A Silicon Valley International Moving Company that are specialists in relocation and shipments of household goods, personal effects, and vehicles for Silicon Valley residents.
International Moving from Silicon Valley
SDC International Shipping is a company that has been specializing in relocating clients from Silicon Valley to locations around the world for decades. Many times these clients are moving at the behest of their employer, either going abroad for a few years or returning home after working in the United States for a few years
SDC is a national freight forwarder, licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission for the export of residential and commercial goods. Though we work throughout the United States, a good portion of our household goods exporting business is from the Silicon Valley area. We regularly pick up from locations throughout California, so be sure to call us if you are moving from anywhere in California.
Many of our clients from Silicon Valley are going abroad for a few years at the request of their employer, or are people who have come to work in Silicon Valley and are now returning to their home countries or moving on to another country.
International Household Moving from Silicon Valley
If you are moving for work purposes, your company will likely help pay your move. If your company commonly sends employees to other countries, speak with your relocation specialist about a business account. While we always try to give our clients the best rates possible for their moves, business clients can be billed directly for the move, leaving you to take care of far less.
Smaller companies prefer to leave the details to their employees, giving them lump sum payments that might take the form of either one large payment or the refund of costs up to a certain ceiling. Each system has advantages to you.
As no two moves will be the same, we need to be carefully planning the logistics of your relocation early. Some destination locations have complicated rules. If your employer is sending you, they have probably already arranged for a work visa. If not, make sure that you start getting one right away.
In the past few years we have also been facilitating retirement relocations from the Silicon Valley area to pleasant locations around the globe where your long years of hard work will allow you and your family to retire comfortably.
When you are moving from the United States to a foreign country, whether as a returning citizen or as an American citizen with a valid immigration visa, there are many things that you will want to bring many things with you. Outside of the things that you acquired in your time in Silicon Valley, you will also want to send the things that loved from California and might be hard to get wherever you are going. For some people this will be sports equipment, for others it will be toiletries or kitchen utensils.
Everybody sends their personal goods like clothes, works of art, and furniture. If you have put together a library of books send it to your new country, it will be hard to replicate the library you built in the United States. You should think about stocking up on books to read, for some locations regular shipments are available but expensive.
If you are moving to the Far East and are average American body size or greater, buy extra clothes and shoes to ship to your destination, your size won’t be easy to find everywhere.
Unless you know for sure that you are moving to a furnished residence, you will want to send your furniture. Do you already know the exact place you are moving to? If so, ask for measurements of the rooms, you want to make sure that your furniture will fit. To conserve your cargo allowance, we will take apart your furniture as appropriate when our movers come to pick it up.
Whatever we disassembled at the point of origin will be put pack together by our movers upon delivery. As a part of the delivery service, our movers will also remove moving boxes and debris, uncrate valuables, and place all of the furniture you sent in the rooms of your new house.
International Customs and Regulations
For most countries it is important to distinguish between returning citizens and people coming with long term residence visas. The customs and regulations are far uniform across the globe. Even in Europe, where most of the countries are members of the European Union, there are big differences.
Used household goods can almost always be sent free of customs for those with a right of residence. There is always a “gestation” period for returning citizens that is at least six months, and in some countries at least two years. This is the period of time that a returning citizen should have lived abroad before they can send a shipment duty free. For those with immigrant visas, the usual requirement is only used goods.
Sales taxes also vary greatly in different places. Usually called a VAT or a GST, these can be quite high in Europe, and closer to American norms in Africa and Asia. This will usually be charged on any new items that you send.
You usually won’t be able to send alcohol in a container, or are charged hefty taxes, so don’t send those. Do not send anything that can be construed to be of a pornographic nature or in any way. Anything related to illicit drugs should not be placed in a container. Some destinations also frown upon seditious materials.
