Moving to the Philippines

• Moving Household Goods And Personal Effects To The Philippines
• Helpful Downloads
• Useful Links
• Popular Destinations In The Philippines
• Moving Your Car Or Motorcycle
• Relocating Your Pets
• Restricted & Dutiable/Taxable Items
• Prohibited/Banned Items

Below is a list of the documents you will need when planning an international removal to the Philippines:

• Original of Passport (Of the individual moving/importing the goods)
• Original bill of lading (OBL) / air waybill (AWB) – We will take care of this if completing the entire international removal to the Philippines for you.
• Copy of visa
• Moving inventory list in English – We will complete this if you want us to undertake a full packing service for your removal

We recommend providing these as soon as possible to reduce delays with your removal to the Philippines. Late receipt of documentation can lead to missed shipments, additional charges and penalties at Filipino Customs. For your own protection, we will almost never ship your goods without the above in place.

• All incoming shipments are subject to the payment of duties and taxes, except for the following:
  • Holders of 9G, 13G, 13A, 9D, 47A2, SRRV, EO 226 visa – owners of the goods are entitled a full tax exemption; the application for the exemption should be submitted to the Department of Finance.
  • Diplomatic shipments are fully tax-exempt.
• Embassies and diplomatic organizations must apply for any tax exemption from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
• Returning Philippine passport holders are entitled P10,000 exemptions, on the assessed value, per each family member who stayed abroad for a minimum of 6 months continuously.
  • In excess of this, an import tax at the rate of 50% is charged based on the assessed value determined by the Customs appraiser.
• Incoming shipments of household goods are subject to 100% customs examination, except for diplomatic shipments.
• For air shipments, Customs clearance with a direct payment of duties takes 2 – 3 working days from the date of arrival of the shipment.
• For shipments with tax exemption application, Customs clearance takes approximately 4 – 5 working days from the receipt of the complete documents from the date of arrival of the air shipment.
• For less than container load (LCL) sea shipments, Customs clearance with a direct payment of duties takes approximately 3 – 4 working days from the transfer of shipments to the Customs bonded warehouse.
• For less than container load (LCL) sea shipments with a tax exemption application, Customs clearance takes approximately 4 – 5 working days from the receipt of the complete documents or transfer of shipments to Customs bonded warehouse.
• For full container load (FCL) sea shipments, Customs clearance with a direct payment of duties takes approximately 5 working days from the date of arrival of the shipment and 6 – 7 working days for shipments with a tax exemption application.
• Receipts for Customs taxes and duties will be provided two days after the delivery.