# Shipping personal effects



## GeoffP2 (Jun 3, 2015)

Hello all

Story so far - lived in Johannesburg for 34 years, bought an apartment in Ondara in November, just sold house in Jhb, next move is shipping our effects to Spain.

We'll be shipping fridge and other electrical goods, some furniture, grand piano, model railway etc. I'm trying to work out the best timing of shipping as I'm not quite sure of the time scale for getting residence, padron etc sorted out - I've heard the Denia office can be a bit difficult to get through. Obviously don't want to be without the stuff for longer than necessary.

I receive a British pension so can organise an S1 form plus we have other income from investments so thankfully don't need to try to find employment, thus should satisfy the powers that be that we will not be a drain on Spanish finances.

Other major thing I can think of is buying a car which should be straightforward - have a number of SAABs in Jhb, hoping to find a decent 1998-2002 convertible 93 once we arrive.

Any comments gratefully received.

Regards
Geoff Pethick
Johannesburg


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## jluis48 (May 13, 2016)

Hi. I moved to Spain from the USA a little over a year ago. We shipped a container ful of personal belongings and household goods) via a recognized shipping agent (they were great to work with). However we experienced some problems clearing customs. Basically they insisted on proof the shipper (my wife in this case) had been resident in the USA for the last year and wanted a certificate of 'baja de empadronamiento'. Both of these are essentially impossible to obtain in US (since we are not Spanish and were not registered in the Spanish Consulate there). We eventually 'solved' it by producing reams of documentation from passport entry copies, credit card charges showing location and phone bill listing of calls with origin. I think they just threw up their hands and gave in!
Hope you have an easier time but you may want to check with the local Spanish consulate and see if they can help with requirements on importation of effects.


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## Elyles (Aug 30, 2012)

jluis48 said:


> Hi. I moved to Spain from the USA a little over a year ago. We shipped a container ful of personal belongings and household goods) via a recognized shipping agent (they were great to work with). However we experienced some problems clearing customs. Basically they insisted on proof the shipper (my wife in this case) had been resident in the USA for the last year and wanted a certificate of 'baja de empadronamiento'. Both of these are essentially impossible to obtain in US (since we are not Spanish and were not registered in the Spanish Consulate there). We eventually 'solved' it by producing reams of documentation from passport entry copies, credit card charges showing location and phone bill listing of calls with origin. I think they just threw up their hands and gave in! Hope you have an easier time but you may want to check with the local Spanish consulate and see if they can help with requirements on importation of effects.


We sold everything in the US including real estate, cars, art and a ton of other stuff. We ended up here about four years ago and had only 16 boxes of belongings shipped from Wyoming. We had no problems with our shipping company. However, we read that there needed to be certain shipping forms completed to bypass paying IVA on our own stuff. Since this was a Spanish form we contacted every Embassy/Consulate in the US and none knew the form existed. We then contacted the expat representative with the US Consulate in Barcelona who had the form but we had to go there to complete it.


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## GeoffP2 (Jun 3, 2015)

Many thanks for this valuable info, I'll make sure I check it out with the shippers. There's quite a lot of stuff shipped between SA and Spain so hopefully they'll have a handle on it.

Regards
Geoff Pethick
Johannesburg


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