Service · Moving & shipping
Moving and shipping your things abroad from India
Send what is hard to replace and legal to carry, and buy the rest when you arrive. Before you pack, read the customs and restricted-goods pages for India and your destination, write an inventory, and ask what insurance covers. StudentFlow’s moving shelf, offered to newcomers and professionals, compares demo excess-baggage couriers and door-to-door air freight and keeps the booking with your plan.
Checked against official sources on
Moving & shipping at a glance
- Best for
- Newcomers and families sending boxes ahead, professionals on assignment, and anyone with more than their flight’s baggage allowance.
- Three common routes
- Extra baggage on your own flight, a courier or excess-baggage service for boxes, and air or sea freight for a bigger move. They differ in speed, size limits, price and who handles customs.
- Check first
- Prohibited and restricted goods, duty or tax at the destination, what insurance covers, who will receive the delivery, and an inventory of every box.
- Rules change
- Customs rules are set by each border agency and change often. Read the official page for India and for your destination close to the date you ship.
Who needs this?
Student
Most students manage with their flight’s baggage allowance. If you need more, compare the price of extra bags with a courier’s own quote. The shipping shelf in the app is offered to newcomers and professionals.
Newcomer
A move to live or work usually means more to ship: household items, winter clothes, family papers. Several countries have a special route for people moving their home, so read the official personal-effects pages for yours.
Professional
Ask your employer first: a relocation package may already cover shipping, insurance and customs paperwork, and may require its own mover. Keep company equipment separate from personal effects on your list.
Parents & family
If you are sending things to a child abroad, check restrictions before you pack. Food, medicines, cash and gifts are among the items most often limited, and gifts can attract duty.
Traveller
For a trip, your baggage allowance is the plan. If you buy things abroad, read India’s customs pages on what you may bring back and what to declare.
How it works, step by step
Decide what to send and what to buy there
Write a list. Send things that are personal, hard to replace or needed in the first days. Items that are bulky, cheap to replace or easy to buy locally often cost more to ship than they are worth.
Check what is allowed, on both sides
Read India’s customs pages for what can leave, and the destination border agency’s pages for restricted goods, duty and tax. Some countries have a separate route for people moving their home.
Choose how to send it
Extra baggage, a courier or excess-baggage service, or air or sea freight. Ask each what is included: collection, packing, customs paperwork, insurance, tracking and delivery to a door.
Insure and document it
Keep an inventory with a line for every item, photos, and receipts for valuables. Ask what the carrier’s basic liability covers and whether extra cover is worth it.
Book in StudentFlow, if you are a newcomer or professional
Pick a demo courier or air-freight option. The collection date is counted back from your landing or outbound date, and you receive a booking reference and a list of what to have ready.
Prepare for collection and delivery
Pack with a packing list in each box, have photo ID for the sender, and name someone who can receive the boxes. Keep passports, permit papers, medicines and valuables in your hand baggage.
What StudentFlow does for you
- Offers demo excess-baggage couriers and door-to-door air freight to newcomers (set up for Canada in the preview) and to professionals, with the weight allowance of each option shown.
- Counts the collection date back from your landing or outbound date, and shows the collection date and a delivery estimate on the booking.
- Gives a booking reference and a "have ready" list: a packing list for each box, photo ID of the sender, and the name and phone number of whoever will receive the boxes.
- Puts a customs reminder on the shelf and on every booking: duty or tax at the destination may apply, some items are restricted, and you should check the official border-agency guidance before you pack.
- Shows the shipment status in My orders: confirmed, collected and on its way, delivered. There is no real tracking in the preview.
- Lets you cancel free until a few days before collection, and not once your boxes have been collected. Adds a "compare movers" step to the plans of newcomers and of professionals on an assignment or job move, and ticks it when you book.
What to check first
- You have read the destination border agency’s pages on personal effects and on prohibited and restricted goods, and India’s customs page on what can leave and come back.
- Your inventory lists what is in every box, with receipts or photos for valuables and electronics.
- You know what the courier or freight company handles (collection, packing, customs paperwork, delivery to a door, tracking) and what you must do yourself.
- You know what insurance covers, what it excludes, and what you would need to show to make a claim.
- The delivery address has someone who can receive the boxes, with a phone number the carrier can reach.
- Passports, permit or approval papers, offer letters, medicines and valuables stay in your hand baggage, not in a shipment.
- You have asked about batteries and other dangerous goods, which have special rules for air transport.
Common mistakes
- Packing food, medicines, plants, cash or branded goods without checking the restrictions for both countries.
- Shipping items that cost more to send than to replace.
- Having no inventory or receipts, which makes duty valuation and an insurance claim hard.
