Services · 07 / Household moving

Household moving

An international move is not freight with boxes. It is a customs process of its own, an inventory that has to be valued piece by piece, and a chain where any badly built link means your things are held at the port.

We handle it end to end, from packing at origin to delivery in your new home.

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What sets a move apart

Household goods are not imported as merchandise: they enter under a regime of their own.

Almost everything that makes this service special comes from that legal difference. It changes three things.

It is declared by inventory, not by invoice. There is no commercial invoice to back the value. There is a list that you declare, package by package, with a value assigned to each item.
It can qualify for the duty exemption. If you meet the requirements, household goods enter without paying duties or VAT. If you do not, you pay like any import, and the cost difference is enormous.
The owner of the cargo is a person, not a company. The process is carried out in your name and depends on your immigration status, not on a line of business.

The household goods exemption

The point that generates the most questions, and the most expensive one if misunderstood.

The regime allows personal and household effects to enter without paying duties or taxes, as long as certain conditions are met. In general terms:

They must be used. Household goods must be items that were already in use in the home of origin. A new appliance in its box is not household goods: it is an import.
They must be proportionate to a family. Twelve chairs are household goods. A hundred chairs are merchandise, even if used.
The person must qualify. The benefit is designed for those who actually move their residence: Chileans returning after a period abroad, foreigners arriving with a residence visa, and some special categories.
The cargo must arrive within the deadline. There is a time window relative to the person’s arrival. Outside that window, the benefit is lost.

What is left out

Vehicles have a separate regime and their own conditions. They are not part of household goods.
New goods, in commercial quantity or intended for sale, are not either.
There are health restrictions that surprise many people: plants, seeds, food, untreated wood products, untanned leather items and camping or gardening equipment with soil attached can be held or require treatment. It is worth checking before packing, not when the cargo is already at the port.

Ocean mode

The usual route: it moves volume at a reasonable cost.

It is the best choice unless it is urgent.

Exclusive

Exclusive container

A full 20' or 40', loaded only with your household goods. It is sealed at your home of origin and opened at destination. It is the safest because nobody else handles your things, and the fastest because it does not depend on a consolidation filling up. As a general reference, a small apartment fits comfortably in a 20' and a family house usually requires a 40'.

Shared

Consolidated

Your household goods share a container with those of other families, packed in identified wooden crates. You pay for the volume you take up. It is the economical option for small moves; the cost is that it depends on the consolidation being completed at origin and deconsolidated at destination, which adds days at both ends.

Ocean considerations

Packing is what determines whether your things arrive intact. A container at sea moves constantly and the cargo works for weeks.
Wooden crates must comply with international phytosanitary treatment. A crate without the corresponding mark can force fumigation at destination, with cost and delay.
Insurance is quoted on the valued inventory. If you did not value an item, it is not covered.

Air mode

For what cannot wait the weeks of ocean freight.

The usual approach is not to move by air but to split: a few packages fly with the essentials —clothing, documents, computers, children’s items— and the rest travels by sea. That combination solves the real problem of every international move, which is the period when the family has already arrived but their things have not.

Air considerations

It is charged by chargeable weight, which compares actual weight with volume. Household goods are typically bulky and light, so you almost always pay by volume: excessive packing is expensive.
Security restrictions are strict: aerosols, flammable liquids, loose lithium batteries and cleaning products do not fly, or require handling as dangerous goods.
It is advisable for the air portion to travel with its own inventory, separate from the ocean one, because they are two different entries before customs.

Road mode

The regional corridor: Argentina, Peru, Bolivia.

For those destinations it is usually faster and cheaper than ocean freight, and it avoids port times at both ends. A truck can load at the home of origin and unload at the destination home, with no intermediate transfers.

Road considerations

The border crossing is the critical point. The documentation must be complete before arriving, because a truck held at the border generates costs per day.
The hours of the border complexes and the conditions of the mountain passes shape the planning. In winter, high mountain passes can close for days.
The inventory must be in the language and format that the customs of each country on the route requires, not only that of the destination.

How we operate

Eight steps, from the survey to delivery.

Visit and volume surveyBefore quoting we have to see what is going to be moved. With the estimated volume, the mode and equipment are defined. A quote based on a phone description almost always falls short.
Valued inventoryEach package is listed with its contents and its value. This document serves three functions at once: it is the declaration to customs, the basis of the insurance and your backup if something is missing on arrival. It is the most underestimated step and the one that prevents the most problems.
Professional packingAt origin, with materials suited to the mode of transport. Fragile items, paintings and dismountable furniture have their own treatment. When the client packs on their own, insurers usually exclude cover for damage to contents, because they cannot verify how each item was protected.
Pickup and loadingCoordinated with the building or condominium where applicable: access, elevator, permitted hours.
Export formalitiesIn the country of origin, under its own rules.
International transportWith tracking and arrival notice.
Import formalitiesFiling of the inventory, processing of the duty exemption if applicable, and coordination of the customs inspection if customs orders one.
Delivery and unpackingAt the destination address, with removal of the packing material.

Before quoting

What we need to quote.

Origin and destination, with approximate address
Estimated volume or list of the rooms of the home
Date on which the person or family arrives at the destination
Immigration status: returning Chilean, foreigner with a visa, other case
Whether there are special items: piano, works of art, safe, vehicle
Whether you need something by air in advance

Next step

Tell us about your move.

With these details our Pricing team can reply within the business day. If information is missing, we write to you before quoting instead of giving you a number that changes later.

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