International Car Shipping from Silicon Valley
SDC has been dealing with international car shipping from Silicon Valley for decades. Automobiles from California have the most stringent environmental regulation of any in the United States. While this makes cars from California a little more expensive than other locations, it means that most of them will already meet the environmental controls in destination countries.
For countries that drive on the right, it is usually a really good idea to send a car from the United States, especially to European destinations. Many countries have very high purchase taxes on automobiles, and American cars are comparatively far more affordable. For destination countries that drive on the left hand side of the road and have the automobile steering column on the right, it is usually impractical to ship a car from the United States. There are a few countries that will allow it, but in general it is not a good idea. Consult with your relocation specialist about the specific rules of your destination country.
Motorcycles rules differ, and even some countries that won’t allow you to ship a car will allow a motorcycle. You need to check if special permission is necessary.
While rules differ slightly from country to country, typically cars need to be delivered to inspection and licensing facilities adjacent to ports of entry. If a licensed vehicle is placed within a container including household goods, it will be the last thing put in, so that it can easily be removed for inspection upon arrival at the destination port. Most vehicles will require a title validation prior to their export. The title must be free and clear. We will need the original title sent to us in order to clear for transfer before pickup. Once this has been completed, SDC‘s logistics coordinator will mail the title back to you via certified mail.
Other vehicles that can be sent are recreational boats, campers, and in some countries jet skis, snow mobiles, etc. Some countries will allow for the import of vehicles that don’t require licensing like light motorcycles or motorized scooters.
From Silicon Valley, cars can be sent in a variety of methods. Sometimes we will pick up the car or send a car carrier. You can also deliver it to us or to the port of Long Beach.
International Moving from Silicon Valley Checklist
Plan early. There will be many things that you should do before you book your pick up date. 0
Update all of your passports before your travel. If you have obtained dual citizenship, consult with tax experts. If you are not a citizen, make an appointment to visit the closest consulate of your destination and country and review the information available on their websites.
Will you be bringing your pet with you to your new country? Obtain a recent veterinary report of good health and have your vet fill in the USDA APHIS form within 10 days of travel. Check early, as some countries will have a lengthy multi-step process.
If you don’t yet speak the language of your destination country, start learning it, there are many good methods available to learn any language today. Though there are many, many places in the world where you can get by with English, you’ll want to live in that country, and that is done in the native language.
Make sure that you understand the way the health system works in your destination. The method of health insurance differs tremendously throughout the world. Even if the destination has some sort of universal coverage, it is not always sufficient or does not always meet the needs of Americans. Arrange for family health insurance before you go. You should make copies of your families health records and translate them where needed. Also make sure to bring immunization records. Almost all countries now require anyone entering them to be fully immunized.
Make sure that your whole family is fully immunized. Most countries in the world now require that you have the MMR vaccine. Consult the website of the CDC for recommendations for your destination country. Some countries will have recommendations for tropical diseases or other things uncommon in America that you might not have needed as a tourist but will require for long term living.
Other things that needed in many locations are copies of credit reports for the local banks and a police report of good citizenship to obtain an ID cards.
International Shipping Options
There are many international shipping options from Silicon Valley available from SDC International Shipping. For urgent things, you will want to send cargo by air. If you are sending commercial shipments, which are our usual air customers, make sure that you have the necessary import licenses or have partnered with an importer at destination.
For your household goods and personal effects, the most common way to send things from the United States is in a shipping container. These can be 20’, 40’and 40’ high cube containers with cargo space of 1100 ,2200 or 2700 cubic feet, respectively. The contents of a 3 bedroom house can usually be fit into a 20’ container. A 40’ container can fit a 3 +bedroom house and a 40’ HC should be sent if you have a larger shipment or if you are including extra items like a car or motorcycle.
Not all of our clients send thousands of cubic feet of cargo, many send only 100 cubic feet. For those we have several LCL (less than full container load) options available. If you are moving to Europe, we can send your things at very good rates using our groupage consolidations. Consult your relocation specialist.
