Moving from Italy to Taiwan (2026): Complete Guide

Relocating from Italy to Taiwan means clearing two very different customs systems in sequence: the European Union export side, run by Italy’s Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli, and the Taiwanese import side, run by Taiwan Customs and the National Immigration Agency. This guide covers both halves — deregistering and exporting from Italy, then importing your household effects, pets and vehicle into Taiwan — plus a short note on the reverse move. It is written for a resident of Italy (Italian citizen or foreign resident) making a genuine, long-term transfer of residence to Taiwan.

Key takeaways

• Your Taiwanese immigration status decides everything: duty-free import of used household goods requires a genuine transfer of residence evidenced by a resident visa and an entry stamp, not a tourist stay (Taipei Customs).
• Unaccompanied household goods must reach Taiwan within 6 months of your entry date, and you must clear them within 15 days of the shipment’s arrival (Taipei Customs).
• Taiwan’s duty-free exemption is limited — up to NT$10,000 per used personal item and NT$35,000 combined for household goods; over that, duty applies (Taipei Customs).
• On the Italian side, goods leaving the EU must be placed under an export procedure via an electronic declaration in the ADM AIDA system, which assigns an MRN (Agenzia delle Dogane).
• Italians moving abroad for more than 12 months must register with AIRE, which cancels their entry in the resident population register (Ministero degli Affari Esteri).
• Tax residency in Italy turns on a 183-day and centre-of-interests test — leaving the register alone does not automatically end it (Agenzia delle Entrate).
• Pets need an import permit and quarantine reservation from Taiwan’s APHIA, plus a rabies antibody titer of ≥0.5 IU/ml with a 180-day waiting period before import (APHIA).
• Carrying €10,000 or more in cash out of the EU must be declared to Italian customs (Agenzia delle Dogane).

1. Your Taiwan immigration status drives the customs treatment

Before you think about shipping a single box, settle your Taiwan visa. Duty-free relief on used household goods is reserved for people genuinely transferring residence to Taiwan — typically those arriving on a resident visa who then apply for an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) within 30 days of entry at a local service centre of the National Immigration Agency. A visitor on visa-exempt entry or a tourist visa is not treated as transferring residence and cannot claim the household-goods relief.

Taiwan Customs anchors the whole timeline to your entry stamp. Unaccompanied baggage must be imported within six months of that entry date, and you clear it after arrival through the Red (Goods to Declare) channel (Taipei Customs). Practically, this means: enter Taiwan first, keep the stamped passport, then let your shipment follow. Goods generally will not clear before the owner has arrived.

2. The Italy export side

The customs authority. Exports from Italy are handled by the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM) — the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency. Any goods leaving the EU customs territory must be placed under an export procedure, and the declaration is filed electronically to the office of export using ADM’s AIDA IT platform. The export office runs risk analysis, releases the goods and assigns a Movement Reference Number (MRN); the shipment travels with an Export Accompanying Document and must physically exit the EU within 90 days of release (Agenzia delle Dogane). In practice your freight forwarder or removals company lodges this declaration for your personal-effects consignment.

Deregistration. If you are an Italian citizen, a move abroad expected to last more than 12 months obliges you to register with AIRE (Anagrafe degli Italiani Residenti all’Estero) at the competent consulate within 90 days of arrival; this registration cancels your entry in the resident population register (APR) of your Italian comune (Ministero degli Affari Esteri). Non-Italian residents instead simply cease their Italian residence with their comune before leaving.

Tax-residency exit. Deregistering is not the same as ending your Italian tax liability. Under Italy’s statutory test you are tax-resident if, for most of the year (at least 183 days, 184 in a leap year), you have your habitual residence, your domicile (the centre of your personal and family relationships), your physical presence, or your registration in the resident population register in Italy (Agenzia delle Entrate). Time your move and gather evidence of your new Taiwanese centre of interests so you are not treated as resident for the full Italian year.

3. Ports & transit times

Italy’s dominant container gateway is the Port of Genoa, run by the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, which also manages Pra’, Savona and Vado Ligure and ranks among Italy’s largest container hubs (Ports of Genoa). La Spezia and Livorno are the other major Tyrrhenian/Ligurian container ports commonly used for household-goods consignments heading to Asia. From any of these, boxes are usually railed or trucked to the port, consolidated, and shipped via a transhipment hub toward Taiwan’s main ports, Kaohsiung and Keelung.

The following transit figures are freight-industry estimates, not official published schedules, and vary with carrier, routing and season:

• Sea freight (FCL/LCL), Genoa → Kaohsiung/Keelung: roughly 30–45 days port to port, before clearance.
• Air freight for a smaller shipment: roughly 5–10 days door to door once documents are in order.

Add lead time both ends for packing, the Italian export declaration, and Taiwanese clearance. Because your six-month Taiwan window runs from your entry stamp, book the sea sailing early rather than after you land.

