Moving to Germany

A Hamburg-bound shipment from Jebel Ali leaves on a Wednesday rotation, calls Salalah, transits Suez, and lands at Burchardkai 21 to 25 days later. We can give you the vessel, the slot booking reference and the projected ETA the day after your survey. That is the level a German move runs on, and the level we have built into UAE–Germany shipments for 22 years.

Some 1,213 moves later, the corridor still carries the same mix — a Mittelstand engineer heading back to Stuttgart, a Dubai family taking up a flat in Munich-Schwabing for the school year, a UAE firm consolidating its German subsidiary in Frankfurt. The rules are exacting; the route, set up correctly, is one of the steadier ones in Europe.

1. Survey and brief

   UAE survey or video walk-through, volume measured in cubic metres, items that change customs treatment flagged. Sea and air options come back against the Anmeldung window and your German start date.

2. Documentation before sail

   EORI confirmed for commercial flows. EUR.1 movement certificate raised where preference origin applies. Übersiedlungsgut form prepared with German inventory, residence permit, UAE deregistration evidence and ICS2 data.

3. Export pack and dispatch

   Export-standard pack from Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Sharjah. ISPM-15 timber where required. Booked rotation to Hamburg, Bremerhaven or Wilhelmshaven, or air to FRA, MUC, DUS or HAM.

4. Clearance and delivery

   ATLAS lodgement at point of entry, Übersiedlungsgut relief applied, container devanned and trucked. Schwertransport permits for over-dimensional loads. Crew unpacks, reassembles and removes debris on the same visit.

The UAE–Germany corridor in detail

Sea and air routes

Sea lands at three German ports. Hamburg via the Elbe handles most household traffic — weekly departures, devanning at Burchardkai or Eurogate. Bremerhaven suits consignments routing north and west; Wilhelmshaven (JadeWeserPort) is the deeper-draught option for some Maersk and CMA CGM rotations. Air from DXB covers FRA, MUC, DUS and HAM in six to seven hours.

ATLAS, the Zoll and Übersiedlungsgut

The Generalzolldirektion runs ATLAS as its electronic clearance backbone. For UAE-origin household goods the working filing is Übersiedlungsgut — Article 3-11 returning-resident relief under Council Regulation 1186/2009. It covers duty and the 19% import VAT on personal effects owned six months or more, where the resident has lived outside the EU for 12 months and is establishing primary residence in Germany. The file includes a German-language inventory, residence permit or Meldebescheinigung, UAE deregistration evidence and a signed declaration. New white goods, commercial stock and certain vehicle configurations sit outside the relief. A EUR.1 movement certificate carries preference treatment on commercial cargo.

Transit, exclusions, vehicles and pets

Sea Jebel Ali to Hamburg or Bremerhaven runs 21 to 25 days quay-to-quay; add three to five days for ATLAS clearance, then one to three days road delivery south to Munich or Stuttgart. Air is 36 to 48 hours Dubai to Frankfurt on the ground, plus a working-day clearance. Exclusions: firearms need a Waffenbesitzkarte, certain Waffengesetz knives cannot ship, alcohol above personal quantities attracts Branntweinsteuer, new boxed electronics are commercial, plants need phytosanitary certificates. A used UAE vehicle routes through TÜV (Hauptuntersuchung plus Abgasuntersuchung) and Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt registration; most modern UAE petrol vehicles meet the Umweltzone Euro class. Pets follow BMEL: microchip, EU-recognised rabies vaccination 21+ days before travel, EU health certificate from an official UAE vet within 10 days.

Destination clusters and pricing

Berlin for technology and creative; Munich for automotive (BMW München, Audi at Ingolstadt); Hamburg for logistics and Finkenwerder aerospace; Frankfurt for finance and the Main chemical corridor; Stuttgart for Mittelstand engineering; Düsseldorf for media. Pricing builds from volume, route, freight mode, customs treatment and destination access; every quote itemises freight, customs, haulage, packing and insurance.