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• Moving & shipping household goods
• How to claim your items: VAT & duty
• Importation Rules within the EU
• Importation rules
• Prohibited items & vaccination requirements
• Moving to France with pets

If you are wondering how to move household items and belongings, one of the first things to keep in mind is that French customs impose restrictions on certain items, including alcohol, tobacco, and animal products. Personal items and gifts are generally fine within value limits, but commercial goods must always be declared, regardless of value.

How to ship household items & belongings

To ship your household goods, you have three options:

• air freight (fast, expensive)
• sea freight (slow, cheapest for large volumes)
• land transport

Here are a few companies that can help you to move:

When your belongings arrive in France, customs will want proof of what you own and what you paid. If you buy items in the EU and have VAT receipts, you can import them duty-free. If you are moving from outside the EU, you are expected to pay 20% VAT plus duties on anything owned for less than six months. To claim, visit your local French consulate, obtain a Certificat de Changement de Résidence, and bring three copies of a French-translated inventory with values in euros. Keep every receipt.

Documents required by French customs:

• valid passport
• French visa or residence permit
• proof of your previous residence abroad
• proof of your new address in France
• detailed inventory of all imported goods
• inventory translated into French
• estimated values listed in euros
• shipping documents or bill of lading
• receipts or proof of ownership for higher-value items

Be prepared to gather plenty of paperwork to prove you are indeed making the move.

Within the EU:

If you are relocating to France from another European Union country, the customs process is generally much simple. Most personal belongings can move freely between member states without custom duties or import taxes. Travelers from EU member states enjoy generous duty-free allowances for tobacco and alcohol.

Tobacco: If you are 17 years old and above you may carry tobacco products for personal use within the EU. Current limits include:

• 800 cigarettes
• 400 cigarillos (max. 3g each)
• 200 cigars
• 1kg of smoking tobacco

Alcohol: Adults 18 years old and above traveling within the EU may generally transport the following quantities for personal consumption:

• 10 liters of spirits over 22%
• 20 liters of alcoholic beverages less than 22%
• 90 liters of wine
• 110 liters of beer

Cash: The amount of cash is technically unlimited. If you plan on carrying over 10,000 EUR (approx. 11,770 USD), you will need to declare it.

You are also allowed to bring up to 10kg of powdered milk, children’s food, and special medical food for pets, as long as it does not need to be refrigerated before opening, and the original seal is intact (unless currently in use).

Outside of the EU:

Different regulations and limits are enforced for passengers from countries and territories where VAT and other EU provisions do not apply. The following allowances are also for travelers 17 years old and above only.

Tobacco:

• 200 cigarettes
• 100 cigarillos (max. 3g each)
• 50 cigars
• 250g smoking tobacco

Alcohol:

• 1 liter of spirits over 22%
• 2 liters of dessert wine that’s less than 22% and sparkling wine
• 2 liters of table wine
• 16 liters of beer

If you plan on bringing over 10,000 EUR (approx. 11,770 USD) or more in cash (including checks), you will need to declare it to customs. Any gold also needs to be declared, with the exception of up to 500g in personal jewelry.

Animal Products: Meat, fish, dairy, and animal-origin products are not permitted from non-EU countries, except from Croatia, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. Permitted exceptions include up to 20kg of prepared or processed fish per person, 250g of caviar, and up to 2kg of other animal products such as honey.

has more details on all these items and the corresponding restrictions. You can also contact the customs information center at +33 (0) 172 40 78 50 or visit them online at .

• Narcotics and psychotropic drugs are prohibited, unless accompanied by a valid prescription or medical certificate.
• Firearms, ammunition, and explosives are also banned unless you hold specific authorisations.
• Counterfeit goods of any kind fake designer items, pirated media are illegal and will be confiscated.
• Disposable vapes have been banned in France. Refillable devices for personal use are generally permitted but leave the disposables behind
• Medications can be brought under prescription medication for personal use for up to a three-month supply but carry your prescription and a doctor's note. Some substances common in other countries are controlled or banned in France, so check with French customs in advance at

Vaccinations requirements for France

Some shots are still recommended before traveling. You may want to start with the following recommended shots:

• hepatitis A
• hepatitis B
• yellow fever (a certificate is required for travelers coming from South America or Africa)
• rabies vaccinations

The following vaccinations are also recommended by the and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• meningitis
• polio
• measles
• mumps and rubella (MMR)
• Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis)
• chickenpox
• shingles
• pneumonia
• influenza

If you plan on visiting forested areas, a shot for tick-borne encephalitis is also recommended. It is essential to ensure that all your shots are up to date, and some vaccinations require more than one injection spread out over a few months, so plan ahead.

