with DHL Express was not ideal because, although we could use a tracking number to follow the shipment there was very little information about what was going on and why things got stuck for clearance, and we had no idea of the delivery day right up to the day of delivery. The delivery people also just put the boxes out on the porch of the house without having us sign for it or even notifying us. (If I hadn't checked the tracker and saw that it was 'delivered' the boxes may have been sitting there overnight!).

So with the sub-par service and high cost I can't really recommend them but they did get the job done in the end.

 

[TBoneTX 46,271]

Your comprehensive, thoughtful report will certainly be helpful for others.  Thanks for your effort in supplying it.

[millefleur 5,047]

On 11/16/2021 at 9:50 PM, Wouter said:

They had been opened and re-taped, probably by customs, and all looked like they had been through a rough experience, but since they were filled with clothes there was no damage done (but I would definitely not send anything breakable by this method).

It's fairly standard for large boxes traveling internationally to be opened and rummaged through by customs. That's too bad that the tracking ended up being such a bust. EMS via Russian Post always provides very robust tracking info. You wouldn't think but every time I've used them the tracking was equally good as US Priority Mail. 

 

Thanks for updating us and I'm glad the stuff arrived safely in the end! 

Edited November 18, 2021 by millefleur