Moving from France to New Zealand (2026): Complete Guide

France to New Zealand is one of the longest relocation corridors in the world, and it has two distinct halves that are easy to underestimate. On the France side you are exporting your life out of the European Union, dealing with French Customs (la Douane) and the French tax authority. On the New Zealand side you are importing into one of the strictest biosecurity regimes on earth, where your visa status decides whether your container clears duty-free or not. This guide covers both ends in the correct order, plus pets, vehicles, money and a short note on going the other way. It is written for a resident of France — French national or foreign resident — making the move in 2026.

Key takeaways

• On the France side, personal effects being moved out of the EU normally need no formal export customs declaration, but Customs can require a DAU export declaration, and specific goods (weapons, precious metals, cultural goods, dual-use items) always do — see the Douane transfer-of-residence procedure.
• Your household effects clear New Zealand free of duty and GST only if you hold a qualifying visa and meet the residence test in the NZ Customs household effects rules.
• The single most important NZ document is the NZCS 218 declaration for unaccompanied personal and household items.
• New Zealand screens every consignment for biosecurity risk; used outdoor gear, plant material and dirty items are the usual problems, per MPI’s household-effects guidance.
• Cats and dogs must come from an approved country and meet strict MPI cat and dog import requirements; from France, export is handled by your DDPP.
• Tell the French tax office you are leaving and check whether the exit tax applies to you.
• Carrying NZ$10,000 or more (any currency) across the NZ border requires a Border Cash Report.
• Importing a vehicle means three agencies — Customs, MPI and NZTA Waka Kotahi — and biosecurity cleaning before you ship, per NZTA’s importing process.

1. Your NZ visa decides how Customs treats your shipment

Start here, because everything downstream depends on it. New Zealand grants a duty- and GST-free concession on used household effects, but only to people who hold the right immigration status. According to NZ Customs, you qualify if you hold a New Zealand or Australian passport, a current NZ residence visa, a current Australian permanent residence visa, a work visa or permit issued for a minimum of 12 months (or under the Skilled Migrant / Long Term Business categories), or a current visitor’s visa issued for a minimum of three years. Student visa holders do not qualify for the general concession, though limited concessions exist for study-essential items such as a desk, laptop and textbooks.

Two further conditions apply. You must have "resided or been domiciled outside of New Zealand for the whole of the 21-month period preceding your arrival" (brief holidays and business trips excepted), or be moving to New Zealand for the first time. And the goods must have been personally owned and used by you before departure, be for your own use, and not intended for sale, gift or exchange. New or unused items, and vehicles, are excluded from this particular concession and treated separately.

If you do not meet these tests, your goods are assessed like any other import. New Zealand’s de minimis is NZD $1,000 FOB (customs value, excluding freight); above it, duty and 15% GST can apply, as set out in the Customs fact sheet on importing goods for personal use.

2. The France export side — la Douane, deregistration and the tax exit

France’s customs authority is the Direction générale des douanes et droits indirects (DGDDI), usually just "la Douane." For a genuine transfer of your principal residence out of the EU, la Douane’s own guidance states that you generally do not need to file a customs declaration for ordinary personal effects and private-use vehicles. However, Customs may ask you to establish an export declaration — copies 1, 2 and 3 of the document administratif unique (DAU) — and certain goods always require it: weapons and ammunition, gold and precious metals, dual-use products and technology, protected wildlife species, and cultural property. Some of those carry an export tax (for example a 10% tax on exported precious metals, and a forfait tax on high-value art, jewellery and collectibles above €5,000 per item).

To support the move, la Douane expects a document proving the change of residence (passport, property title or lease), and a detailed, dated, paginated and signed inventory of the transferred goods in duplicate. Vehicle exports need a copy of the registration certificate (carte grise). Usefully, the export can take place over the year following your relocation, and can be split across several shipments as long as they all appear on that first inventory.

