Moving from Switzerland to Japan (2026): Complete Guide

The Switzerland-to-Japan corridor joins two of the most procedurally exacting countries on earth. On departure you deal with Switzerland’s federal customs authority and your commune’s residents’ registration office; on arrival you deal with Japan Customs, the Immigration Services Agency and the animal-quarantine service. This guide covers both halves of the move — the Swiss export and deregistration side, and the Japanese import and residence side — plus a short note on the reverse route home. It is written for anyone leaving a Swiss canton to build a life in Japan: professionals on a work visa, intra-company transferees, spouses and returning residents.

Key takeaways

• Japan lets long-stay movers import used household effects free of duty and tax, but only against a valid status of residence and a completed customs declaration (Japan Customs, passenger clearance).
• The single most important Japanese document is Customs Form C No. 5360-B, the Declaration of Personal Effects and Unaccompanied Articles (Japan Customs forms).
• Switzerland charges no export customs duty on personal goods leaving the country, but a formal export declaration is lodged in the federal Passar system, which replaced e-dec Export at the end of 2025 (FOCBS export declaring goods; Passar export checklist).
• You must deregister (Abmeldung / annonce de départ) at your commune before leaving; the confirmation is needed for customs, insurance and tax (FDFA, Emigrating).
• Pets: dogs and cats face Japan’s strict advance-notification and rabies-titre regime, which can take up to 180 days to satisfy (MAFF Animal Quarantine).
• Cash: declare means of payment over ¥1,000,000 on arrival in Japan; Switzerland records amounts of CHF 10,000 or more on request (Japan Customs; FOCBS cash).
• Unaccompanied shipments must clear Japanese customs within six months of your arrival (Japan Customs, unaccompanied articles FAQ 7103).

1. Your Japanese residence status decides the customs treatment

In Japan, immigration status and customs treatment are linked. Duty- and tax-free importation of household effects is available to people moving to Japan to stay for more than one year, and it covers goods already used by you or your family, imported within a reasonable limit and cleared within six months of entry (Japan Customs, household effects for home relocation FAQ 7301). Short-term visitors do not get this treatment.

Before you can hold that status, most movers obtain a Certificate of Eligibility (COE), issued by a regional immigration office under the Immigration Services Agency and applied for by a sponsor in Japan (an employer, school or relative). The COE is then presented with a visa application at a Japanese mission abroad, after which a visa is normally issued within a few working days (MOFA, Certificate of Eligibility). On entry you receive a residence card, and copies of your passport, visa and residence card are exactly the documents customs uses to grant duty-free clearance of your effects. In short: sort the immigration status first — the household-goods benefit hangs off it.

2. The Switzerland export side

The authority. Swiss customs is run by the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS / BAZG) — Eidgenössisches Amt für Zoll und Grenzsicherheit (FOCBS). It handles every good crossing the Swiss border.

Export declaration. For personal goods leaving Switzerland you owe no export customs duty (FOCBS export declaring goods). A cross-border removal is nonetheless an export movement, so a formal export customs declaration is lodged electronically — in practice by your carrier or forwarder — in Passar, the FOCBS’s digital goods-traffic platform. Passar replaced the old e-dec Export system by 31 December 2025, so from 2026 the export declaration must run through Passar (Passar export checklist). Each export declaration links to a transport declaration, which is why this step is normally handled by a registered business partner rather than a private individual. Keep a full valued inventory of what is shipped: it supports both the Swiss export paperwork and the Japanese import claim.

Deregistration (Abmeldung). If you leave permanently, you must deregister at your commune’s residents’ registration office (Einwohnerkontrolle / contrôle des habitants). As a rule this applies when you go abroad for more than three months, give up your accommodation and do not intend to return soon; the notice is typically filed shortly before departure (FDFA, Emigrating). Ask for the deregistration confirmation (Abmeldebestätigung) — you will need it for customs formalities, to cancel Swiss health insurance, and for banks and pension providers. Swiss nationals then have 90 days to register with the competent Swiss representation abroad (FDFA, Emigrating).

