International Moving in Geneva

Neighbouring France: why it is not a local move

This is the most frequent international move from Geneva and the one people underestimate most. Many of our clients discover when they call us that a move from Onex to Annemasse, some ten kilometres, is not a local move in administrative terms.

The reason is simple: Switzerland is not part of the European Union. Crossing the border with your entire household is an import operation, and it requires a declaration, even if the drive takes twenty minutes and you carry on working in Geneva. This is not red tape we invent to justify a price: it is the rule, and ignoring it risks being held up at the border.

Our package for neighbouring France is CHF 1'500 and our calculated example gives CHF 1'750, which stays close to a local Swiss move for an equivalent volume. The difference covers preparing the file and the crossing time, not an arbitrary distance surcharge.

One practical point we always raise in this configuration: the border crossing has to be planned. Some crossing points are congested at predictable hours, and an hour's wait with a loaded lorry costs working time. We choose the time and the crossing point according to the route, which is the kind of detail that never appears on a quote but decides how long the day takes.

Customs: what we do, what you provide

Customs paperwork is included by default in our calculation, and our role is clear: we prepare the file and support the crossing. The decision belongs to the authorities of the destination country, and we do not promise their outcome — no honest remover does.

What we produce: the detailed, valued inventory of your belongings, which is the central document in any international removal file; the transport documents; and the declaration matching your situation. We tell you which supporting papers to gather and we submit them with the file.

What you provide, and this list varies by destination: proof of identity and residence status, proof of the new address, and depending on the case evidence of how long you previously resided in Switzerland or a document relating to your employment. Most countries provide a relieved regime for the personal effects of an individual transferring residence, but the conditions — how long you have owned the goods, the deadline after arrival, an obligation not to resell for a period — depend on the country and on your personal circumstances. We tell you what to prepare; we do not advise you on your tax position, which is not our profession.

One recommendation that saves everyone time: start the inventory early, and do it room by room rather than in one evening. An approximate inventory is the leading cause of questions at the border. A precise one, with values and serial numbers for appliances, gets a file through without discussion.

Groupage or dedicated lorry: what volume decides

This is the decision with the greatest effect on both price and timing, and it depends almost entirely on volume. Understanding the two modes lets you choose knowingly.

A dedicated lorry carries your load alone, door to door. It is the fastest and simplest mode: loaded one day, delivered a few days later, with no transhipment. It becomes economically sensible as soon as the volume fills a vehicle, so typically from a 3 – 4 room home for a European destination. On our example, 35 m³ to the European Union is CHF 4'550.

Groupage shares a vehicle or container between several clients. The price per cubic metre is markedly lower — that is what makes a 10 m³ studio to Europe accessible at CHF 2'600 — but the timing depends on filling the load and on the route. You have to accept a delivery window rather than a date, and there is one more transhipment, so one more handling risk.

Our advice is to choose according to the real constraint. If you need to sleep in your own bed on a specific date, take a dedicated lorry even if the volume does not quite justify it. If you are flying out and can live for three weeks with two suitcases, groupage is the right choice and the saving is significant. We do not automatically push towards the more expensive mode, and we tell you which one fits your situation.

Marine-grade packing: when is it necessary?

The marine-grade packing option takes our European example to CHF 3'800. It is not a comfort upgrade: it is a technical answer to constraints road transport never encounters.

A shipping container involves three things a lorry does not. Humidity first: condensation inside a container — known as container rain — can wet what is inside, and a single-wall box collapses. Movement next: a ship's roll and port handling apply repeated forces in every direction, quite different from a lorry's accelerations. And duration: several weeks in transit, with significant temperature swings.

In practice, marine-grade packing means double-wall board, moisture-resistant film and covers, wooden crates for fragile and valuable items, systematic packing with no void space, and bracing the load inside the container so it cannot shift. Dismantled furniture travels better than assembled furniture, which inverts the logic of a road move.

For a road move to neighbouring France or nearby Europe this packing is not necessary and we do not offer it by default. We recommend it as soon as there is sea transport, long storage, or a destination with a very humid climate.

