Removals International
What does it need
to be allowed in?
Almost everything in your house crosses a border on a described inventory and nothing else. A smaller number of things need declaring. A few need a licence. And a handful need a permit issued under an international convention, with months of lead time behind it.
Most people find out which rung they are on at the wrong moment. The whole of this site exists so that you find out at the survey instead.
We are a removals company, not a customs broker or a permit agency. We hold no permits and nothing here is legal advice.
Six rungs
- 1 Nothing but a described inventory
- 2 A declaration on the entry
- 3 A licence from a national authority
- 4 A permit under an international convention
- 5 A separate import in its own right
- 6 Nothing. It will not be let in
The last two rungs are not things we arrange. One is a separate import with its own specialist; the other is simply refused.
Six entries
Sorted by what it needs, not by what it is
Not by room, not by value and not by weight. Each page says what falls into that class, what has to happen before it travels, and — on two of them — why we decline the work rather than take it on.
A declaration is enough
Most of what you own. An inventory and a relief claim.
A licence or a permit
Legal to own, conditional to import. Lead times vary enormously.
A separate import
Not part of a household shipment at all, whatever a container suggests.
- V Needs its own import Cars, motorbikes, trailers, ride-on machinery A vehicle is not part of a household shipment. It is a separate import with its own entry, its own registration process and frequently its own tax position, and treating it as cargo in a container is how people end up with neither.
- L Needs health certification, and not from us Animals, live plants, seeds and soil Anything alive is outside what a removals firm should be handling, and we decline it rather than subcontract it quietly. This page exists to say that plainly and to describe what the right kind of specialist actually does.
Nothing will
The refused list. Better read than discovered.
Unsure which class something falls into? Describe it in the notes on the quote form. The answer costs nothing and it is considerably cheaper than finding out at a port.
The permission ladder
Six rungs, and most of your house is on the first one
This is the whole framework. Read the examples rather than the headings — the surprise is almost never the category, it is finding something of yours listed in it.
- Rung 1
Nothing but a described inventory
What sits here Furniture, clothing, books, kitchenware, bedding, toys, tools without fuel in them.
What that means in practice Prepared here as the vehicle loads. It is the rung most of your house sits on and the reason an international move is usually less exotic than it sounds.
- Rung 2
A declaration on the entry
What sits here Alcohol above a threshold, prescription medicines, certain electronics, printed material.
What that means in practice Named on the customs entry and supported by the inventory. Straightforward when it is declared and a genuine problem when it is found instead.
- Rung 3
A licence from a national authority
What sits here Radio transmitting equipment, drones, air weapons, some knives, certain chemicals.
What that means in practice Applied for by you to the relevant authority in the destination country. Lead times vary enormously and are not something a removals firm can influence.
- Rung 4
A permit under an international convention
What sits here Ivory, tortoiseshell, certain rosewoods, coral, some skins and furs — frequently as a component of an ordinary object.
What that means in practice The longest lead time on this ladder by a wide margin, and the rung people are most surprised to find themselves on. Identified at survey; the permit itself is obtained through the proper authority rather than by us.
- Rung 5
A separate import in its own right
What sits here Cars, motorbikes, trailers, ride-on mowers, boats. Pets, live plants, seeds and soil.
What that means in practice Not part of a household shipment at all. Each has its own entry, its own paperwork and frequently its own specialist, and we will name the right kind rather than take it on.
- Rung 6
Nothing. It will not be let in
What sits here Prohibited weapons, certain publications and media, some foodstuffs, counterfeits, and anything already unlawful to possess.
What that means in practice No permit, declaration or payment resolves this rung. Everything on it has a sensible alternative, and all of them cost less than a seizure.
We identify at survey which rungs your household touches, and we say plainly where something is yours to arrange rather than ours. We are not a customs broker or a permit agency, we hold no permits, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
Eight real examples
Things people try to ship, and where they actually sit
None of these is unusual to own. Every one of them comes up, and every one is far easier to deal with at a survey than at a port with a container waiting behind it.
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A piano with ivory keys
Rung 4Pre-ban ivory in an antique instrument is still regulated material. The age of the piano does not remove the requirement, and the keys are frequently the only part anybody has thought about.
What to do Tell us at survey. Options include a permit through the proper route, replacement of the key coverings, or selling the instrument here.
