Sevenoaks to Switzerland
Removals from Sevenoaks to Switzerland
The most paperwork-heavy route we run from this district, and the one where the order of events matters most. Switzerland sits outside both the EU and the UK customs union, which makes a household move a full third-country import rather than a European movement.
Nothing on the Swiss side is difficult. All of it is conditional, and the conditions have an order.
Who takes this route from Sevenoaks
- Finance and pharmaceutical relocations to Zurich, Zug and Basel, on corporate timetables.
- Moves to Geneva and Lausanne for international organisations, where the residence paperwork runs its own course.
- Households moving to the lake and Alpine towns, where the last stretch of road is the interesting part.
The road out of TN13
M26 to the M20 and the Folkestone shuttle. Switzerland lies at the end of a long French run, so the shuttle earns its place by preserving driving hours rather than by saving distance.
From Calais the A26 heads south-east past Reims towards Langres, then the A31 and A36 for Basel, or the A39 and A40 for Geneva and Lausanne. Zurich and Zug are reached through Basel on the Swiss network; the Alpine towns come off it and climb.
Where we deliver
Customs, and what gets declared
Switzerland is outside both customs unions, so this is a full third-country import cleared by an agent at the border. Used household effects enter free of duty for somebody establishing residence, claimed on a specific Swiss form and conditional on a residence permit existing first.
Who obtains what
| Document | Obtained by | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Detailed inventory (valued, in English and German or French) | Us | Prepared at the Sevenoaks survey. The Swiss entry is read line by line, so the wording describes what things are rather than how many cartons they filled. |
| Form 18.44 (application for duty-free entry) | You | The Swiss household-effects declaration, signed by you. We prepare it with you and lodge it through our agent. |
| Residence permit or confirmation of application | You | The permit, or written confirmation from the canton. The relief depends on it. |
| Rental contract or deeds for the Swiss address | You | Evidence that a home exists at the far end and is yours. |
| Proof the UK residence has ended | You | Completion paperwork or a closing council tax bill from the TN address. |
| Export declaration and Swiss import entry | Us | Raised against the same inventory, with the Swiss side lodged by our clearing agent at the border. |
Rows marked You are attached to you as a person and are what hold a load up when they are started late. Rows marked Us are built here from the inventory taken at your Sevenoaks property.
Declare the cellar, and the paintings
Two things catch households from this district specifically. The first is wine: Swiss rules on importing alcohol are strict and quantity-limited even within a household move, and a cellar is a genuine item on the declaration rather than a footnote. Tell us what is in it at survey.
The second is art and antiques. Anything of real age or value is listed individually and valued on the inventory, and in some cases additional formalities apply. A house in the Weald quite often contains more of this than the household thinks of as "valuable", and a border is a bad place to discover the distinction.
On the sequence: job or purpose confirmed, canton application lodged, address secured, then goods. Where a Kent sale completes before that chain finishes, the answer is to collect and hold here rather than send a vehicle to a border with an incomplete file.
Sevenoaks to Switzerland
Questions on this route
- Can we move before the residence permit is issued?
- Sometimes, with written confirmation that the application is lodged, and it depends on the canton. Where the position is unclear we will say so and recommend holding the goods in the UK.
- What is Form 18.44?
- The Swiss declaration for duty-free import of household effects. You sign it; we prepare it with you and lodge it with the inventory through our clearing agent.
- Can we bring the wine?
- Some of it. Swiss rules are strict and quantity-limited even within a household move. Declare the cellar at survey and we will tell you where you stand rather than let it be found.
- What about antiques and pictures?
- Listed individually and valued. Certain items attract additional formalities, and we would far rather establish which at survey than at a border with a loaded vehicle.
- Can you deliver to an Alpine village in winter?
- With planning. Access, vehicle size and conditions on the final stretch are all settled before the quotation rather than negotiated in a valley.
- We are keeping the Sevenoaks house. Does that affect the relief?
- Possibly, because the relief rests on transferring your residence. Tell us the position honestly and we will set out what the file needs — we will not describe a situation as something it is not.
Moving from Sevenoaks to Switzerland?
Both addresses, roughly what is in the load, and whether the far end is ready. We will come back with the route, the documents and a written quote.