4. The Taiwan import side

Taiwan clears used household goods and personal effects through Taipei Customs under its rules for inward passengers’ accompanied and unaccompanied baggage (Taipei Customs). The core rules:

• Import within 6 months of your entry date, and declare within 15 days of the shipment’s arrival (Taipei Customs).
• The declaration must state the name, quantity and value of the goods together with your date of entry and your passport, visa or ARC number (Taipei Customs).
• Duty-free limits: used personal items up to NT$10,000 each in reasonable quantities, and household goods totalling up to NT$35,000, are exempt; anything above is dutiable, and a single consignment over US$20,000 in value needs an import permit (Taipei Customs).

You clear the shipment through the Red Channel, declaring the unaccompanied consignment on the passenger customs declaration and having customs stamp it on arrival, then filing the full inventory (in English) with the bill of lading or air waybill when the goods land. A licensed customs broker in Taiwan normally lodges this for you.

5. Pets

Taiwan side (import). Dogs and cats are governed by Taiwan’s APHIA (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, formerly BAPHIQ). The animal needs a microchip, rabies vaccination, and a rabies neutralising-antibody titer test of at least 0.5 IU/ml, with a 180-day waiting period running from the blood sampling before the animal can be imported. You must obtain an import permit and reserve post-entry quarantine space in advance, applying through the online e-permit system at pet-epermit.aphia.gov.tw; the permit and quarantine rules are set out by APHIA. Requirements differ for animals from rabies-free versus rabies-affected areas, so confirm your category before booking flights.

Italy side (export). Italy is not on Taiwan’s rabies-free list for these purposes, so plan the titer test well ahead. An official veterinarian in Italy (through the local ASL veterinary service) must issue the export health certificate and verify the microchip and vaccination records that Taiwan’s certificate demands (APHIA). Start at least seven to eight months out, because the 180-day titer clock is the binding constraint.

6. Vehicles, money and things people forget

Money. Leaving the EU with €10,000 or more in cash (or equivalent), you must file a cash declaration with Italian customs (Agenzia delle Dogane). On arrival, Taiwan requires passengers to declare "money-laundering controlled items" — currency and monetary instruments above the published thresholds — to Customs through the Red Channel (Taipei Customs). Check the current figures before you fly and declare rather than risk seizure.

Vehicles. A car or motorcycle is exported from Italy under the same ADM export procedure as other goods (Agenzia delle Dogane), but importing a vehicle into Taiwan is a separate, heavily regulated process with duties, commodity tax and stringent safety/emissions compliance — for most movers it is cheaper to sell in Italy and buy locally.

Commonly forgotten: deregister utilities and your Italian residence before departure; keep the stamped passport that starts your 6-month clock; prepare a detailed English inventory with values for Taiwan Customs; and remember tobacco, alcohol and certain foods, plants and medicines face separate limits and prohibitions (Taipei Customs).

Reverse direction (Taiwan → Italy). Moving back, you export from Taiwan under Taiwan Customs rules and import into the EU through ADM (Agenzia delle Dogane). Returning Italian citizens close their AIRE file by re-registering residence with their comune (Ministero degli Affari Esteri), and pets re-entering the EU must meet EU import rules including the rabies antibody test where required.

How Flyto handles your Italy to Taiwan move

Flyto runs strong in-house European operations — our own offices, warehouses, teams and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe — combined with a carefully chosen network of vetted partners and subcontractors for specialist legs. For the Taiwan side we work through trusted local partners for customs brokerage, quarantine and final delivery, so your consignment is handled end to end without us pretending to do every step ourselves.

Frequently asked questions

How long before my move should I start? Allow at least seven to eight months if you have a pet (the 180-day rabies titer is the bottleneck), and two to three months otherwise, since sea transit alone can run 30–45 days as a freight estimate.

Can I ship my household goods before I arrive in Taiwan? They can be in transit, but clearance runs off your entry stamp and generally will not complete before you have arrived; goods must reach Taiwan within 6 months of entry (Taipei Customs).

Will I pay duty on my used furniture? Only above the exemptions — NT$10,000 per used item and NT$35,000 combined for household goods; genuine used personal effects in reasonable quantity are usually within these limits (Taipei Customs).

Do I have to register with AIRE? If you are an Italian citizen moving for more than 12 months, yes — within 90 days at the consulate, which cancels your APR entry (Ministero degli Affari Esteri).

Does leaving AIRE end my Italian taxes? Not automatically — Italian tax residence depends on the 183-day and centre-of-interests test, so document your Taiwan residence carefully (Agenzia delle Entrate).

When do I apply for my ARC? Within 30 days of entry on a resident visa, at a local National Immigration Agency service centre (National Immigration Agency).

Sources

• Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli — Export procedure
• Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli — Traveller customs card (cash declaration)
• Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli — Citizens
• Ministero degli Affari Esteri — Cancellation from AIRE
• Agenzia delle Entrate — Residence for tax purposes
• Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority (Ports of Genoa)
• Taipei Customs — Unaccompanied luggage
• Taipei Customs — Duty-free exemptions and payment of taxes
• Taipei Customs — Must Know / money-laundering controlled items
• APHIA (Taiwan) — Quarantine for dogs & cats
• APHIA (Taiwan) — Pet import e-permit system
• National Immigration Agency, R.O.C. (Taiwan) — Residency guidelines