Shipping Household Goods to Vietnam from Hawaii

tunnelrat69 wrote:

Anyone know a good moving company in Hawaii that can arrange a smallish shipment to my Home in Vietnam??  I am more concerned with the receiving company that the shipper but would welcome any and all information.  My Vietnamese lady will be the receiver of my things (approx 10sq meters)  I have pared the shipment down considerably over the years and reduced it to what I definately cannot get in Vietnam - my tools for one thing.........been collecting for over thirty years, car parts for a US Army M-151, gardening supplies.  Specific Questions are:

what paperwork is needed for her to receive the shipment,
what customs charges (if any, all items are used, not new)

there is no hurry for the items to arrive, so will go slow boat I assume, my home is in the Delta region.    Thanx in advance.

I'm definitely not an expert at this, but a couple of experiences...

I was told by the clerk at my hotel in Hà Nội NOT to have things shipped to another person.

His reasoning was, customs sees this as an import of goods by that person, and will charge duties based on value, sometimes charging as if used items are new.

He said I should only ship to myself.

I believe he was implying I should be physically present in country to receive the shipment.

If that's so, perhaps you can ship just as you are coming here and be here to receive it after X transit time.

He also advised me to never insure anything I hope to pass through customs without import duties being imposed, as he said customs will use your insured value to set an import valuation.

Bottom line was to ship to myself, no value declared, as personal property.

Even with that, he warned that some items might still have import duties applied.

ALSO, I had a very expensive (retail value over $1,200.00 USD) U.S. Veterans Administration medication prescription sent (forwarded) to me.

Customs did open the package, but didn't charge duty.

It was marked "Forwarded mail" with no valuation, in the original, unopened mailer from the V.A.

I hope some of that is helpful.

I looked into this a few years ago, it was just too difficult. The forwarder said "you are at the mercy of VN customs."

There is a way to do it much easier, if you know a VN local who is returning from the states to live here, get them to bring it back. They are allowed to bring personal things back at a much lower rate.

No first hand experience because i know better.
The only thing that works every time is for you to fly back and forth and bring the stuff with you for as many trips as it takes.
If that is not doable, do without. PERIOD.

.

Wxx3 wrote:

No first hand experience because i know better.
The only thing that works every time is for you to fly back and forth and bring the stuff with you for as many trips as it takes.
If that is not doable, do without. PERIOD.

Totally agree

  Never give something you value to others - unless you are prepared to lose it...     

Colinoscapee As per custom regulations a work permit is a required document to ship personal belongings to Vietnam.Do you know if Vietnamese overseas "viet kieu" are allowed to ship personal belongings to Vietnam without a work permit if they have a 5 years visa exemption?

tktech wrote:

......

Only English language, please.

Overall, I agree with the comment that "you are at the mercy of VN customs." You'd be subject to vagaries of US or UK customs if importing something to America or Britain but here the "vagaries" are more onerous.  A few months ago, I spoke with various shipping agents in Saigon and Atlanta about bringing in a piece of furniture from Atlanta. They didn't see a problem with the 15,000 kilometer journey from Georgia but pondered how to negotiate the path through customs.  I called various customs agents here and eventually found one that was willing to help - for a price.

CHRISLANGTON wrote:

Overall, I agree with the comment that "you are at the mercy of VN customs." You'd be subject to vagaries of US or UK customs if importing something to America or Britain but here the "vagaries" are more onerous.  A few months ago, I spoke with various shipping agents in Saigon and Atlanta about bringing in a piece of furniture from Atlanta. They didn't see a problem with the 15,000 kilometer journey from Georgia but pondered how to negotiate the path through customs.  I called various customs agents here and eventually found one that was willing to help - for a price.

Everything can be done for a price here.