- Download our Moving to Hong Kong Guide (PDF)
Shipping and removals to Hong Kong tend to be straightforward. The city is one of the world’s busiest ports, so shipping firms are plentiful and deliveries arrive quickly.
Hong Kong is a free port, so your household effects clear customs free of duty and tax, no matter their value or quantity. You’ll pay duty only on a short list of goods such as liquor and tobacco, which seldom crop up in a household move.
If you have secured a shipping allowance through your contract, or you simply want the most hassle-free way to get your belongings to Hong Kong, we recommend hiring an international removals company. These firms send someone round to look over your belongings and quote for the size of crate you’ll need.
Newcomers often don’t know that the management companies of older Hong Kong buildings often make you book the lift and get sign-off before move-in day. It’s best to sort this out with your building management or estate agent well ahead of time.
Shipping household goods to Hong Kong
Before shipping household goods to Hong Kong, work out what is genuinely worth bringing and what you can replace more cheaply once you arrive. Furniture is the obvious place to start. Anything bought for another city may not fit into a Hong Kong flat (which will likely be smaller), and precious family heirlooms may be safer at a family member’s home or in a storage unit than on a long voyage across the sea.
IKEA has several stores across Hong Kong where you can pick up good-quality furniture, and it runs a delivery and installation service for anyone whose toolkit didn’t make the journey. Departing residents also offload furniture on local secondhand marketplaces and community noticeboards, sometimes for a small fee and sometimes just the cost of collection.
What you pay to ship the rest depends on the volume of your shipment, the method you choose, the distance it travels, and whether you insure it. Air freight is faster but far pricier than sea freight, so to keep costs down, split the shipment. Send whatever you’ll need straight away by air (or pack it in your flight luggage), and let the rest follow by sea.
Expat employees on a relocation package should try to negotiate a shipping allowance into their contract. Typical offers include both an air freight and a sea freight allowance. These usually cover the move out to Hong Kong and the journey home when the contract ends.
Relocation Companies in Hong Kong
Shipping pets to Hong Kong
Hong Kongers love their animals, and shipping pets to Hong Kong is a common practice. Even so, think hard about whether the move really suits your animal before you commit. Hong Kong flats are small, green space is not always close at hand, pet-friendly rentals can be hard to find, and dogs are barred from many of the city’s public parks. Some areas are far kinder to pet owners than others. Discovery Bay is a long-standing favourite with dog owners, and in the greener parts of the New Territories, such as Sai Kung, animals have room to roam.
Beyond finding the right home, you’ll want to get the costs and paperwork straight, and this starts with quarantine. Whether your pet has to go into quarantine depends on where it travels from. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) sorts countries and places into four risk groups. Pets from the lowest-risk group, which includes rabies-free countries such as the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, usually avoid quarantine altogether, provided you meet all the permit conditions. Pets from higher-risk groups must complete a minimum quarantine period, and government kennels are often fully booked well in advance, so start the process early.
Before travel, your pet must be microchipped to the recognised international (ISO) standard and vaccinated against the usual infectious diseases. Rabies rules are strict, and some pets require a rabies antibody blood test and a waiting period before they can fly. Your pet will also need a Special Permit from the AFCD before it travels. The permit is valid for six months and covers a single consignment, so time your application to line up with your move.
Some breeds won’t be allowed in at all. The AFCD bans several fighting-dog breeds and their crossbreeds: the Pit Bull Terrier (also called the American Staffordshire Terrier), the Japanese Tosa, the Dogo Argentino, and the Fila Braziliero. Savannah cats are off the list too, and Bengal cats are allowed only with documents that prove at least five generations of distance from their wild ancestor.