Moving from Switzerland to South Korea (2026): Complete Guide

The Switzerland-to-South Korea corridor is a long-haul, intercontinental move with two distinct halves, and getting either one wrong stalls your whole shipment. On the Swiss side you are exporting personal effects out of a non-EU country with its own customs authority, its own deregistration rules and its own tax-exit logic. On the Korean side you are importing "moving goods" under Korea’s own customs regime, where your immigration status decides whether your container clears duty-free or gets taxed. This guide covers both ends in the correct order, plus a short note for anyone who later moves back the other way. It is written for a resident of Switzerland — Swiss national or foreign permit-holder — relocating to the Republic of Korea for work, marriage, study or family, and it links every rule to the official authority that publishes it.

Key takeaways

• Your Korean immigration status drives the customs outcome: duty-free "moving goods" treatment is for people who intend to live in Korea for at least one year (six months if accompanied by family), and household items generally must have been used abroad for more than three months (Korea Customs Service).
• Switzerland’s customs authority is the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS / BAZG) (BAZG).
• To export household effects from Switzerland you present an inventory list showing your Swiss and foreign addresses to the export customs office; Switzerland does not levy export customs duties on removal goods (BAZG).
• If you are leaving permanently you must deregister at your commune’s residents’ registration office, and Swiss citizens should register with the competent Swiss representation abroad (FDFA).
• Switzerland’s only sea-connected cargo ports are the Rhine ports at Basel-Kleinhüningen, Birsfelden and Muttenz (Port of Switzerland).
• Your unaccompanied shipment must arrive in Korea within six months of your own arrival to keep moving-goods treatment (Korea Customs Service).
• Dogs and cats from Switzerland (not on Korea’s rabies-free list) need an ISO microchip, rabies vaccination and a rabies antibody titre of at least 0.5 IU/ml from an internationally approved lab (APQA/QIA).
• Carrying more than USD 10,000 in cash or equivalent into Korea must be declared to Customs (Korea Customs Service).

1. Your Korean visa status decides how customs treats your goods

Before you book a single crate, understand this: Korea does not grant duty-free "moving goods" treatment to your shipment because you paid for a container — it grants it because of who you are on arrival. Korea Customs defines a qualifying person as a foreigner or overseas Korean who intends to reside in Korea for at least one year (six months if accompanied by family members). Among your moving goods, items used overseas for more than three months are duty-exempt unless subject to mandatory taxation (Korea Customs Service).

That means your long-stay visa — an F-series family/marriage visa, an E-series work visa, a student visa, and so on — plus your Alien Registration Card (ARC) are the documents that unlock duty-free clearance. The moving-goods declaration asks for a description of the items, the packing list, bill of lading, alien registration card, visa and passport (and, where relevant, a domestic employment certificate and vehicle documents) (Korea Customs Service). Register your foreign residence and obtain your ARC through Korea’s immigration portal after arrival (HiKorea). New or unused items, and anything used less than three months, can be taxed, so pack a "lived-in" household, not a shopping haul.

2. The Switzerland export side

Switzerland is not in the EU or the EU customs union, so leaving it is a formal export. The authority in charge is the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS), known by its German initials BAZG (BAZG).

Exporting your removal goods. For private household effects the procedure is deliberately light. Per BAZG, if you are resident in Switzerland and taking household effects abroad, "it is sufficient if you present an inventory list indicating your address in Switzerland and abroad to the exportation customs office" — and Switzerland does not levy customs duties on the export of removal goods (BAZG). Declarations are made Monday to Friday during clearance hours, with some offices also open Saturday mornings (BAZG). Commercial cargo, by contrast, is declared electronically: Switzerland has moved commercial exports to the new Passar goods-traffic system, with the older e-dec Export remaining available until the end of 2025 (BAZG — Passar). Your mover’s freight forwarder typically handles this electronic side; you supply the inventory.

