Aperture

My partner and I are moving to the UK. He is a British citizen and I have a fiancee visa (we'll be getting married a week after we arrive, at which point I will apply to switch to a spouse visa).

In addition to our luggage (which includes our two desktop computers, along with the usual clothing, toiletries, etc.), we are shipping several boxes via the post office, set to arrive 4-6 weeks after we do. We are not shipping any furniture.

Are we going to need to pay import fees on all our stuff? I know visitors have to declare how much they're bringing into a country and can sometimes have to pay import fees for expensive items. Does it make a difference that we're planning to settle in the UK?

We are worried about how much we will be charged (1) at the airport (given the expensive computers in our luggage) and (2) upon arrival of our shipped boxes (containing clothing, books and miscellaneous household goods).

Any advice/shared experiences would be appreciated!

chris955

You don't get charged anything on personal belongings as long as they are at least 6 months old. If anything is less than that just bend the truth. Customs aren't looking at returning citizens with personal affects, they want commercial quantities of stuff being bought in.
When you say computers in your luggage, do you mean laptops ? It is so normal to be bringing in laptops I doubt they will even ask about them.

Aperture

Between the two of us, we have six computers--two desktops, two laptops, and two mini-computers (we're geeks). We're shipping one and the rest are being packed in our checked/hand luggage.

Anyway, that's good to know. None of our stuff is new and most of it is of little value now (our old books and clothing).