- Accepting the first quote without asking what it includes: customs paperwork, delivery to a door, insurance and storage.
- Assuming the carrier’s basic liability covers the real value of your things.
- Giving a delivery address nobody can receive at, so the boxes are held or returned.
- Relying on old forum advice about customs. Rules change; read the official page.
Official sources
We link the official page for anything regulated, with the date we last checked it. Rules change, so confirm there before you pay or submit anything.
- CBIC: Indian Customs traveller’s guideBaggage and declaration rules for people arriving in India, from the customs authority.www.cbic.gov.in
- CBIC: customs clearance of passengers at a glanceA short official summary of customs clearance for passengers.www.cbic.gov.in
- CBIC: transfer of residence rules at a glanceThe official summary for people returning to India to live.www.cbic.gov.in
- GOV.UK: moving personal belongings to the UKWhat to know about tax and duty when moving your belongings to the UK.www.gov.uk
- GOV.UK: transfer of residence to the UKThe relief for people moving their home, and how to apply.www.gov.uk
- CBSA: bring personal goods into CanadaThe Canada Border Services Agency on personal goods when you move.www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
7 more official sources
- CBSA: personal effects accounting document (BSF186)The form that lists the goods you bring to Canada.www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
- Australian Border Force: unaccompanied personal effects form (B534)The statement used for household goods that arrive separately from you.www.abf.gov.au
- Australian Border Force: crossing the borderWhat to declare and what is restricted when you enter Australia.www.abf.gov.au
- German Customs: transferring residenceThe conditions for moving your household goods to Germany.www.zoll.de
- German Customs: entering GermanyWhat you may bring in and what to declare.www.zoll.de
- IATA: dangerous goodsThe air industry body’s information on dangerous goods carried by air.www.iata.org
- IRDAI: insurance regulatorThe regulator of insurers in India, including policyholder information.irdai.gov.in
Moving & shipping: common questions
What should I send abroad and what should I buy there?
Send items that are personal, hard to replace or needed in your first days, such as documents, key clothing and chargers. Bulky or cheap items like bedding and kitchenware are often better bought locally. Ask your university, landlord or employer what is supplied before you decide.
Can I ship food, medicines or gifts abroad?
Often not freely. Food, medicines, plants, cash and some gifts are commonly restricted, and rules differ by country. Check the destination border agency’s restricted-goods pages and India’s customs page before you pack, and declare honestly. A courier can tell you what it refuses to carry.
Will I pay customs duty or tax on my belongings?
It depends on the country, the goods, and whether a special route for people moving their home applies. Some countries offer one, with conditions that we do not assess. Read the official pages we link for your destination, and ask the courier what paperwork it handles.
Excess baggage, courier or freight: which is better?
They suit different loads. Extra baggage keeps things with you on one flight. A courier or excess-baggage service collects boxes and delivers them door to door. Freight suits a bigger move and is usually slower by sea than by air. Compare what each includes, not only the price.
Should I insure my shipment?
Ask what the carrier’s basic liability covers and what it excludes, then decide whether extra cover is worth it for your valuables. Keep an inventory, photos and receipts either way, because they support a claim. Insurers in India are regulated by IRDAI.
How do I track my shipment, and who receives it?
A real carrier gives you a reference or tracking link and a delivery estimate. You need a delivery address with someone who can receive the boxes and a phone number they can reach. In the StudentFlow preview there is no real tracking, only a simulated status timeline.
Why do I need an inventory or packing list?
Customs may ask what is in each box, an insurer needs proof of what was lost, and a courier may need it to quote. A line for every item, with photos and receipts for valuables, saves delays. Keep one copy with you and one in your document vault.
Is booking a courier through StudentFlow real?
In the current preview, the couriers and freight partners are demo partners, so nothing is collected and no real money moves. When real partners are connected, this page will name them and say who handles customs. Use the preview to see the steps and the questions to ask.
Keep going
Guides that help
Packing and airport basics for students
What to keep in hand luggage, what to check about baggage and customs, which plugs you will need and how to avoid a stressful day at the airport.
VerifiedLanding in Canada: documents and border steps
What to carry in your hand baggage, the lists of goods the border officer asks for, what to declare and what the port-of-entry interviews cover.
VerifiedFlying for business: baggage and border papers
Flexible fares, baggage rules, hand-baggage documents and what border officers may ask on a business trip. Official border pages for four countries.
VerifiedSee what to ship, and when, in your whole plan.
Tell us where you are going and when you fly. We show when to compare movers, what to carry in hand, and the customs pages to read before you pack.
Free to plan. No card needed. Not legal or immigration advice.