Removals to Vietnam from the UK
Shipping to Vietnam
Fast Secure Road & Sea
Full and part load
How do removals to Vietnam from the UK work?
Removals to Vietnam from the UK go by sea, in a full container of your own or a part load sharing space with other households. We survey your home, pack and wrap everything, handle the export side here, and work with an agent in Vietnam who clears the shipment against your work permit and residence paperwork.
Vietnam is a route where eligibility matters more than logistics. The shipping is routine; whether you are allowed to bring household goods in duty free depends on your employment status and the validity of your permit, so that is the first thing we check rather than the last.
One coordinator runs the move from survey to delivery, and the inventory built at the survey is what the clearance runs on.
How long do removals to Vietnam take?
Your transit time is confirmed in writing on your quote, because it depends on the sailing schedule, whether you book a full container or a part load, and which Vietnamese port your shipment routes through. A part load always takes longer, because it waits for the container to fill before it sails.
We would rather give you the real date for your booking than a range that proves wrong for your sailing. On this route the paperwork is more likely to move your date than the crossing, because clearance cannot start until you are in the country.
Do I pay duty on my belongings going into Vietnam?
Used household goods can be brought in without duty by a foreign national moving to Vietnam to work, but the eligibility conditions are strict. The one that decides it is your work permit: published guidance indicates it needs to be valid for at least twelve months for you to import household goods at all.
Two further conditions follow from that. You generally need to be employed by a registered company or organisation in Vietnam rather than self-employed or arriving speculatively, and you must be in the country yourself before clearance can begin. A container that lands before you do waits.
Relief is also assessed on reasonable quantities for a household rather than on anything you choose to send, so duplicates of the same appliance are the items most likely to be questioned.
These conditions come from published mover and customs guidance rather than from a figure we have invented, and the Vietnamese rules are clearer for returning nationals than for foreign residents. Your coordinator has our Vietnamese agent confirm your eligibility before anything is loaded, which on this route is genuinely worth doing first.
What documents do I need for removals to Vietnam?
You will need your passport with the entry stamp, an entry visa or temporary residence card, your work permit, a letter of employment, your employer’s company licence, and a detailed packing list in English. The number of copies required differs between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
That last detail is the sort of thing that holds a shipment for a week. Hanoi clearances typically want three sets of the documents and Ho Chi Minh City two, so the destination decides the paperwork volume before anything sails.
One packing rule is specific to Vietnam and worth knowing before you pack a single box: cartons marked as packed by the owner are not accepted. Everything needs to be professionally packed and itemised, which is a good argument for having us do the packing rather than doing it yourself over a weekend.
Which Vietnamese port will my shipment arrive at?
Most household shipments from the UK arrive through Ho Chi Minh City in the south or Haiphong, which serves Hanoi and the north. Da Nang handles the centre. The port is chosen around your delivery address, because Vietnam is long and the inland leg between regions is substantial.
The country runs well over a thousand kilometres north to south, so routing a Hanoi delivery through a southern port is an expensive mistake rather than a minor inconvenience. It also changes which customs office handles your entry, and with it the document count mentioned above.
Tell your coordinator the delivery city and the access at the other end and the routing is planned around it.
Can I send a part load to Vietnam?
Yes. A part load means you pay for the space your belongings actually take inside a shared container rather than hiring a whole one, which suits the many people who arrive into furnished accommodation and send a modest shipment rather than a full household.
The care is identical. The difference is the schedule, because a shared container sails once it is full, so the date moves with the other households travelling in it.
The survey settles which fits and we quote both. There is more on how shared containers work on our part load removals page.
Which parts of Vietnam do you deliver to?
We deliver across Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Can Tho, Nha Trang, Hue, Vung Tau and Bien Hoa, as well as the towns reached by road from those cities. North and south are a long way apart, which the routing takes into account.
City deliveries are usually apartment deliveries here, and the access questions are the familiar ones: which floor, whether there is a service lift, and what hours the building allows. Older quarters in Hanoi in particular have narrow approaches a full-size lorry cannot take.
Where that is the case the final leg transfers to a smaller vehicle, which goes in the quote rather than appearing as an extra on the day.
What sets the price of removals to Vietnam?
How much you are sending, whether you book a full container or a part load, which Vietnamese port and city you are delivering to, and how much packing you want us to do. Because owner-packed cartons are not accepted here, professional packing is effectively part of the job rather than an optional extra.
Sea freight is priced on the space your belongings occupy rather than their weight, which is why the survey matters more than a guess over the phone and why deciding what to leave behind is the most reliable saving on a route this long.
We quote in writing with the inclusions listed, and anything excluded says so.
Moving elsewhere in the region? We also run removals to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, and every route is on our Asia and Middle East destinations page. Sending less than a full household? See part load removals.
Why people trust us with a move
These are not our words. They are our customers, on a review site we do not control.
- 4.6 out of 5 from 110 reviews on Trustpilot, rated Excellent
- Over 10,000 moves completed
- Typically replies within 24 hours, as shown on the Trustpilot profile
- Our own yard and storage at Riverside Industrial Estate, Fazeley, Tamworth
- Members of Approved Movers in the UK, and we only work with overseas agents who are members of BAR or FIDI
- Reviewing since October 2020, and still collecting them every month
From contact to collection everything has been really smooth. All emails were answered promptly. The three guys that came and collected our things were super friendly, helpful and extremely careful with our belongings.
Vanessa, May 2026 – verified Trustpilot review
Removals to Vietnam: frequently asked questions
Can I move to Vietnam without a work permit?
You can move, but importing household goods duty free is tied to your employment status, and published guidance indicates a work permit valid for at least twelve months is what makes you eligible. Tell your coordinator your situation early, because it changes what is worth shipping.
Why can I not pack my own boxes?
Vietnamese clearance does not accept cartons marked as packed by the owner. Everything has to be professionally packed and itemised, which is unusual and is the single most common reason a self-packed shipment runs into trouble there.
Do I have to be in Vietnam when my things arrive?
Yes. Clearance cannot start until you are in the country, so a container that lands before you do simply waits, accruing storage. We plan the sailing around your arrival rather than the other way round.
Is it different shipping to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City?
Yes, in two ways. Different ports serve them, and the document sets differ, with Hanoi typically wanting three copies and Ho Chi Minh City two. Tell us the destination city at the survey and the paperwork is prepared accordingly.
Can I ship a car to Vietnam with my household goods?
Vehicle shipping is a service we offer, but Vietnam treats vehicles entirely separately from household effects and they are not covered by the same relief. Ask your coordinator first, and see our vehicle shipping page.
Can you store my things before they sail?
Yes, at our own yard in Staffordshire. On a Vietnam move that is often the sensible option while the work permit is being finalised, because clearance depends on it and holding goods here is cheaper than storage at the far end.
Is my shipment insured?
Cover is arranged against the value you declare, and the level of cover depends on that declaration and the terms in our agreement. Our guide to removals insurance explains it in full.