Arrival
Shipping your household goods (and pets) from India to Germany without paying duty you don't owe
The Übersiedlungsgut customs exemption, its actual eligibility conditions, and the separate (much stricter) rules for bringing a dog or cat from India.
Household goods you've owned and used for 6+ months qualify for duty-free import (Übersiedlungsgut) if you lived outside the EU for 12+ months and bring them within 12 months of establishing German residence: nationality isn't a factor, an Indian on a Blue Card qualifies the same as an EU returnee. Alcohol, tobacco, and commercial vehicles are excluded outright. Pets are a completely separate, much stricter process: because India isn't on the EU's low-rabies-risk list, a dog or cat needs a microchip, rabies vaccination, a titer test at least 30 days later, then a further 3-month wait from that blood draw before entry, realistically 4+ months of lead time, and entry is only permitted through designated pet entry points.
Nobody on this site had written about the actual customs process for shipping your stuff (or your pets) from India to Germany. Relocation companies have every incentive to make this sound complicated (it sells their service); this guide sticks to what Germany's own customs authority, Zoll, actually requires.
The exemption: Übersiedlungsgut
Household goods you bring when relocating your normal residence from outside the EU are exempt from German import duty and VAT under this process, called Übersiedlungsgut (relocation goods). It's not a special favour for movers; it's a standard EU-wide customs relief, governed by Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, Articles 3–11. Zoll's own page confirms the basic scope: household items, private vehicles, household supplies, and pets can all fall under it, subject to the conditions below.
Nationality is not a factor here. The regulation defines who qualifies as "a natural person transferring their normal residence." There's no citizenship requirement anywhere in the relevant articles. An Indian citizen on a Blue Card, work visa, or student visa qualifies on exactly the same terms as an EU citizen returning home. (We confirmed this by the absence of any nationality clause in the regulation text, not because Zoll states it as an explicit "yes, non-EU citizens qualify" sentence; the effect is the same either way.)
The four conditions that actually matter
1. You must have lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months before the move (Article 5). If you can't show a full 12 months, there's a narrower exception for proving you intended to stay that long, but the default rule is the clean 12-month test.
2. The goods must have been yours and used by you for at least 6 months before you gave up your old residence (Article 4a). This rules out newly-bought items you picked up specifically to bring along. The same goods must also be intended for the same use at your new home (Article 4b).
3. You have up to 12 months after establishing German residence to bring the goods in (Article 7), and importantly, you don't have to do it in one shipment. The regulation explicitly allows partial shipments within that 12-month window, which matters if you're shipping some things by air and the rest later by sea.
4. Don't sell, lend, pawn, or give away anything you imported this way for 12 months after import (Article 8) without first notifying customs; doing so triggers duty at the value and rate applicable at the time you dispose of it.
What's excluded outright
Article 6 excludes alcohol, tobacco and tobacco products, commercial vehicles, and anything used for business purposes (apart from portable tools of a trade or profession); these don't qualify under Übersiedlungsgut at all, regardless of how long you owned them. A private car should qualify under the general 6-month ownership/use test above; we could not find a Zoll-specific rule requiring a car to have been registered in your name for 6 months as a separate condition from the general ownership test. If this matters for your specific vehicle, confirm directly with your Hauptzollamt (local customs office) rather than assuming a stricter rule applies.
The paperwork
You declare your goods using customs form 0350 (Zollanmeldung), and Zoll's own guidance states this is normally submitted at the time of import, not in advance. You'll need to show ownership (invoices or purchase records), proof you lived outside the EU for the required period, and evidence of your relocation, with an employment contract as the specific example Zoll cites. Electronic or scanned submission is accepted. Beyond the employment contract example, we couldn't confirm an exact official list of what else (visa, rental agreement) Zoll wants to see; treat those as commonly useful to bring, and confirm the specific list with your local Hauptzollamt before you ship.
Pets: a completely different, much stricter process
Do not assume your dog or cat comes in under Übersiedlungsgut, or that it's a simple add-on to your household shipment. Pets are governed by a separate EU animal-health framework (principally Regulation (EU) No 576/2013, via Germany's BMLEH, the federal ministry responsible for food and agriculture), and India specifically triggers the strictest tier of that framework.
What this actually means in practice, step by step:
- Your pet needs a microchip (mandatory for any animal marked after 3 July 2011); vaccination and everything after this step is tied to that chip number.
- Rabies vaccination, administered no earlier than 12 weeks of age.
- At least 30 days after vaccination, a blood sample is drawn for a rabies antibody titer test, run at an EU-approved laboratory. India is one of a specific list of countries (grouped with Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Thailand on Zoll's own page) where this extra test is required, because India is not on the EU's list of low-rabies-risk countries.
- You then have to wait at least 3 months from the date of that blood draw before your pet is allowed to enter the EU.
Add the steps up and realistically you're looking at several months of lead time before your pet can travel. This is not something to start planning a few weeks before your own move. Entry point matters too: because India isn't on the low-risk list, you can only bring your pet in through a designated travellers' entry point for pets, not any border crossing or airport. Check which German airports are approved before booking pet transport. A written declaration that the animal isn't being imported for sale is also required, and the non-commercial allowance covers up to 5 animals per traveller.
One thing we're deliberately not citing precisely: there's a specific EU implementing regulation listing which countries are exempt from the designated-entry-point rule, and we could not independently confirm its exact current number against EUR-Lex. Rather than print a regulation number that might be wrong, we're pointing you to BMLEH's own page, bmleh.de's pet travel section, to check the current list directly before you travel, since a wrong citation here is worse than no citation.
What to actually do
- Start the pet-vaccination-and-titer-test clock as early as possible; it's the longest lead time in this entire process, easily 4+ months end to end.
- Keep every purchase invoice and proof of 6+ months' ownership for anything valuable you're shipping, before you pack it.
- Don't sell or give away anything you imported duty-free under Übersiedlungsgut within 12 months without telling customs first.
- If you're shipping in stages, you have a 12-month window from establishing German residence; you don't need everything to arrive at once.
- Confirm vehicle-specific and document-specific questions with your local Hauptzollamt directly; this guide covers the general rule, not every edge case Zoll might apply to your situation.
Related guides on this site
Frequently asked
Do I need to be an EU citizen to qualify for duty-free import of my household goods?
No. The Übersiedlungsgut exemption (Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009) defines eligibility by residence, not nationality: it covers any natural person transferring their normal residence, with no citizenship requirement in the relevant articles. An Indian citizen on a Blue Card, work visa, or student visa qualifies on exactly the same terms as an EU citizen returning home.
How long do I have to bring my household goods into Germany after I move?
Up to 12 months from establishing your German residence, and you don't need to bring everything in one shipment: the regulation explicitly allows partial shipments within that 12-month window, which is useful if you're sending some items by air and the rest later by sea.
Can I sell something I imported duty-free under Übersiedlungsgut?
Not within the first 12 months after import without notifying customs first. Selling, lending, pawning, or giving away goods you imported this way inside that window triggers duty at the value and rate applicable at the time you dispose of it.
Can I bring my dog or cat from India to Germany the same way as my furniture?
No. Pets are a completely separate, much stricter process under EU animal-health rules, not the household-goods customs exemption. Because India isn't on the EU's low-rabies-risk country list, your pet needs a microchip, a rabies vaccination, a blood test for rabies antibodies at least 30 days after vaccination, and then a further wait of at least 3 months from that blood draw before entry is allowed, realistically 4+ months of lead time. Entry is also restricted to designated pet entry points rather than any border crossing.
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