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A guitar with a rosewood fingerboard
Rung 4Several rosewoods are protected species and they appear in instruments constantly — fingerboards, bridges, backs. A guitar case is not a customs exemption.
What to do Identify the species with the maker or a luthier before you pack, and raise it at survey so the entry is prepared correctly.
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An inlaid Victorian cabinet
Rung 4Tortoiseshell, ivory stringing, mother-of-pearl and certain veneers all turn up in nineteenth-century furniture, usually as small decorative details nobody catalogued.
What to do Photograph the inlay at survey. Where it is genuinely protected material, the permit route is the answer and it is slow.
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A wine collection
Rung 2 or 3Alcohol in a household shipment is treated completely differently across countries — a declared quantity in one, a licensed import in another, and simply refused in a third.
What to do Ask before you pack it. On several routes the honest answer is to sell it here and buy again at the other end.
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A drone, or radio equipment
Rung 3Transmitting equipment is licensed in many countries and drones are separately regulated in most. Neither is unusual to own and both are conditional to import.
What to do Check the destination rules yourself early — it is your licence to obtain — and tell us so the entry matches the contents.
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Garden tools and outdoor furniture
Rung 2, sometimes 6Soil on a spade, seeds in a pot, untreated timber in a bench. Biosecurity is the strictest regime some countries operate and it applies to ordinary garden things.
What to do Clean everything thoroughly before packing. Where timber is untreated and the destination is strict, leaving it behind is cheaper than a treatment order.
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The contents of a medicine cabinet
Rung 2 or 3Prescription medicines in a shipment are declarable almost everywhere and controlled in many places, and quantities permitted are lower than people assume.
What to do Carry what you need personally with the prescription, declare the rest, and ask your own doctor rather than us about anything you depend on.
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The car
Rung 5A vehicle is a separate import with its own entry, its own registration and frequently its own tax position. Putting it in a container alongside the sofa does not change that.
What to do Use a vehicle shipping specialist. We will say so and name the kind of firm rather than quote for something we should not be doing.
If any of these is in your house, say so at the enquiry rather than at the packing stage. On the permit rung it is the difference between a slow process and a stopped one.
Tell us what you haveDestinations
The same ladder, a different rung deciding each route
Every destination applies the same six classes and weights them differently. On one route the inventory description does all the work. On another the controlled list reaches further into a normal house than anybody expects.
The four with their own entries were chosen for exactly that: each makes a different rung the deciding factor, which is more useful than four pages describing four climates. We move across Europe by road and worldwide by sea and air besides.
Collections run from every part of the UK mainland — London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bristol included.
All destinations- UK to Morocco Where the inventory is read closely and vagueness is expensive.
- UK to Sri Lanka Where the controlled list reaches further into a normal house.
- UK to Peru Where protected material and consular certification meet.
- UK to Indonesia Where timber, and what it is made of, becomes the whole question.
Asked most often
Questions about permission
- What does "what it needs to be allowed in" mean?
- Every object in your house sits on one of six rungs. Most need nothing but a described inventory. Some need declaring. A few need a licence or an international permit. Two categories are a separate import entirely. And a short list will not be let in at all.
- Which rung surprises people most?
- The permit rung, and it is not close. Protected material turns up inside ordinary household objects — ivory on piano keys, rosewood in a guitar, tortoiseshell inlay in a Victorian cabinet — and almost nobody expects to be standing there.
- Do you obtain the permits for us?
- No. We identify at survey what is likely to need one and tell you plainly, and the permit itself is obtained through the proper authority rather than by a removals firm. We are not a permit agency and nothing on this site is legal advice.
- Will you ship our car?
- No. A vehicle is a separate import with its own entry, its own registration process and frequently its own tax position. We will name the kind of specialist to use rather than treat it as cargo in a container.
- What about pets and plants?
- We decline both rather than subcontract them quietly. Anything alive needs health certification and handling that a removals firm should not be providing, and there are people who do it properly.
- Where do you actually move to?
- Across Europe by road and worldwide by sea and air. Morocco, Sri Lanka, Peru and Indonesia have their own entries because each one makes a different rung of the ladder the deciding factor.
More on the questions page — the easy rung, declarations and licences, protected material, separate imports, the refused list, and working with us.
Which rung are you on?
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and anything in the house that might sit higher up the ladder — an instrument, an antique, a wine collection, a drone, a car.