Where an electronic declaration is required, France processes it through the DELTA system (DELTA-G for standard freight, DELTA-X for express and postal), as described in the Douane’s declaration procedure. For one-off operations like a household removal, a paper declaration can still be accepted. In practice your international mover files this for you.

France has no single "population register" to sign out of the way some countries do, so deregistration is really an administrative checklist: close or transfer utilities and contracts, notify your mairie and health insurance (CPAM), and above all deal with tax. The tax authority (Direction générale des Finances publiques, via impots.gouv.fr) asks you to inform your local tax office of your change of address on departure. In the year you leave you remain fiscally domiciled in France up to your departure date and file a return the following year for that period. Finally, check the exit tax: it can apply if you were a French tax resident for at least six of the ten years before leaving and hold securities worth at least €800,000 or representing at least 50% of a company’s profits.

3. Ports and transit times

France ships to New Zealand from its major container ports. The main ones are Le Havre on the Channel coast (France’s largest container gateway), Marseille-Fos on the Mediterranean, and Dunkerque in the north. Most France to New Zealand household shipments route via Le Havre or Marseille and tranship through a Southeast Asian or Middle Eastern hub before the final leg to Auckland, Tauranga or Lyttelton.

Transit times below are freight-industry estimates, not official figures, and they swing with season, sailing schedules and transhipment:

• Sea freight (FCL/LCL): roughly 35–55 days port-to-port from a French port to a New Zealand port, before customs and biosecurity clearance. LCL (shared container) sits at the longer end because of consolidation and deconsolidation.
• Air freight: roughly 5–12 days door-to-door, at several times the cost per cubic metre.

Treat any date a mover quotes as an estimate and build in a buffer — New Zealand’s mandatory biosecurity inspection can add days at the arrival end.

4. The New Zealand import side — the NZCS 218 and biosecurity

Every unaccompanied shipment of personal and household items needs the NZCS 218 "Bring Personal Household Items into New Zealand" declaration, filed with Customs directly or through your broker or moving company, together with a packing list, a copy of your passport and your visa evidence. This is the form that claims the duty/GST concession described in section 1.

Running in parallel is biosecurity. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) screens household effects for risk goods, and its household-goods guidance is explicit that used items carrying soil, plant material, seeds, food or animal products are the classic hold-ups: garden tools, camping and hiking gear, bicycles, outdoor footwear, wicker and vacuum cleaners all get scrutiny. MPI recommends completing a voluntary personal effects supplementary declaration describing higher-risk items; done well, it can lower your risk status and speed clearance. Clean everything thoroughly before it is packed — mud on a pair of boots can trigger inspection, fumigation or destruction of goods at your cost.

5. Pets — both ends of the journey

Leaving France. Exporting a dog or cat to a non-EU country is handled by your local DDPP (Direction départementale de la protection des populations). As the French agriculture ministry explains, each destination sets its own rules, and the health certificate must be signed by an official veterinarian and match New Zealand’s requirements. In practice you present the certificate model to the DDPP at least 15 days before departure so they can confirm it is certifiable, and the complete request must reach them at least 48 working hours before travel; for demanding destinations like New Zealand, start about three months ahead.

Entering New Zealand. MPI’s rules for bringing cats and dogs require that your pet has lived in an approved country for at least six months before arrival, and that it is microchipped, has a valid rabies vaccination and rabies antibody titre test, and receives internal and external parasite treatments — with a permit to import obtained before travel. The exact test and treatment schedule depends on which approved-country category France sits in under the Import Health Standard, so confirm the current list with MPI. Note that a new Import Health Standard applies from 1 July 2026, with a transition period during which both the 2021 and 2026 standards are accepted; from 1 April 2027 only the 2026 standard applies. Most cats and dogs also spend time in a government-approved quarantine facility on arrival.

6. Vehicles, money and things people forget

Vehicles. Importing your car is possible but rarely economical from Europe. NZTA Waka Kotahi sets out that an imported used vehicle must satisfy the Clean Car Programme, meet accepted vehicle safety and emissions standards, pass border inspection, and complete entry certification at an authorised compliance centre before it can be registered. MPI adds a biosecurity layer: the vehicle must meet the Import Health Standard for vehicles and machinery and be steam-cleaned to remove all soil, seeds and contamination — ideally certified at an approved facility before loading.