Tax-residency exit. Your Swiss tax liability is tied to residence, and the date you deregister sets when unlimited Swiss tax liability ends. Settle any outstanding cantonal and communal tax, arrange a final assessment, and keep the departure confirmation as evidence of the exit date (FDFA, Emigrating). Because tax rules differ by canton, confirm the closing steps with your cantonal tax office before you go.

3. Ports and transit times

Switzerland is landlocked, so "the Swiss port" is a river gateway, not a seaport. The Port of Switzerland (Schweizerische Rheinhäfen) at Basel, Muttenz and Birsfelden is the country’s main cargo port, sitting on the Rhine along the Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa corridor and handling a significant share of Swiss imports (Port of Switzerland). Ocean containers for Japan are barged or trucked from Switzerland to a North Sea hub such as Rotterdam or Antwerp (or routed south to Genoa) and loaded there. Air cargo generally departs from Zurich or Geneva airports.

The figures below are freight-industry estimates, not official government times, and vary with sailing schedules, transhipment and customs:

• Sea freight (FCL/LCL), door to port: commonly 6-9 weeks Switzerland to a main Japanese port such as Yokohama, Kobe, Nagoya or Osaka, before Japanese clearance and inland delivery.
• Air freight: typically 1-2 weeks door to airport, plus clearance.

Treat these as planning ranges. Because unaccompanied goods must clear Japanese customs within six months of your arrival (Japan Customs, unaccompanied articles FAQ 7103), sea freight timing is comfortable, but do not fly in months ahead of a slow sailing without checking the window.

4. The Japan import side

On arrival every passenger files a Declaration of Accompanied Articles and Unaccompanied Articles with Japan Customs (Japan Customs, declaration). The critical move for anyone relocating is this: on that declaration you must indicate that you have unaccompanied articles (your sea or air shipment arriving separately) and submit the form in duplicate. Customs certifies one copy and returns it; you keep that stamped copy and present it when your shipment lands, which is what unlocks duty- and tax-free clearance (Japan Customs, passenger clearance). Japan Customs cannot redo this step later, so the certified copy must not be lost (Japan Customs, unaccompanied articles FAQ 7103).

For the shipment itself, the governing document is Customs Form C No. 5360-B, the English-language Declaration of Personal Effects and Unaccompanied Articles for non-Japanese movers (Japan Customs forms; Form C-5360-B PDF). Prepare two copies together with a full inventory, copies of your passport, visa and residence card, and the entry stamp that matches your arrival. Because used personal and household effects qualify for duty-free entry for long-stay movers, accurate paperwork — not payment — is what clears the goods (Japan Customs, household effects for home relocation FAQ 7301). New items, or goods bought shortly before the move, can attract duty and consumption tax, so keep receipts and be candid on the inventory.

5. Pets

Leaving Switzerland. The Swiss authority for animal movement is the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO / BLV). Dogs, cats and ferrets need an ISO-standard microchip, a valid rabies vaccination and a pet passport or health certificate; the FSVO sets out the documents required for non-EU destinations such as Japan (FSVO, Travelling with pets). Start here early, because Japan’s clock runs off these same records.

Entering Japan. Japan’s regime under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Animal Quarantine Service is one of the strictest in the world. You must send an advance notification to the quarantine service at your port of entry at least 40 days before arrival (MAFF). Switzerland is a non-designated region, so the full protocol applies: microchip implanted first, two rabies vaccinations, a rabies-antibody (titre) blood test, and a 180-day waiting period measured from the successful blood draw before entry (MAFF import guide, PDF). Miss any step and the animal can face long quarantine on arrival. In practice, budget at least seven months of preparation for a pet — often the pacing item of the whole move.

6. Vehicles, money and things people forget

Vehicles. A used private car can in principle be imported as part of your household effects when you move to Japan for over a year, provided you can prove ownership and prior use with registration certificates or receipts (Japan Customs, household effects for home relocation FAQ 7301). Customs clearance is only the first hurdle: the car must then pass Japan’s separate registration, inspection and compliance steps before it can be driven (Japan Customs, vehicle import clearance FAQ 1109). For most Swiss movers a European car is rarely worth the cost and conversion effort — check before shipping.

