Moving from Luxembourg to the United States is a genuine intercontinental relocation, and the paperwork lives in two national systems that never talk to each other. On the Luxembourg side you deregister from your commune, close out your tax situation and clear an export declaration through the Grand Duchy’s customs authority. On the US side, an entirely separate regime decides whether your household goods enter duty-free and whether your dog is allowed off the plane. This guide walks both halves in order — the Luxembourg departure and the US arrival — with a short note on the reverse trip at the end. It is written for private individuals moving a household: relocating professionals, returning Americans, and families leaving the Grand Duchy for good.

Key takeaways

• Your US immigration status decides your customs treatment — returning residents, new immigrants and visa holders all clear goods differently, though household effects used abroad over a year are generally duty-free under 19 CFR 148.52.
• Luxembourg’s customs authority is the Administration des douanes et accises (ADA), and exports to a non-EU country go through its electronic eDouane / export declaration system.
• You must declare your departure to your commune no later than the day before you leave (Guichet.lu).
• Luxembourg is landlocked: its only port is the inland river port of Mertert on the Moselle, so ocean freight routes overland to North Sea ports.
• On arrival, unaccompanied household goods are declared to US Customs on CBP Form 3299.
• Every dog entering the US now needs a CDC Dog Import Form and an ISO-compatible microchip, and must be at least six months old (CDC).
• Carrying more than US$10,000 in or out of the US must be reported on FinCEN Form 105.

1. Your US visa status shapes everything

Before a single box is packed, understand that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) treats your shipment according to who is importing it. The duty exemption for used household furnishings and personal effects sits in the tariff schedule at subheading 9804.00.05 and is spelled out in 19 CFR 148.52: furniture, books, tableware and similar effects actually used abroad for at least one year by the importer may enter free of duty and tax, whether you are a returning US resident, a new immigrant or a non-resident.

Where status bites is on the declaration itself. Returning US residents also receive an $800 personal exemption on goods they carry with them, declared on CBP Form 6059B. New immigrants and visa holders instead lean on the household-effects exemption for their shipped goods. On the unaccompanied-goods form you tick the box that matches your category — returning resident, emigrant/immigrant, or non-resident bringing effects for temporary use — and that choice, plus your visa, determines what CBP asks for. Get the category wrong and your container can be held. So the first practical step of a Luxembourg-to-USA move is confirming your visa or green-card status, because it dictates the paperwork on both continents.

2. The Luxembourg export side

Deregistering. Anyone leaving Luxembourg to live abroad must file a declaration of departure with the population office of their last commune of residence, and it must be submitted no later than the day before departure (Guichet.lu). Some communes accept the filing online through MyGuichet.lu. Third-country nationals who hold a Luxembourg residence permit and are leaving for more than six months must return the permit to the immigration department. The commune’s departure record is what removes you from the national population register — the anchor document the tax office and your bank will expect.

Tax exit. Income tax is administered by the Administration des contributions directes (ACD) (impotsdirects.public.lu). Leaving mid-year does not cancel your obligations: you generally still file a Luxembourg income tax return (the modèle 100) covering the part of the year you were resident, submitted to your competent tax office. After departure you are treated as a non-resident, taxable only on Luxembourg-source income, and non-residents remain subject to filing obligations in defined situations (Guichet.lu). Settle this before you go — a clean exit avoids double-taxation headaches once US tax residency begins.

Customs export. Luxembourg’s customs authority is the Administration des douanes et accises (ADA), one of the country’s three tax administrations (Guichet.lu; do.gouvernement.lu). Because the USA sits outside the EU customs territory, your household shipment needs a formal export declaration, lodged electronically through the ADA’s eDouane / export declaration system. An EORI number is required to declare, and the system issues an Export Accompanying Document (EAD) that travels with the goods to the point where they physically leave the EU. That same portal notes a EUR 3,000 value threshold below which export formalities may be completed at customs offices other than the one covering the exporter’s location. In practice a removals company holding an EORI number files this on your behalf as part of the freight booking — but the declaration is a legal requirement, not a formality to skip.

3. Ports and realistic transit times

Luxembourg is landlocked, so there is no such thing as a sailing that leaves Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy’s only port is the inland river port of Mertert on the Moselle — its sole trimodal (water/road/rail) platform, handling containers and general cargo (transports.public.lu; logistics.public.lu). From Mertert, barges connect down the Moselle and Rhine to the North Sea. For a US move, ocean containers therefore route overland (or by barge) to a deep-sea gateway such as Antwerp, Rotterdam or Hamburg before crossing the Atlantic. For air freight, Luxembourg Airport (Findel) is a major European cargo hub, home to Cargolux and LuxairCARGO (luxembourg.public.lu).

The following door-to-door windows are freight-industry estimates, not official government figures, and vary with season, sailing schedules and US port congestion:

• Sea freight (Luxembourg to a North Sea port, then to the US East Coast): commonly quoted at roughly 5–8 weeks door-to-door.
• Sea freight to the US West Coast (often via the Panama Canal): typically longer, in the region of 7–10 weeks.
• Air freight: usually a matter of days for transit, plus a week or two for collection, customs and delivery.

Treat any single number a mover gives you as an estimate and build in slack.

4. The US import side

When your goods arrive without you — shipped by sea or air — they are unaccompanied articles, and the core document is CBP Form 3299, Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles. It tells CBP who owns the shipment, what is in it, and why it qualifies for duty-free entry, and it works alongside a detailed valued inventory (a packing list). Your statements are subject to verification and false declarations carry penalties, so the inventory must be honest and complete.

