Moving to Abu Dhabi from Spain

Wisse Moving offers a door-to-door solution if you are moving to Abu Dhabi from Spain. We collect anywhere in Spain, and we deliver into your new home in Abu Dhabi. 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 services we do.

Free proposal

If you are thinking of moving to Abu Dhabi, 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 service 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.

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Moving to Abu Dhabi by sea container or part-load container

There are several options to do your move to Abu Dhabi 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 cardboard liftvan. A liftvan is a crate made of multi-layer, 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 sea container together with other goods.

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 a o part-load 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 Abu Dhabi

Wisse Moving and our agents in Abu Dhabi 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 residence permit or the residence visa on your passport
Bill of lading, seaway bill or airway bill (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:

Documents must be in place before the shipment arrives to port Jebel Ali.
Without a residence permit or a passport, the shipment cannot be cleared.
Shipments are likely to be intensively inspected by Customs. The cost for this inspection is to be paid by the owner of the goods.
Importing 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.

Stephanie S. ★★★★★
Within 3 days everything was picked up in Amsterdam The Netherlands and moved to Madrid Spain. Excellent care for my belongings, great packaging to make sure everything stays in a good condition and also very responsive. A move abroad without … More any stress!
Paddy T. ★★★★★
In almost thirty years of intercontinental moves along the ex-pat trail with many of the biggest names in the business I have never had better service than Wisse Moving. From the first contact, and initial video call with René to assess … More our move, to the last box unloaded in our new city they were the most professional, friendly and courteous moving company we have ever used. Hurdles that would have had many movers hand the issue over to us were ironed out and always in good nature and patience. I can't say enough good about these guys and without a shadow of doubt we will be using them on our next move. The absolute gold standard.
Dave P. ★★★★★
We were extremely impressed with the service from this company.The drivers were extremely helpful, efficient and friendly and we received all our boxes in excellent condition.We definitely recommend them!

Prohibited items for moving to Abu Dhabi

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

Tobacco, cigarettes, cigars
Weapons of all kind
Alcohol, spirits, liquor
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 manufactured 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

Importing motor vehicles

In some case you can bring your car or motorcycle as well. These would be loaded together with your household goods into a sea container. 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)
Authorisation letter
Title / Copy of certificate of origin / registration card from the origin country. The documents must include a detailed description, including engine / VIN number, year of production, colour etc.
Copy of original invoice or purchasing invoice
Proof of ownership

Also bear in mind

The length 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 please 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!