Will you be living in Hong Kong for a little while? If you will be staying here for a few years, it’s only natural for you to want to rent a shipping container to transport all of your personal belongings. You don’t have to worry because most countries, and this includes Hong Kong, would allow for certain exemptions. You won’t be able to transport your personal belongings without paying the moving company, but at least you can remove them from your home country tax-free. Here are things you should do.
Itemize and categorize
You must visit the Embassy of Hong Kong before anything else. The list of exemptions, prohibited, and restricted items keep on changing over time, so it’s safer to be updated before living your home country. Once you have the list, look at all of the things you will be able to transport to Hong Kong, and the items which will need documentation when transported to Hong Kong. Weigh the pros and cons of still transporting restricted items. If you own prohibited items, find a way to dispose of them before your departure. Itemize all of your personal belongings, sort them out, and decide which ones to keep and which ones to let go of.
Get permits
Now, make a list of all restricted items you will need documentations and permits for. You must start packing and getting permits as early as three months before your departure date. Otherwise, you will have a difficult time. Hong Kong is a pretty lenient place for travelers to go to and to transfer their personal belongings to, but if you are transporting heirlooms, valuable jewelry, artworks, and prescription medicines, you will need the clearance of the proper authorities. In the case of valuable items, you will have to prove your ownership. Permits for plants and pets, if you’re shipping them instead of travelling with them, will also have to be accomplished.
Pack properly
You must use the right kind or container. A 20 ft shipping to Hong Kong which is enclosed can easily hold the personal belongings of one or two people. However, not everyone owns the same volume or number of things. Just make sure that you are hiring a moving company you can trust so they can help you make a wise decision.
If this is your first time to ship personal belongings from one country to another, you should know what your items will not be loosely packaged inside the container. They will have to be pre-packaged in standard-sized boxes. Your moving company is not making money out of your transfer. They need to be in boxes so they can be protected from possible collisions or scratches while they’re being shipped across the sea.
You must also make use of bubble wraps, corrugated cardboard pieces, and scrap paper whenever recommended by your mover. There are moving companies who would require you to hire their staff so your items will be packaged properly. Otherwise, they will make you sign a waiver that they won’t be responsible for damages during transfer. Take the service. No harm could come of it. To protect yourself from losses or damages, you must also purchase a shipment insurance.