Money. In Japan you must file a Declaration of Carrying of Means of Payment for cash, cheques, securities or gold exceeding ¥1,000,000 or equivalent on arrival (Japan Customs, passenger clearance). Leaving Switzerland there is no hard cash cap, but FOCBS staff may ask, and amounts of CHF 10,000 or more are recorded in their system on request (FOCBS cash).

Easily forgotten. Cancel Swiss health insurance using the Abmeldebestätigung; close the tax year with your canton; keep every dated receipt for newer items; and confirm your residence status is settled before shipping, since customs will ask for it.

Reverse direction: Japan to Switzerland

Moving back works in mirror image. On the Swiss side, the FOCBS lets you import removal goods duty-free when you transfer your domicile to Switzerland, provided the items have been used by you for at least six months and continue to be used after import (FOCBS, Moving household effects). You re-register at your Swiss commune, and pets must again meet FSVO entry rules — microchip, valid rabies vaccination and, for animals from a third country like Japan, the required waiting period after vaccination (FSVO).

How Flyto handles your Switzerland to Japan move

Flyto runs strong in-house European operations — our own offices, warehouses, teams and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe — so the Swiss departure leg, collection and export coordination stay under our direct control. For the long-haul ocean or air leg and final delivery in Japan we combine that with a carefully chosen partner and subcontractor network and trusted local partners in Japan. We do not claim to do everything ourselves; we own the parts we do best and partner where local expertise wins.

Frequently asked questions

Do I pay import duty on my used furniture in Japan?
Generally no. Used personal and household effects imported by someone moving to Japan for over a year clear free of duty and consumption tax, against Form C No. 5360-B and proof of used status (Japan Customs, household effects for home relocation FAQ 7301).

What is the one form I must not lose?
The customs declaration you file on arrival, stamped by Japan Customs, marking that you have unaccompanied articles. You present that certified copy when your shipment lands, and customs cannot reissue it (Japan Customs, unaccompanied articles FAQ 7103).

How long do I have to bring my shipment in?
Unaccompanied effects must be imported and cleared within six months of your arrival in Japan (Japan Customs, unaccompanied articles FAQ 7103).

When should I start the pet process?
As early as possible — realistically seven-plus months ahead. The advance notification is due at least 40 days before arrival, and the rabies-titre route from a non-designated region like Switzerland carries a 180-day wait (MAFF).

Do I really need to deregister in Switzerland?
Yes, if you are leaving permanently. Deregistration at your commune sets your tax-exit date and produces the confirmation customs, insurers and banks will ask for (FDFA, Emigrating).

Which Swiss port will my container leave from?
No Japanese-bound container sails from Switzerland itself. Goods move via the Rhine Port of Switzerland at Basel to a North Sea or Mediterranean seaport for loading (Port of Switzerland).

Sources

• Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS / BAZG)
• FOCBS — Declaring goods, exportation from Switzerland
• FOCBS — Export checklist with Passar
• FOCBS — Moving (household effects), import into Switzerland
• FOCBS — Cash, foreign currencies, securities
• Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs — Emigrating
• Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO / BLV) — Travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets
• Port of Switzerland — Schweizerische Rheinhäfen
• Japan Customs — Customs forms (C No. 5360-B)
• Japan Customs — Form C No. 5360-B (PDF)
• Japan Customs — Procedures of passenger clearance
• Japan Customs — Declaration of Accompanied and Unaccompanied Articles
• Japan Customs — Procedures for declaring unaccompanied articles (FAQ 7103)
• Japan Customs — Importing/exporting household effects for home relocation (FAQ 7301)
• Japan Customs — Import clearance for vehicles (FAQ 1109)
• MAFF Animal Quarantine Service — Bringing dogs and cats into Japan
• MAFF — Guide to importing dogs and cats from non-designated regions (PDF)
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan — Certificate of Eligibility