How to Pack for an International Move from San Francisco to France
Updated August 2026
The Bay Area sends a steady stream of households to France each year, for tech transfers, retirement, family ties, and everything in between. The shipping side looks different from an East Coast move: the routing is longer, the timelines run a bit later, and San Francisco’s building stock brings its own access challenges. This article covers what shipping from San Francisco to France actually involves, from routing and timelines to the customs documents that determine whether your goods enter duty-free. For a broader look at how we handle France moves, see our France moving guide.
SDC International Shipping is a professional overseas shipping company serving all 50 states, and we coordinate this corridor regularly out of San Francisco, the Peninsula, the East Bay, and Marin. Here’s how the process actually works.
The San Francisco to France Shipping Route
Container shipments from the Bay Area move through the Port of Oakland, the primary West Coast gateway for household goods bound for Europe. Unlike a direct East Coast sailing, West Coast shipments to France typically route via the Panama Canal or through a transshipment hub, adding time to the ocean leg. Total ocean transit generally runs four to six weeks, compared to the 8 to 12 days New York shipments see to Le Havre, and it’s the single biggest reason San Francisco to France timelines run longer than East Coast corridors.
Realistic Door-to-Door Timelines
Full Container Load (FCL)
An exclusive 20-foot or 40-foot container dedicated to your household, loaded directly at your Bay Area address. Door-to-door to most French cities typically runs 8 to 12 weeks, toward the longer end of what a comparable East Coast shipment would take, given the routing. Best for larger households, moves that include a vehicle, or when you want direct control over the departure schedule.
Groupage / Less Than Container Load (LCL)
Your goods share container space with other shipments heading to France. More cost-effective for smaller households or clients shipping selectively. Door-to-door timelines typically run 10 to 16 weeks, reflecting consolidation at origin, the longer West Coast routing, and deconsolidation at the French port.
Air Freight
Priority items can move by air from SFO to Paris Charles de Gaulle in 7 to 12 days door-to-door including customs, essentially the same timeline as an East Coast air shipment since air routing doesn’t carry the same West Coast penalty ocean freight does. Most Bay Area clients use a small air shipment for essentials and ship the rest by sea.
French Customs: The Documents That Determine Duty-Free Entry
This is the section that needs the most attention before your move begins. France offers duty-free entry for used household goods under change-of-residence rules, but the key document, the Change of Residence Certificate, must be obtained in advance from the French consulate or embassy in the U.S. It cannot be obtained after your goods have already shipped.
The Change of Residence Certificate
Issued by the French consulate in your origin country, it must confirm you’ve been living outside France for at least 12 months and are now definitively relocating, with clear dates of arrival and departure. This document grants duty-free entry for your personal effects. Without it, French customs assesses duties and taxes at approximately 50 percent of the shipment’s CIF value.
For Bay Area clients, the relevant office is the French Consulate General in San Francisco. Processing times vary, so the certificate should be initiated well before your pack date, not after. In employer transfer situations, a work assignment order can substitute for the certificate, attesting to the professional transfer with dates of arrival and departure, common for tech-sector relocations to France.
Full Document Checklist for French Customs
The complete set includes a copy of your passport, the Change of Residence Certificate or work assignment order, the Attestation de non-cession stating you’ve lived abroad for at least a year and owned all items for more than six months, a valued inventory in French and euros, a packing list with brand names and serial numbers for electronics, purchase invoices for electrical items, proof of residency in France, and a professional transfer letter if applicable. SDC provides templates for the valued inventory and the non-cession attestation, formatted to what French customs expects.
San Francisco Bay Area Pickup and Packing
SDC dispatches packing crews to your address anywhere in San Francisco, the Peninsula, the East Bay, and Marin. The crew conducts export-grade packing and produces a piece-level inventory during the pack, the same document used for customs and insurance.
San Francisco building access has its own quirks. Steep hills and narrow streets in neighborhoods like Russian Hill, Pacific Heights, and Noe Valley can require a shuttle vehicle when a full-size truck can’t park close enough. Older Victorians and Edwardians often have narrow stairwells with no elevator, and many mid-rise buildings require certificates of insurance and reserved move windows similar to what you’d see in a dense East Coast building. SDC confirms all of this during your survey so there are no surprises on move day.
Our professional packing service uses export-grade materials throughout. One practical consideration for France: it uses 230V/50Hz current with Type E sockets, and most U.S. appliances aren’t worth converting. Your coordinator will go through what to ship versus replace locally during the survey.
Delivery in France
SDC’s French destination partners handle customs clearance and coordinate final delivery to your address. Paris deliveries in historic arrondissements often involve narrow streets and tight building access requiring shuttle vehicles or hoisting equipment. A confirmed delivery address is required at the time of customs clearance, so your French housing situation needs to be settled before your shipment departs the Bay Area.
Deliveries to Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, and other major cities are coordinated through our regional partner network, as are provincial addresses in Normandy, Brittany, Provence, or the Dordogne.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does shipping from San Francisco to France take?
Door-to-door, plan for 8 to 12 weeks for a full container and 10 to 16 weeks for a shared container shipment. Ocean transit alone typically runs four to six weeks given the Panama Canal or transshipment routing from the West Coast, longer than the more direct East Coast crossing.
Why does shipping from San Francisco take longer than from New York?
Geography. New York ships almost directly across the Atlantic to Le Havre in 8 to 12 days. From the West Coast, a container either transits the Panama Canal or gets transshipped through another port before making the Atlantic crossing, which adds roughly three to four weeks to the ocean leg alone.
What happens if I don’t have the Change of Residence Certificate?
French customs assesses duties and taxes at approximately 50 percent of the shipment’s declared CIF value. The certificate must come from the French Consulate General in San Francisco before your goods ship, not after.
Can I ship my car from San Francisco to France?
Yes, when containerized with your household goods. Vehicles imported duty-free must have been owned and operated for at least six months prior to import, the owner must have lived outside the EU for more than a year, and the vehicle must be imported within 12 months of the residence transfer date. U.S.-spec vehicles must comply with French and EU standards to be registered.
How far in advance should I contact SDC?
For sea freight moves, contact us 6 to 8 weeks before your planned pack date, which allows time for a home survey, building access coordination, container booking, and documentation prep. The Change of Residence Certificate should be initiated even earlier given consulate processing times. Given the longer West Coast transit, booking early matters even more here than on East Coast corridors.
