International moving, explained

What makes a move international

A domestic move and an international one share the same basic tasks — packing, transport, delivery — but an international move adds variables that do not exist locally: a border, a different transport method for longer distances, and in most cases some form of customs process at the destination.

Within the EU, a move from one member state to another is the simplest version of an international move — no customs procedure, and road transport that works much like a longer domestic move. Moves to the UK, Switzerland, or destinations outside Europe each add their own requirements, covered on the relevant destination pages. The practical effect is that "international moving" is not one single process — it is a spread of different processes that happen to share the same starting point of crossing a border, and the right one for your move depends entirely on your specific route.

Road transport within Europe

Most moves between European countries travel by road, either as groupage (a shared load) or dedicated transport reserved for your move alone. Which one suits you depends mainly on your volume and how much flexibility you have on delivery timing. Groupage tends to work well for smaller households and studio or one-bedroom volumes, where sharing space with another move on a similar route keeps costs down and a slightly flexible delivery window is not a problem. Larger households, or moves tied to a fixed date such as a lease start, tend to justify dedicated transport instead.

Sea freight for overseas moves

For moves to destinations such as the USA, Canada, Australia or the UAE, sea freight is the standard method. Your goods travel in a shared or dedicated container, which takes considerably longer than a European road move — plan for this earlier rather than later. A shared container works on the same logic as road groupage: lower cost, less certainty on the exact delivery date. A dedicated container costs more but is not waiting on another household's move to be ready before it can depart.

Customs and documentation

Whether customs paperwork applies to your move depends entirely on your route. EU-to-EU moves are customs-free. Moves into the UK, Switzerland, or overseas all require a customs declaration and, in most cases, an itemised inventory — detailed on each destination's page. Some countries also offer reduced or waived duty for people moving their main residence permanently, sometimes called "transfer of residence" relief, though the exact conditions (how long you must have owned the goods, how long you must stay, what evidence is required) vary by country and need to be checked against your own situation rather than assumed.

Getting this step wrong is the most common reason an otherwise well-planned international move stalls — not because the transport failed, but because paperwork prepared too late, or incorrectly, holds goods at a border or port while everything else is ready to go. It is also the part of a move that is easiest to underestimate, since it produces no visible progress the way packing or loading does — the work happens on paper, well before goods ever reach a border.

Packing, storage and timing

International moves benefit from packing suited to a longer journey and, often, a bridge between your move-out and move-in dates. A road move within Europe and a multi-week sea freight crossing put very different demands on packing materials — humidity and extended handling matter far more on the longer route. Storage often comes into play when moving out and moving in do not line up exactly, whether that is a short gap of a few days or a longer one while a property search is still ongoing at the destination. See our packing and storage services, and our full process for how these fit together.

Household versus corporate international moving

The mechanics described above apply whether the move is a household relocating independently or a company relocating an employee, but the coordination differs. A corporate move is usually scheduled against a work start date and run through an employer's HR or mobility contact, sometimes as one of several relocations a company manages over time rather than a single one-off event, which changes how communication and scheduling are handled compared with a single household move. See our corporate relocation service for how that side of international moving is handled specifically.

Planning timeline by route

How far in advance to start depends heavily on where you are moving to. For a move between neighbouring or nearby European countries, a few weeks of lead time is usually enough to arrange transport and, if needed, packing. For a move to the UK or Switzerland, allow more time for the customs declaration to be prepared correctly. For an overseas move by sea freight, two to three months is a more realistic starting point once transit time, port processing and destination customs clearance are all accounted for.

These are general guides rather than fixed rules — a straightforward, well-documented route can move faster, and a route with unusual restrictions or a larger volume can need more lead time than the average. The point of starting early is not bureaucracy for its own sake; it is that most of the things that can hold up an international move — missing paperwork, a container booked without confirming import restrictions, a delivery date that assumed a faster customs process than the destination actually has — are avoidable if there is enough time to catch them before they become urgent.

Choosing between road, sea freight and container moving

The right transport method is mostly determined by distance rather than preference. Road transport is standard for moves within Europe and to nearby non-EU countries like the UK or Switzerland. Sea freight and container moving are the standard for anything overseas, since air freight for a full household's belongings is rarely practical at the volumes involved. Within sea freight, the choice between a shared and dedicated container mirrors the groupage-versus-dedicated decision for road transport: shared space costs less and suits smaller volumes with some flexibility on timing, while a dedicated container suits larger households or a fixed delivery deadline.

What it costs

Costs depend on origin, destination, volume, transport method and the services you need — there is no single figure that applies across routes. Broadly, cost scales with volume and distance, drops for a shared load compared to dedicated transport, and rises for destinations outside the EU where customs handling adds an extra step. An accurate figure only comes from an actual assessment of your route and volume, rather than a generic estimate. See our international moving costs page for the full breakdown of factors.