France welcomes pets but the rules are strict and the paperwork. Start this process at least 4–6 months before your move date.

Step 1: The authorities must be able to identify the pet through an ISO 11784/11785 compliant, 15-digit pet microchip. If your pet’s microchip is not ISO compliant, you can bring your own scanner.

Step 2: The pet must have a valid rabies vaccination, and you must wait 21 days between the last shot and your departure date. If it is their first rabies vaccination after microchipping, it is only valid for one year under EU rules.

Step 3: EU Pet Passport issued by an authorized vet in your country of origin, containing proof of the microchip and an up-to-date rabies vaccination. No additional health certificate is required.

Step 4: Within the first month of arrival, take your pet to a local French vet. They will register your pet's microchip and vaccination history into the French system called I-CAD and you will receive an official identification card by post. This registration is legally mandatory and is the only way to prove ownership of your pet in France.

If flying in from outside the EU, your pet must land at one of these approved airports:

• Paris Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG)
• Paris Orly (ORY)
• Lyon Saint-Exupéry (LYS)
• Nice Côte d'Azur (NCE)
• Marseille Provence (MRS)

Age restrictions

Puppies and kittens under 15 weeks old cannot enter France, they must be at least 12 weeks old to be vaccinated, plus the 21-day waiting period must pass before travel. If you are coming from a high-risk rabies country, pets must be at least seven months old.

Should you have more than five pets, please review additional requirements (section B).

Moving pets from outside of the EU

For expats moving to France from outside the EU, it is essential to get a non-commercial EU health certificate from a licensed vet within ten days of entering the country. If you are not traveling with your pet and you are coming from a country where rabies is not present or controlled, a bilingual version of the commercial EU health certificate for France must be completed by a vet within 48 hours of entry. Expats from the US or Canada should also ensure that their pets have had the non-commercial EU health certificate issued by an accredited USDA and CFIA veterinarian, respectively, and endorsed by these agencies as well.

Guard dogs in France

It is important to check that the breed is legal in France. The country currently bans the following dogs without pedigree certification:

• Staffordshire Terriers
• American Staffordshire Terriers
• Tosas
• Mastiffs Boerboels

To avoid difficulty upon arrival, it is advisable that owners of class 2 guard dogs bring pedigree papers, detention permit, behavioral evaluations, approval by the local town council, and insurance. Your guard dog must also always be muzzled and leashed in public, as well as comply with all other pet regulations outlined above. Guard dog owners entering France with their pet must be over 18 years of age.

Other animals

Birds coming to France from EU countries need a health certificate. They must also be quarantined for a minimum of 30 days before travel and have a vaccination against the H5 avian influenza virus or negative H5N1 antigen titration test.

If a pet bird is accompanied by its owner and coming from Andorra, Croatia, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland or Vatican City State, they will not be subject to the health requirements outlined above.

EU and non-EU domestic rabbits, reptiles, rodents, amphibians, ornamental tropical fish, and invertebrates (except for crustaceans and bees) will require a veterinary certificate of good health issued a few days before departure. Mammals will require parasite treatment before entering France.

Caring for your pet in France

You can find a veterinary practice in all major towns and cities in France, and they are easily recognizable by their signs with a blue cross. Your local vet may not be able to communicate the medical problems of your pet in English as most vets would have been trained in France, so it is worth asking a French acquaintance to accompany you to appointments to translate. Few English speaking vets:

There are some health risks to watch out for in France. Pet owners moving to France should be particularly aware of the following illnesses:

• leishmaniasis, common in the south of France
• heartworm, prevalent also in the south and can affect both cats and dogs
• ehrlichiosis, a bacterial infection transmitted by ticks
• babesiosis, also caused by ticks

If your pet does need a visit to the vet, you will be given a carnet de santé et de vaccination (health and vaccination booklet), which will form part of your pet’s passport, detailing the various treatments and injections your pet has received. It is crucial that this is kept updated if you are planning on taking your pet in and out of the country.