Deregistration. If you are leaving Switzerland permanently — giving up your home with no near-term plan to return — you must deregister (Abmeldung / annonce de départ) in person at your commune’s residents’ registration office (Einwohnerkontrolle / contrôle des habitants). Your departure date closes your commune record and governs your permit, insurance and pension position; Swiss citizens should then register with the competent Swiss embassy or consulate responsible for Korea (FDFA guidance indicates within about 90 days of arrival) (FDFA). Keep the deregistration confirmation — it is a standard supporting document for customs formalities.

Tax exit. Deregistering starts the clock but does not by itself end your Swiss tax liability, which ends only when your tax domicile is definitively given up and a new one established abroad. For your departure year you file a part-year return covering 1 January to your departure date, with cantonal deadlines. Contact your cantonal tax office directly and settle any withholding-tax (Quellensteuer) balance before you go (FDFA).

3. Ports and transit times

Switzerland is landlocked. Its only cargo ports with a direct connection to the sea are the Rhine ports at Basel-Kleinhüningen, Birsfelden and Muttenz, operated jointly as the Port of Switzerland (Schweizerische Rheinhäfen), which handle a significant share of Switzerland’s import traffic (Port of Switzerland). Ocean containers for Korea therefore leave inland by rail, road or Rhine barge to a North Sea gateway (Antwerp, Rotterdam or Hamburg) and sail onward to Busan, Korea’s main container port. Air freight for Korea moves mainly through Zurich Airport to Incheon.

Transit times below are freight-industry estimates, not official figures, and vary with routing, season, sailing schedules and customs clearance:

• Sea freight (door to door): roughly 6 to 10 weeks — Swiss inland leg, plus ocean transit to Busan, plus Korean clearance and delivery.
• Air freight (door to door): roughly 1 to 2 weeks.

Because Korea’s six-month import window runs from your arrival, plan the shipment’s departure so the container lands comfortably inside it.

4. The South Korea import side

On arrival you clear your shipment as moving goods with the Korea Customs Service. Accompanied baggage is cleared at the airport; the bulk of your household typically comes as unaccompanied goods by sea or later air, which you flag on your traveller declaration at entry (Korea Customs Service — Traveler Declaration Form).

Key rules from Korea Customs (Korea Customs Service):

• The moving-goods declaration requires a description of the items, the packing list, bill of lading, alien registration card, visa and passport.
• Unaccompanied moving goods must arrive within six months of the mover’s arrival date.
• Items used abroad more than three months are duty-exempt unless subject to mandatory taxation.
• Mandatory taxation (no exemption) applies to categories including motor vehicles (other than vehicles previously exported from Korea) and high-value luxury items such as jewellery, pearls, coral and ivory goods with a taxable value of KRW 5 million or more per unit, plus goods used less than three months or quantities beyond household norms.

Have your used goods genuinely look used — remove price tags and packaging — and keep the packing list itemised so quarantine or customs spot-checks go smoothly. Your appointed Korean clearance agent files the declaration on your behalf.

5. Pets

Both governments regulate pet movement, and the sequence of steps matters.

Leaving Switzerland. Switzerland’s animal authority is the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO / BLV). Dogs, cats and ferrets need a 15-digit ISO 11784/11785 microchip, a valid rabies vaccination and a recognised pet passport (the Swiss pet passport is equivalent to the EU one). The microchip must be implanted before the rabies shot or the vaccination is invalid, the first vaccination is possible from 12 weeks of age, and there is a 21-day wait after the primary vaccination before onward travel (FSVO/BLV).

Entering South Korea. Korea’s Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) requires all dogs and cats to have an ISO-compliant microchip. Switzerland is not on Korea’s rabies-free list, so a cat or dog aged 90 days or older needs the microchip plus a rabies-neutralising antibody titre test carried out by an internationally approved laboratory within 24 months of blood sampling; a titre below 0.5 IU/ml leads to quarantine. You must present a government-issued health certificate showing the microchip number and test results. A pet whose documents and clinical exam check out at the port of entry can be cleared there, while missing paperwork or an out-of-range titre triggers extended quarantine (roughly 10 days on average, longer if problems persist) at the owner’s cost (APQA/QIA). Because rabies-free lists change with outbreaks, confirm your pet’s category on the QIA site before booking flights.

