I will be moving with my husband and kids to the Netherlands at the beginning of April. When I contacted the Dutch Douane, they told me I could only submit the form to import our belongings once I have deregistered in CH and registered in The Netherlands. 'Approximately' 5 weeks later I will receive the paperwork that will allow us to import our things. This is far from ideal.

Finally my question! Regularly on the EF, I see members offering to drive a van load of goods back to the UK for someone else. Do you have any problems/explaining to do when crossing the border?
I am considering renting a van and bringing the essentials with me in April and hoping I won't get sent back by the friendly German police...

I moved from Guernsey (Channel Islands) to Switzerland a few months ago, so this may help.
I drove my car down here, then rented a 3.5 tonnes "white van" in Zurich, drove it to Guernsey, loaded up with boxes, furniture etc... and drove back to Zurich again.
I was stopped at the border in Basel leaving CH with the empty van because the Swiss police didn't believe that it was empty, but they just had a quick look inside and they let me go (well, it was empty...).
On the way back here (full van) I was stopped again, but they literally opened the van doors and closed them again in about 0.5 secs. I was already ruffling up all the paperwork that I was supposed to have (import declarations, bond documents etc...) and they told me to bugger off 'cos I was stopping the traffic.
Not sure if the CH plates on the van helped, or maybe it was my Italian passport (they must see a lot of them going back and forth...). I put it down to the fact that it was 7am and a lot of people going through the border, not sure if they are more thorough at other times.

It sounds very odd that you need to wait 5 wks to import stuff in Holland, surely there must be an internet form you can fill in and bring with you with your stuff at the Douane (that's what they do here...).

you may want to check out this site

Unless everything you're importing is brand new there won't be any trouble. Just make a list of your belongings to hand to the customs man, who will no doubt give it a cursory glance then wave you on.

Thanks for the info Walter - I was stunned about the 5 weeks also, the guy in NL apologised about the time it takes but said that is just the way it works there..

I've done it a few times both ways bring personal effects for people here. I've always had a signed declaration from them that the goods are old and not commercial. I've never needed to show it, the odd times I have been stopped I haven't even been able to finish "they are personal..." before I'm waved on. Not a guarantee that you won't have problems though!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply.
I think I will print out the official list that will be submitted to the Dutch Douane and take my chances, we are mainly shipping clothes, toys a couple of couches and baby furniture - all more than 6 months old
I will update you to let you know if we made it through!

I live in the Netherlands nr Leiden, never seen Douane in NL check anything at the borders. All open. I've brought x5 car loads of stuff from the UK.

One thing I will say is they take a liking to foreign plated cars in Den Haag so be careful that your "legal" if moving there.

Also x3 car loads out of CH to the UK never any problems.

Then again if you do it yourself and don't declare it.

By the way welcome to Dutch paperwork..

Ah Ive also lived in France - nobody can beat them for bureaucracy!

We will declare the lot this week, and just drive everything the following week.
Thanks for the heads up about the car, it will be 6months and 1 week old so it should be just ok to import without having to pay the dreaded BPM!

This is for businesses and not individuals. I know this site too well!

http://www.douane.nl/particulier/rei....html#P79_5940

I am moving to the Netherlands from a non-EU country. Which goods may I bring in free of tax?

You can bring in most of your personal belongings to the Netherlands without having to pay tax.

See:

http://www.douane.nl/particulier/ver....html#P50_6720

Why Dutch customs? isn't the only thing she has to worry about is what the Germans, or French are going to say?

Just to let you know my personal experience... I moved from Germany to Switzerland last month with a van... usually I drive across the boarder in downtown Konstanz because there's usually no one at the boarder later at night. However, I guess I was early the day we moved and there were boader controllers still working. We just stopped over to the side to let them have a look. They asked a few questions... what's in there, if anything is new, how old my computer is, anything expensive, etc. Since it was around 11pm, they were probably just about to finish for the night so the whole "inspection" took less than 10minutes and they sent us on our way. I didn't have to pay anything Hope that helps!

There are lots of (most-part-of-the-day) unmanned border crossings (official N-roads). Nuff said ! At least over here at the Swiss/French border.

We imported 7.5 cubic metres of personal goods via air-freight...
The customs officers opened one box - they knew which one they wanted - they were checking the electricals...nothing else was of concern, and it was all delivered, and the paperwork was completed several months later...

be carefull ive been stopped and had to pay heavy duties

26k Euros BPM they want to charge me to import my car, I think I'll wait 6 months and be a tourist

The dutch are excellent at dragging it out and form filling, wait till you get to tax returns.

Technically no, EU - EU unless they are smuggling drugs/money/german investment bankers they're unlikely to care.

FYI people in Basel area,,

"Look up google maps"

Kiesstrasse, 4123 Allschwil, Arlesheim, Basel-Land, Switzerland

You should be able to find a shortcut into France via a petrol station/cement factory missing out the border post, obviously this is at your own risk. You can get pulled away from the posts by interested officials.

My old days of running the Swiss border with too much wine/meat bought in St.Louis are now over so I feel it's time to hand on this knowledge to those in more need lol

Im happy to let you know that I am now sitting in The Netherlands with all of my belongings! We crossed the border at Weil am Rhein on Easter Sunday morning at 8am and there was not a person in sight, must have been on an Easter egg hunt

Good for you! Though I've noticed they never stop us at all anymore anyway. Are we getting old and sensible looking I wonder? Good luck with the new start.