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Moving stuff from Europe to Colombia

Last activity 21 July 2017 by OsageArcher

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MatthiasD

Hi everyone!

I live in Cali and need to organize a moving with stuff from Switzerland to Colombia and I have no idea how to do that.. Does someone have any idea of how I should proceed? Any information that you could share would be helpful :)

Thanks!

Matthias

OsageArcher

What kind of "stuff" are you moving?

Depending on what, exactly, you are shipping it may cost as much and even more than it's worth to ship goods to Colombia, not just due to the transportation costs but then to the taxes placed on it for import.  There is also the bureaucratic hassle involved which can be considerable - port fees, trucking fees, inspections, valuation of the goods item by item to determine the tax, paperwork, etc.

Most people find it much easier to bring only what you can carry in a few suitcases and then buy household goods and whatever else you need in Colombia.

Here is a PDF from DIAN, the Colombian agency in charge of imports and taxes.  It lists what is permitted to be brought in and in what quantities, for household goods (menaje de casa):

http://www.cancilleria.gov.co/sites/def … estico.pdf

I would suggest getting in touch with DIAN and getting as much information as you can from them:

http://www.dian.gov.co/

Under the heading Contáctenos are listed various ways to get in touch with them, just click on them for further info.

You can get some idea of what's necessary to ship from Switzerland to Colombia here, with the container coming into the port of Buenaventura (maybe, and if elsewhere in any case you'd then have to arrange transportation of the goods in-country by land to Cali):
https://www.searates.com/shipping/list/ … ombia_co_1

If you do a search for 'shipping switzerland to colombia' you will also get other hits that may be helpful.

MatthiasD

Thank you for the information you shared, it is definitely very helpful.

By stuff, I mean my personal household goods and that's it.

I will look closer to the information you shared and let you know if I have some more questions.

Regards,
Matthias

handymantulsa

Anyone ever brought cars to Colombia from USA or from Colombia to USA? Lik to bring a Willy to USA and my Dodge diesel here fro USA or other car. Anyone ship or import here?

OsageArcher

handymantulsa wrote:

Anyone ever brought cars to Colombia from USA or from Colombia to USA? Lik to bring a Willy to USA and my Dodge diesel here fro USA or other car. Anyone ship or import here?


Basically you can't import a car into Colombia, unless it's a classic car or you are a diplomat or you are a Colombian citizen and the vehicle is brand-new.  And the import fees and paperwork would make it not worth the trouble.  See this thread here and search the forum, it's been discussed many times:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=672781

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