“We were without our things for weeks.” It is one of the things people tell us most often about moves that went badly elsewhere, and it is rarely because anything went wrong. It is because nobody told them, before they packed, how long the gap would be, or helped them plan for it.
When you move abroad, you usually arrive days after your belongings are collected, and they arrive weeks after you. For a move to Spain, that gap might be a long weekend. For a move to New Zealand, it can be more than three months. This guide tells you how long it is likely to be for your destination, and how to make those weeks comfortable rather than something to get through.
How Long Will You Be Without Your Belongings?
The gap depends on how your belongings travel and how far. These are typical door-to-door times from collection in the UK to delivery at your new home, including customs clearance.
| Destination | How your belongings usually travel | Typical door to door |
|---|---|---|
| Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands | Road, dedicated or shared load | Under 2 weeks for a dedicated load; 2 to 4 weeks for a shared load |
| Switzerland, Italy, Scandinavia | Road | 1 to 4 weeks |
| UAE, South Africa | Sea freight | 4 to 6 weeks |
| USA (east coast), Singapore | Sea freight | 5 to 7 weeks |
| Canada | Sea freight | 6 to 9 weeks |
| USA (west coast) | Sea freight | 7 to 10 weeks |
| Australia | Sea freight | 8 to 12 weeks |
| New Zealand | Sea freight | 10 to 14 weeks |
Two things stretch these ranges. A shared container (your belongings travel alongside other people’s, which is cheaper for smaller moves) waits until it is full before it sails, which can add a few weeks. And customs and inspection at the destination can add days or, if paperwork is missing, weeks. Our guide to how long an international move actually takes breaks this down stage by stage.
Why Is the Gap Longest at the Destination End?
Most people picture the sea crossing as the long part. In practice, the stretch that feels longest is after the ship docks, because it is the part you cannot see. Your belongings are unloaded, wait for customs, may be inspected (in Australia and New Zealand, often for biosecurity), and are then booked in for delivery by the destination partner.
This is where your move manager earns their keep. They are your primary contact throughout, and the person watching the file at this stage: chasing the clearance, making sure the destination partner has your address and access details, and telling you the delivery date as soon as it is fixed. If you have moved before you have a permanent address, they hold your belongings in storage until you do.
Plan the Gap in Three Layers
The people who find the first weeks easiest split their belongings into three groups before the survey, not on packing day.
Layer 1: What travels with you
Your suitcases and hand luggage carry everything you cannot be without, and everything you could not replace if it were delayed:
- Documents: passports, visas, birth and marriage certificates, driving licences, school and medical records, your tenancy or property paperwork, and your removal inventory.
- Medicines: at least a few weeks’ supply in original packaging, with a copy of the prescription. Rules on bringing medicines into a country vary, and some common UK medicines are controlled elsewhere, so check with your destination’s embassy before you fly.
- Electronics: phones, laptops, chargers and plug adaptors.
- Keys and valuables: house keys, jewellery and anything irreplaceable.
- Clothes for the climate you are arriving into, not the one you are leaving. Arriving in Sydney in January means summer; in Toronto, it means proper winter boots.
- One or two things that make a room feel like yours, especially for children: a favourite blanket, a few books, a photo.
Layer 2: What goes ahead by air
For long-haul moves, a small consignment sent by air freight or as unaccompanied baggage bridges the gap. It usually arrives within one to two weeks and is priced by weight and size, so it suits a few boxes, not furniture.
What people send this way: kitchen basics (a couple of pans, knives, mugs), bedding and towels, more clothes, children’s toys and school things, work equipment, and anything they will miss in the first month but cannot carry. Our guide to sea freight vs air freight explains when splitting a move this way saves money as well as stress.
Layer 3: Everything else, by sea or road
Furniture, most of your kitchen, books, pictures and the rest of your home go in the main move. Once that is decided, you can stop thinking about it: your move manager will tell you when it sails, when it arrives and when it will be delivered.
What Should Never Go in the Container?
On every packing day, someone finds something in a box that should have been in a suitcase. The usual ones:
- Passports, visas and the original documents you need at the destination’s immigration desk
- Prescription medicines and glasses
- House and car keys, for the home you are leaving and the one you are going to
- The paperwork your removal needs at customs (your move manager will tell you what you need to carry and what they hold)
- Laptops, phones and their chargers
- Cash, cards, jewellery and items of high personal value
Some things cannot go in a container at all: aerosols, flammables, many cleaning products, and food in some destinations. Our list of what you can’t ship covers the main ones.
How Long Will Your Move Take?
Your move manager can give you a realistic door-to-door timeline for your route, including customs at the destination, and tell you whether a small air freight consignment would make the first weeks easier. You will get both in the first call.
Where Will You Live in the Meantime?
There are three common ways to bridge the gap, and many people combine them.
- A furnished let or serviced apartment. If you are renting at the destination, a furnished place for the first one to three months removes the problem entirely and gives you time to choose a neighbourhood. Gerson Moving Services can help arrange temporary accommodation in many destinations.
- Your new home, with rented basics. If you have your keys, renting a bed, a table and chairs for a few weeks is often cheaper than you expect. Our furniture rental service can have basics in place when you arrive.
- Buy a few cheap essentials. A blow-up bed, a kettle and a set of plates bought on arrival, then donated, can cost less than shipping or renting them.
How Do You Make the Gap Easier on Children and Pets?
Children cope best when they know what is happening and when. Tell them the date the “big lorry” or “the boat with our things” is due, and pack a box of their own things in your Layer 2 consignment so their room is not empty for long. If they start school before your belongings arrive, make sure uniform and school bags travel with you.
Pets usually fly separately through a specialist pet relocator, and arrive needing calm and routine. Pack their bedding, food and a familiar toy in your suitcase, not the container.
What Happens When Your Belongings Finally Arrive?
Delivery day is when the gap ends. The crew unloads, unpacks the essentials if you have asked them to, and checks items off the inventory with you. Our guide to what happens on delivery day explains what to have ready.
Most people say the same thing at this point: the house only felt like theirs once their own things were in it. Planning the gap does not make it shorter, but it means the wait is something you planned for, not something that happened to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take for a shipping container to arrive from the UK?
What should I take on the plane when moving abroad?
Is it worth sending some belongings by air freight?
For long-haul moves, usually yes. A few boxes sent by air freight or as unaccompanied baggage typically arrive within one to two weeks, and cover the first month while the main move travels by sea. It is priced by weight and size, so keep it to essentials.
Can I move into my new home before my furniture arrives?
Yes. Many people rent basics such as a bed, table and chairs for a few weeks, or buy a few cheap essentials on arrival. A furnished let for the first one to three months is the other common option.
What happens if my belongings arrive before I have somewhere to live?
They can be held in storage at the destination until you have an address. Your move manager will arrange storage and then book delivery once you have your keys; storage is charged by volume and time.
Can I pack my own suitcase items in with the removal and take them out first?
Related Topics
- Sea freight vs air freight for your international move
- How long does an international move actually take?
- Moving abroad before you have a permanent address
- What happens on delivery day
Plan Your First Weeks Before Packing Day
The best time to plan the gap is at the survey, when your move manager is already looking at what you own. Tell them your arrival date and where you will be staying, and they can work out with you what travels with you, what goes ahead by air and what follows by sea, with a realistic delivery date for each.