What cannot travel, or not the way you expect

This conversation is more useful before the move than at the border. The categories below come up constantly, and this list is indicative: the precise rules depend on the destination country and we check them for your case.

Never travels in a removal, whatever the destination: flammable liquids and gas cylinders, chemicals and solvents, pressurised aerosols, ammunition and explosives. That is a transport safety constraint, independent of customs. Empty mower and barbecue tanks before the day rather than discovering it at loading.

Always needs prior checking: food and alcohol, whose import is regulated almost everywhere and often taxed; plants and seeds, which fall under phytosanitary rules; products of animal origin, including some leather or fur items; medicines in significant quantity; collectors' weapons, even deactivated; and works of art or antiques, which may fall under cultural property rules.

One case that comes up often in Geneva: the wine cellar. A collection of bottles is not a neutral personal effect from a customs point of view — alcohol is almost always subject to duty, with thresholds. We flag it at quotation stage when a client mentions a cellar, because the surprise is expensive and there are solutions, starting with not moving it.

Finally, pets do not fall under a removal of goods: they need their own health documentation and a suitable mode of transport. We do not carry them and we say so plainly rather than letting a family organise it too late.

Realistic timings by destination

Timings quoted in this trade are often optimistic. Here are the orders of magnitude we give, separating the transport itself from administrative time.

Neighbouring France: delivery the same day or the next in a dedicated lorry. It is a local move with a border step, and the main variable is crossing time rather than the road.

Western Europe in a dedicated lorry: two to five days depending on distance, with a delivery date that can be fixed. In groupage: two to four weeks, with a window rather than a date, because departure depends on the vehicle being filled.

Outside Europe by sea: the sea passage itself generally takes three to seven weeks depending on destination, on top of which come the wait for departure from port, customs clearance on arrival and final delivery. So think in months rather than weeks, and plan to live for a while without your furniture. That is precisely why we advise assembling air baggage with the essentials — clothes, documents, computers, whatever the children need — and not counting on the container for the first few weeks.

Insurance on an international move

On an international shipment the insurance question matters more than on a local move, because both the exposure time and the number of handlings increase.

Our professional liability insurance covers damage caused by our work, and the certificate is available on request. On long-distance transport, particularly by sea with transhipments, specific cargo cover is a separate subject we recommend addressing at quotation stage — not afterwards.

Two things condition any compensation and both depend on you. The first is the valued inventory: what is not listed and valued cannot be compensated, and an inventory done in a hurry is a problem you discover at the worst moment. The second is declaring valuables: instruments, artwork, jewellery, professional equipment, collections. A value not declared before departure cannot be declared after an incident.

We add one piece of advice with no commercial angle: photograph all your furniture and valuables before packing, and keep those photos with the inventory. On a move lasting several weeks and involving several parties, it is the document that keeps a discussion factual.

Storage before shipment or after arrival

On an international move the dates rarely line up. The Geneva property has to be handed back on a fixed date, the new home abroad is not always available, and transport takes a time that cannot be entirely controlled.

Three situations recur. Flying out before the furniture ships, very common for a work posting: belongings go into storage, then ship once the destination address is confirmed. A staged departure, where part of the furniture goes and the rest stays in storage pending a decision on permanent accommodation. And a temporary return to Geneva, where storing beats shipping twice.

We store furniture covered and wrapped, in a closed space, with an inventory drawn up at loading. Storing before shipment also has a practical benefit: it allows a complete customs file to be prepared without the pressure of a handover date, and air baggage to be assembled properly and separately.

One point we repeat: this is the best moment to sort. On an international move every cubic metre is expensive to ship and storage adds to it. A ten-year-old sofa, a washing machine built to Swiss standards, fragile flat-pack furniture: the arithmetic between shipping and buying again on arrival often favours buying again, and we say so.

Effect of volume on price and transport mode

Groupage shares a vehicle or container between several clients: cheaper per cubic metre, but with a delivery window instead of a date and one extra transhipment. A dedicated lorry runs door to door with no transhipment and a delivery date that can be fixed.