Moving to Dubai from Spain

Wisse Moving offers a door-to-door solution if you are moving to Dubai from Spain. We collect anywhere in Spain, and we deliver into your new home in Dubai. We are specialists in getting you move in the fastest and safest manner to its destination. Our services include packaging and customs clearance. We offer insurance options for all moves we handle.

Free proposal

If you are thinking of moving to Dubai, then the best way to start is with a proposal. You can contact Wisse Moving, and we will prepare a budget for your move. The price is mainly based on the volume of your goods, but is is also important to know the access situations, and to bear in mind any extra services you might require. We usually do a pre-move survey by video call for all moves. Our consultant will estimate the volume of your goods, and you can discuss any questions or concerns you may have. If you have an exceptionally large move, or many items that need special wrapping, then we might decide on doing a physical survey to your residence. If you have only a few things to move, then we could also gather the information by email.

Moving to Dubai by sea container or part-load container

There are several options to do your move to Dubai from Spain. If you have don’t have many items and no furniture (or just some small pieces of furniture), then we could do a part-load move. We would pack your personal items into boxes. We would collect your belonging anywhere in Spain. Afterwards, we would crate the boxes into a “liftvan”. A liftvan is a crate made of multilayer, very resistant cardboard. Using a liftvan has many advantages over using a wooden crate. A liftvan is light weight, ecological, more economical, adaptable in size and does not require fumigation. The liftvan would be shipped in a part-load sea container together with other goods (LCL).

A Sea Container of Full Container Load (FCL) is an excellent option if you want to ship a whole household, or a number of boxes and furniture, or if you want to add a car or motorcycle to your shipment. We would also take care of packaging of boxes of furniture. The decision whether to use a whole container for your move or a part-load container is purely economical; both methods are equally safe.

If you don’t have many goods, and if the shipment has to arrive quickly to its destination, then we can also quote sending it by airfreight.

Customs in Dubai

Wisse Moving and our agents in Dubai will take care of customs clearing your move. In order to do the customs clearance we would need the following documents. Please use this information only as a rough guide; customs requirements may change, and the final decision on whether your goods can be imported depends on the customs authorities.

• Copy of your passport
• Copy of your Spanish NIE or DNI
• Copy of your residence permit or the residence visa in the UAE
• An authorization for the export customs clearance in Spain (Wisse Moving will provide the form)
• Bill of lading, seawaybill or airwaybill (Wisse Moving will take care of this)
• Detailed packing list (Wisse Moving will prepare this upon collection in Spain)
• Letter of authorization (our customs agent at destination will provide the format)

Bear in mind:

• You have to provide us with the UAE residence visa before we can organise the shipment.
• Without a residence permit or a passport, the move cannot be shipped.
• Almost all shipments are intensively inspected by Customs in the port of Jebel Ali. The cost for this inspection is to be paid by the owner of the goods.
• Importing used household goods is exempted from customs duties.
• If any prohibited items are found in your shipment in a customs inspection, this will cause severe punishments. You can be fined, imprisoned, or both. Do not include any prohibited items in your move!
• Import duties on new items are 5% of the value of the items + 5% VAT
• Customs clearance takes about 4 – 5 working days for sea shipments, and approximately 3 – 4 working days for air shipments. These times are approximate, and depend on Customs.

What to do if I don’t have a residence permit yet in UAE?

Many clients have to leave their current house of apartment in Spain, but don’t have a residence permit yet in the UAE. As mentioned before, you have to have a valid residence permit in the UAE before we can ship the goods. In that case we could make an appointment for collection, and store the goods temporarily in one of our secure storage facilities in Spain.

Prohibited items for moving to Dubai

The following items are prohibited for importing in Dubai, and/or cannot be included in the move:

• Tobacco, cigarettes, cigars
• Weapons of all kind
• Alcohol, spirits, licor
• Drugs or narcotics of all kinds
• Medicines
• Radio transmitters, wireless transmitters or communication equipment
• Gambling games
• Statues and figures of animals with religious undertones
• Carvings and statues of humans, especially nude
• Pornographic materials
• Controversial political and religious literature
• Materials contrary to Islamic principles
• Toxic or radioactive materials
• Items manifactured in or originating from Israel
• Food items, food containing pork
• Articles made from endangered animals, ivory or rhinoceros horn
• Any other goods prohibited by UAE authorities or laws
• Any perishable or hazardous goods
• Electric vehicles (e-bikes, car, electric scooters etc.)

Importing motor vehicles

In some cases you can bring your car or motorcycle as well. These would be loaded together with your household goods into a sea container. This is subject to acceptance of the vehicle by the shipping line. In order to import a vehicle you would need the following documents:

• Copy of passport
• Copy of residence permit or visa on passport
• Bill of lading or seaway bill (Wisse Moving will provide this)
• Authorization letter
• Title / Copy of vertificate of origin / registration card from the origin country. The documents must include a detailed description, including engine / VIN number, year of production, color etc.
• Copy of original invoice or purchasing invoice
• Proof of ownership

Also bear in mind

• The lenght of ownership is not relevant when determining the payable duties
• Import duties of 5% + VAT 5% are charged on all motor vehicles
• Customs will issue a customs clearance certificate in 2 – 3 working days. With this certificate your can register your car at the traffic department.
• Jebel Ali has much port congestion, for which it can take 1 -2 weeks before the container with the vehicle gets customs cleared.
• For vehicles older than 10 years pls check with us if they can be imported.
• Vehicles with tainted glass are restricted to be imported
• Only left hand drive cars are allowed (with the steering wheel on the left side)

Please bear in mind this page is merely informative, and should be used only as a rough guide. Customs regulation may change anytime!