Money. There is no limit on how much money you can move, but you must file a Border Cash Report (form NZCS 337) if you carry NZ$10,000 or more — in any currency, including cash, travellers’ cheques and similar instruments — into or out of New Zealand.

Things people forget. Prescription medicines have quantity and documentation rules; alcohol and tobacco are dutiable regardless of the household concession; firearms need NZ Police approval before import; and drones, e-bikes and certain electronics may face their own restrictions. Keep your inventory, receipts for valuable items, and visa paperwork accessible — you will be asked for them at both ends.

The reverse direction: New Zealand to France

Going the other way, New Zealand applies no export duty on personal effects you take with you, though large cash movements still need the Border Cash Report. The heavier rules are on the French import side. Under the French duty-free transfer-of-residence relief, you can import your belongings free of duty and VAT if you have lived outside the EU for at least one year, have owned and used the goods for at least six months, and bring them into France within 12 months of settling — supported by a full inventory presented to la Douane at first entry.

How Flyto handles your France to New Zealand move

Flyto runs strong in-house European operations — our own offices, warehouses, teams and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe — so origin packing, collection and export handling in France stay under our direct control. For the long ocean and air legs, we rely on a carefully chosen network of vetted freight partners and subcontractors, and for clearance and delivery in New Zealand we work with trusted local partners on the ground. We coordinate the whole corridor end to end, and we are honest that the shipping and final-mile legs are delivered through partners rather than owned by us.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to be in New Zealand when my shipment arrives?
Not necessarily, but you (or your broker) must lodge the NZCS 218 and your visa evidence, and someone must be available for any MPI inspection. Clearing an arrived container faster usually means having documents ready before it lands.

Will I pay tax on my used furniture and belongings?
If you meet the visa and 21-month residence tests in section 1, qualifying used household effects clear free of duty and GST. Fail the test, or include new/unused goods, and normal duty and 15% GST rules apply above the NZD $1,000 threshold.

How far ahead should I start the pet process?
Around three months. New Zealand’s requirements (approved-country residence, rabies titre test timing, permit to import) plus the DDPP certification lead time in France mean a rushed booking often misses a step.

Can I ship a part-container instead of a full one?
Yes — LCL (less than container load) shares a container with other shipments. It is cheaper for smaller moves but adds handling time at both ends, which is why LCL transit estimates run longer.

What is the one thing most likely to delay my move at the NZ border?
Biosecurity. Unclean outdoor gear, shoes, garden and camping equipment are the most common triggers for inspection. Clean everything before packing and declare risk items on the supplementary declaration.

Is the exit tax something I need to worry about?
Only if you held substantial securities. It generally applies where you were French tax-resident for at least six of the last ten years and hold securities worth at least €800,000 or 50% of a company’s profits. Most private movers are unaffected, but confirm with impots.gouv.fr.

Sources

• DGDDI — transfert de résidence hors UE
• DGDDI — déposer une déclaration en douane (DELTA)
• impots.gouv.fr — je pars à l’étranger
• impots.gouv.fr — exit tax
• agriculture.gouv.fr — importation/exportation d’animaux de compagnie (pays tiers)
• Services de l’État — export de carnivores domestiques vers un pays tiers (DDPP)
• NZ Customs — household effects
• NZ Customs — NZCS 218 form
• NZ Customs — duty and allowances
• NZ Customs — importing goods for personal use (fact sheet)
• NZ Customs — Border Cash Report
• MPI — household goods and personal effects
• MPI — bringing cats and dogs to NZ (step by step)
• MPI — 2026 cats and dogs import health standard
• NZTA Waka Kotahi — importing a vehicle
• service-public.gouv.fr — franchise douanière, retour/installation en France (F492)