6. Vehicles, money and things people forget

Vehicles. Do not assume your Swiss car comes along free. On the Swiss side a private vehicle is exported by presenting a copy of the Swiss registration document to the customs office (BAZG). On the Korean side motor vehicles fall under mandatory taxation and are not covered by the moving-goods duty exemption (Korea Customs Service). Between the import duties, Korea’s separate registration and emissions/standards compliance, importing a car is rarely worth it — most movers sell before leaving.

Money. Bringing in cash or equivalent means of payment over USD 10,000 must be declared to Korean Customs on the traveller declaration form; at or below that amount, no declaration is needed. Non-declaration carries penalties (Korea Customs Service).

Easily forgotten. Cancel or transfer Swiss health insurance, AHV/pension arrangements and utilities around your departure date; settle Quellensteuer if applicable; keep your deregistration certificate accessible; and line up your Korean ARC appointment early, since issuance can take several weeks after application.

Reverse direction: South Korea to Switzerland

Moving the other way flips the customs logic. To import removal goods into Switzerland duty-free you must be transferring your domicile to Switzerland, the goods must have been used personally for at least six months and be kept in use afterwards, and you present the completed Form 18.44 (household effects / Übersiedlungsgut) to the customs office of importation (BAZG). You can submit the file at least two working days ahead for a preliminary examination that speeds clearance, crossing the border at the same office where you filed it (BAZG). On the Korean export side you again clear outbound goods through the Korea Customs Service.

How Flyto handles your Switzerland to South Korea move

Flyto runs strong in-house European operations — our own offices, warehouses, teams and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe — which we combine with a carefully chosen network of vetted partners and subcontractors for the legs we do not cover directly. For the Korean end we work with trusted local partners for port clearance, quarantine and final delivery, so the Swiss export and the Korean import are coordinated as one move rather than two disconnected shipments.

Frequently asked questions

Can I bring brand-new items duty-free into Korea?
Generally no. Korea’s moving-goods exemption is aimed at items used abroad for more than three months; new or barely-used goods can be taxed (Korea Customs Service).

How long do I have to get my container to Korea?
Your unaccompanied moving goods must arrive within six months of your own arrival date (Korea Customs Service).

Do I really have to deregister in Switzerland?
If you are leaving permanently — giving up your home with no near-term plan to return — yes, you deregister at your commune’s residents’ registration office, and the confirmation is a standard customs and admin document (FDFA).

Does Switzerland charge export duty on my belongings?
No. Switzerland does not levy export customs duties on removal goods; for household effects you present an inventory list to the export customs office (BAZG).

What does my dog or cat need to enter Korea from Switzerland?
An ISO microchip, rabies vaccination (chip first), and — because Switzerland is not rabies-free — a rabies antibody titre of at least 0.5 IU/ml from an internationally approved lab within 24 months, plus a government health certificate (APQA/QIA).

Should I ship my car?
Usually not. Korea taxes imported vehicles under mandatory taxation with no moving-goods exemption, on top of registration and compliance costs (Korea Customs Service).

Sources

• BAZG — Tasks of the FOCBS
• BAZG — Relocation: Export from Switzerland
• BAZG — FAQ removal goods
• BAZG — Changeover to Passar for exports
• BAZG — Moving to Switzerland: Procedure (Form 18.44)
• FDFA (EDA) — Living abroad / emigration
• Port of Switzerland — Schweizerische Rheinhäfen
• FSVO/BLV — Travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets
• Korea Customs Service — Moving goods clearance
• Korea Customs Service — Foreign currency declaration
• Korea Customs Service — Traveler Declaration Form
• APQA / QIA — Pet import requirements for South Korea
• HiKorea — Immigration / Alien Registration