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Taking your Personal Belongings out of the Country when you Leave / Bringing them into the Country when Moving to Russia
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Customs procedures in Russia are complicated and subject to change at anytime without prior notice. Unless you are very familiar with the process and speak fluent Russian, we do not recommend you attempt to clear a shipment through Russian customs on your own. For your own peace of mind, let a professional moving company handle everything for you.
Allied Pickfords offers full door-to-door relocations to and from the Russian Federation, and our services include export and import customs clearance of household goods, personal belongings, artwork and antiques, motor vehicles and pets.
Allied Pickfords Moscow employs dedicated certified customs experts who specialize in imports, exports or artworks & antiques.
If you have any questions regarding Russian import or export customs regulations after having read the information below, please send an e-mail with your question(s) to info@alliedpickfords.ru, or give us a call at (+7 095) 796-93-25.
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| 1. Exporting Personal Belongings from Russia | |
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If you are using the services of a professional moving company, such as Allied Pickfords Moscow, the latter will handle all customs formalities for you. Your presence at Russian customs during the export customs clearance process is not required, but you must supply the moving company with certain documents enabling them to act on your behalf.
The number and kinds of documents required depend on the shipment method you have chosen (surface and/or air) and on your personal status in Russia (foreign citizen, Russian citizen, foreign diplomat, accredited journalist, etc.).
In most cases, the required documents will include: a Power of Attorney for Russian customs (authorizing the moving company to carry out all customs clearance formalities on your behalf)
• a Power of Attorney for Russian customs (authorizing the moving company to carry out all customs clearance formalities on your behalf)
• a Power of Attorney for the Ministry of Culture (in case you are exporting any artwork and antiques, for which export permits are required)
• a letter to Russian customs from your company
• a letter to Russian customs from yourself
• a copy of your passport
• a copy of your Russian visa
• a copy of your Russian accreditation card (if you have one)
You might also be asked to complete a customs form of the country you are moving to.
Your moving company should supply you with samples of all required documents. The Power(s) of Attorney can only be obtained by yourself from a Russian notary in Russia and must be signed by you at the notary's office. The moving company cannot obtain any Power of Attorney for you on your behalf.
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| Export Customs Duties in Russian Federation |
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Russian customs generally do not charge export duties on personal belongings, but your shipment might be subject to import duties in your destination country. New (i.e. unused) items in particular are subject to import duties in most countries, as are alcohol and tobacco.
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| Export of Artwork and Antiques from the Russian Federation |
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One important aspect of export customs clearance for personal belongings in Russia is that export permits for artwork and antiques must be obtained from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation prior to the actual customs clearance of your shipment. Your moving company should handle this for you.
Allied Pickfords Moscow employs a dedicated customs specialist who is exclusively responsible for the export and import of artwork and antiques. For more information on this subject, please go to the section on the Export and Import of Artwork and Antiques.
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| Import Customs Clearance at Destination |
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In order to effect import customs clearance in your destination country, you will most likely have to supply your moving company's office or agent at destination with more documents. Some countries require your presence at customs during import clearance; in others you do not have to attend the customs post, but your original passport has to be presented to customs; in yet others your presence in the country is not mandatory and a copy of your passport will do. Your moving company will be able to advise you on the exact import customs clearance procedure in your destination country.
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| 2. Importing Personal Belongings to Russia | |
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If you are planning to move to Russia, choose a company that provides full door-to-door services and that has an office or agent in Moscow. Make sure your moving company handles the import customs clearance into Russia for you.
Your moving company in your country of origin will provide you with all documents and document samples that are necessary to effect export customs clearance.
Before your personal belongings can be cleared through Russian customs, you must be in Russia. Your presence at Russian customs during the import customs clearance process is not required, but you will be asked to supply your moving company with a number of documents allowing them to handle the import customs clearance for you.
The number and kinds of documents required depend on the shipment method you have chosen (surface and/or air) and on your personal status in Russia (foreign citizen, Russian citizen, foreign diplomat, accredited journalist, etc.).
In most cases, the required documents will include:
• a Power of Attorney for Russian customs (authorizing the moving company to carry out all customs clearance formalities on your behalf).
• a letter to Russian customs from your company
• a copy of your passport
• a copy of your Russian visa
• a copy of your Russian accreditation card (if you have one)
• a Russian TD10 Customs Form (Declaration for Unaccompanied Luggage). This is the customs form that you have to fill in at the airport when entering Russia. The form must be duly completed, signed by yourself and stamped by a Russian customs officer, i.e. you must go through the Red Channel at the airport.
Your moving company's office or agent in Russia should supply you with samples of all required documents. The Power(s) of Attorney can only be obtained by yourself from a Russian notary in Russia and must be signed by you at the notary's office. The moving company cannot obtain any Power of Attorney for you on your behalf.
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The vast majority of household goods shipments to Russia are subject to import duties. The amount of import duties will not be included in the original quotation from your moving company in your origin country. The reason for this is that it is impossible to calculate the exact amount of import duties in advance because the final amount depends on the exact weight of the shipment (which can only be calculated after everything has been packed at origin). In order to calculate the amount of import customs duties, your moving company must supply its office or agent in Russia with information on the total weight of your shipment and a copy of the packing (inventory) list.
Import customs duties are presently calculated as follows:
The first 200 kg of the shipment are charged at 4 Euros per kg. This subtotal is exempt from Russian VAT.
For the remainder of the shipment, the import duties are approximately 1 - 2 Euros per kg - depending of what kinds of items are in the shipment. This second subtotal, plus the sum of the total declared value and the freight costs, are additionally subject to In addition to that customs will charge 20% VAT based on the declared total value of the shipment.
N.B.: Diplomatic shipments are not subject to import customs duties. Depending on your status in Russia, it might be possible to import your personal belongings to Russia under a temporary import regime and thus avoid paying import customs duties. This is a rather difficult procedure and only applies to limited categories of people moving to Russia. Your moving company will provide you with more advice and guidance.
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| Import of Artwork and Antiques |
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If you are bringing artwork and/or antiques into the country, you should ensure that your moving company registers them with Russian customs at the time of import customs clearance. If you do not to this, you might run into problems when trying to re-export them from Russia when your assignment is over.
It is recommendable to register any items of artwork, including paintings, carpets and rugs, as well as valuable statues, etc. Generally, any item that is over 50 years old is considered antique and should be registered. Insist on registering anything that is over 100 years old - these items can normally not be exported from Russia unless you can prove that you brought them into the country when you moved here.
In order to register the above items with Russian customs, your moving company in your origin country should take photos of each item concerned and forward them to their office or agent in Russia along with a detailed list with a description of each item so that they can be provided to Russian customs when your shipment arrives.
Allied Pickfords Moscow employs a dedicated customs specialist who is exclusively responsible for the import and export of artwork and antiques. For more information on this subject, please go to the section on the Export and Import of Artwork and Antiques.
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DISCLAIMER - The above information was compiled by Allied Pickfords Moscow and is distributed on an “AS IS” basis, without warranty. Please note that customs regulations are subject to change at any time and without prior notice. The preceding information is a brief summary of customs regulations applicable to the export and import of household goods, personal belongings and artworks and antiques from and to the Russian Federation and is being provided for general guidance only. Allied Pickfords cannot be held liable for any costs, damage, delays, loss or other detrimental events resulting from non-compliance with Russian Federation customs regulations or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by the information provided here.
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