Can someone please tell me the most economical way to move personal items to Brasil?

Question

I just retired from teaching in Texas after 28 years and have applied for a residence visa to retire in Northeastern Brasil. As I am on retirement pay, I need to find the cheapest way to get my personal things there. I have downsized from a completely furnished 4 bedroom house and it is about 25-30 boxes. I can live without these for a while so there is no hurry. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Ship through a reliable and recommended moving company. Some are just plain careless. A friend had so much furniture damaged when she shipped from the US to Brazil. They apparently just wrapped table legs in plain brown paper and thats simply not enough. So make sure you get a good moving company even if a little pricey. At the Brazilian end find out from the movers if the cost includes delivery and set up at your house or do you have to take charge of the shipment from the nearest port. If the latter then you have to pay again to have it cleared through customs and moved to your house. For these services you would need whats called a shipping despachante at the Brazilian end. If you are moving electronic items then find out from the Brazilian consulate in the US if you can bring them over free as a transfer of residence. In that case you pay no duty at this end. It is a bit of a process as you got to list what you are shipping and get the permission of the consulate to bring them in. Hang on to this permission paper. You will need it at this end. Tell them its all used electronic stuff. New means paying duty. If you are moving to a beach area then do remember that the salty air is havoc for most household items and they will have a shorter life.

Answer 2

Shiiping for sure. Just takes a while and make sure to contact a shipping agency to cut the red tape here, dont try to do it yourself cause its a nightmare, but a "Despachante" can make things quick for you and it wont cost a lot.