Hello and welcome!

Are you planning to move to Italy and are worried about the moving process? One of the first steps to succeed with your expatriation is to properly prepare yourself for the move.

How should you arrange the move? Can you do-it-yourself with help from friends, or do you need help from a professional international mover?

What do you plan to take and to leave? Will you need all your furniture, or will it be easier/cheaper to buy most things once you have arrived? Are electrical appliances compatible in Italy?

How can you bring your car? Is it worth it?

What tips and advice can you share with us about your move to Italy? If you are preparing for your move currently – what questions do you have? If you have already completed a move – what are your tips?

Thanks in advance for sharing!

 

Congrats on your upcoming move! What area are you planning to settle in?

Our Guides to Italy cover the basic issues of customs and import in Italy, with our post on Understanding International Shipping & Finding a Reputable Mover giving a great overview (as well as our brand-new Ultimate Family Moving Guide). I also recommend our directory of services for Italy(such as movers who can give estimates) at Expat-Quotes.

Those are great resources to get you started - but back to the heart of the matter. As far as costs, I would think the biggest issue would be import tax. Importing your car from a non-EU country requires an import duty and a registration fee. Used cars have a higher import tax, and owners of new vehicles imported into Italy have to pay the standard VAT of 22%. If you can prove that you have been the owner of your car for over 12 months, you can import the vehicle duty free.

In addition, there may be some issues with even bringing a foreign car in. The Italian Ministry of Transport (http://www.mit.gov.it/mit/site.php) states that only Italian nationals & Foreign nationals with official residence in Italy may register a foreign car in Italy. The site is in Italian, but I recommend contacting them for help. You may also check out expat blogs in Italy as many of them may have faced a similar quandary. I found this post about expats who went through the process of importing: http://ridgewayaway.wordpress.com/2011/ ... t-mistake/

Hopefully this helps give you some idea of the cost. I think it is usually much easier and cheaper to buy within Europe than import. Anyone else have info/advice to share?