Moving your home from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
Find out how to move your personal belongings from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
You can get relief from customs charges due on personal belongings, when moving your home to Northern Ireland from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).
Moving your personal belongings to Northern Ireland
If you are personally moving your own personal belongings, you are able to make a declaration by conduct. When you arrive at the point of exit from Great Britain, you can do this by:
- walking through a customs control point (this can be a green channel signed ‘nothing to declare’) with the goods, if you’re an individual on foot
- driving (or being driven) past a customs control point with the goods inside your vehicle, if you’re in a vehicle
- continuing your onward journey, if there are no customs control points
When you arrive in Northern Ireland, go through the ‘green channel’ at your port of entry or, where a green channel does not exist, drive across the boundary of the port.
If you are moving through certain locations, your carrier may ask you for a goods movement reference (GMR) when you are booking your passage or checking in. If they do, you should confirm with them that you are a private citizen moving your own personal belongings which does not require a GMR.
You will not need to complete a safety and security declaration (also known as an entry summary declaration).
Using someone else to move your personal belongings to Northern Ireland
If you are using a removal company or someone else to move your personal belongings, they need to register for the goods vehicle movement system.
They’ll also need to make a declaration. If they are new to customs processes, they can sign up for the free Trader Support Service. The Trader Support Service will guide them through any changes due to the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol and can complete declarations on their behalf without the need for specialist advice or software.
They may also need to make a safety and security declaration (entry summary declaration). Check if you need to make an entry summary declaration.
Moving your pets
If you are moving pets, check what you need to do.
Last updated 26 October 2021 + show all updates
-
Definition of ‘declaration by conduct’ added.
-
Updated to include mention of users who need a goods movement reference.
-
First published.