The substantive relief is the household-effects exemption already noted: effects used abroad for at least one year enter free of duty under 19 CFR 148.52, and general duty and exemption rules for arriving travellers are summarised by CBP. Anything you carry in your suitcases is separately declared on CBP Form 6059B at the airport, where returning residents apply the $800 exemption. New or restricted items — anything bought in the last year, alcohol above allowances, certain foods, plants — fall outside the used-effects exemption and may attract duty or be prohibited. Because clearance happens at the US port of entry, most people appoint a US-licensed customs broker (usually the destination agent of the moving company) to file the entry.

5. Pets

Dogs (Luxembourg → USA). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rewrote its dog-import rules effective 1 August 2024, and they apply to every dog regardless of origin. As of 2026 each dog must be at least six months old, appear healthy, carry a microchip detectable with a universal (ISO-compatible) scanner, and travel with a completed CDC Dog Import Form receipt (CDC). Luxembourg is not classified by the CDC as high-risk for dog rabies, so a dog leaving the Grand Duchy avoids the heaviest tier of requirements (endorsed rabies serology, CDC-registered arrival facilities and reservations) that apply to dogs from high-risk countries. It still needs the microchip, the age and health conditions, and the import-form receipt. On the Luxembourg end, exporting a live animal to a third country requires a veterinary health certificate issued by the competent Luxembourg veterinary authority (ALVA), alongside the customs export handled by the ADA (Guichet.lu). CBP polices animal arrivals alongside CDC and USDA (CBP).

Cats. Cats face limited federal requirements on US entry — APHIS Veterinary Services has no import health requirements for pet cats — though the CDC, airlines and individual states impose their own rules (APHIS). Confirm your destination state’s rules before flying.

6. Vehicles, money and the things people forget

Vehicles. Importing a European car permanently is rarely worth it. Any vehicle under 25 years old must meet US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) — declared to DOT on form HS-7 — and conform to EPA emission standards under the Clean Air Act, declared on EPA Form 3520-1 (CBP; EPA). A non-conforming vehicle must be brought into compliance through a DOT-registered importer and an EPA-recognised Independent Commercial Importer, under CBP bond, and the conversion cost is often prohibitive. For most movers, selling the car in Luxembourg is the sensible choice.

Money. There is no limit on how much currency you may carry, but more than US$10,000 in cash or monetary instruments, in either direction across the US border, must be reported to CBP on FinCEN Form 105 — failure to report risks seizure and penalties (CBP).

Easy to forget: return your Luxembourg residence permit if you are a third-country national; keep the commune’s departure certificate for your bank and the ACD; obtain an EORI number early if you are filing the export yourself; and gather proof that your effects were used abroad for a year (receipts, an inventory with dates) because CBP can ask for it.

How Flyto handles your Luxembourg to the USA move

Flyto runs its own offices, warehouses, crews and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, so the European leg — packing in Luxembourg, export documentation and the run to the sailing port — is handled by our own in-house operation, backed by a carefully chosen partner and subcontractor network where it adds reach. In the United States we work through trusted local partners for customs clearance and final delivery. We coordinate the whole corridor end to end, and we are honest that the US side is delivered with vetted partners rather than claiming we do everything ourselves.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay US duty on my furniture?
Generally no. Household furnishings and personal effects you have used abroad for at least a year enter duty-free under 19 CFR 148.52, declared on CBP Form 3299. Recently bought items can attract duty.

What is the single most important Luxembourg step?
Filing your declaration of departure at your commune by the day before you leave, and squaring your tax situation with the ACD (Guichet.lu).

How long will sea freight take?
Plan for roughly 5–8 weeks door-to-door to the US East Coast and longer to the West Coast, but treat these as freight estimates, not official figures — Luxembourg is landlocked, so goods route via a North Sea port.

Can I bring my dog?
Yes, if it is at least six months old, microchipped and healthy, with a CDC Dog Import Form receipt. Luxembourg is not a high-risk rabies country, so the strictest CDC conditions do not apply (CDC).

Should I ship my car?
Usually not. It must meet US DOT safety and EPA emission standards, and non-conforming cars need a registered importer and bond (CBP).

And moving back, USA → Luxembourg?
The direction reverses. The shipment clears US export procedures (personal-effects removals are generally exempt from formal Electronic Export Information filing), and on the Luxembourg end you claim relief for personal property by filing an import declaration with the ADA — conditions include 12 months’ prior residence outside the EU and having possessed the goods for at least six months (Guichet.lu). Pets travelling US → Luxembourg follow EU rules (microchip, rabies vaccination, EU-endorsed health certificate) via a USDA-accredited process.

Sources

• Administration des douanes et accises (ADA), Guichet.lu
• Customs and Excise Agency, Luxembourg Government
• Declaring residence — arrival, change and departure, Guichet.lu
• Luxembourg export declaration (eDouane), Guichet.lu
• Declaring personal property to customs (third country ↔ Luxembourg), Guichet.lu
• Administration des contributions directes (ACD)
• Non-resident tax obligations, Guichet.lu
• Mertert river port, transports.public.lu
• River port, Single Window for Logistics
• Luxembourg Airport, luxembourg.public.lu
• Health certificate for export of animals to third countries, Guichet.lu
• CBP Form 3299, Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles
• CBP Form 6059B, Customs Declaration
• CBP, Customs Duty Information
• CBP, What to Expect When You Return ($800 exemption)
• 19 CFR 148.52 (household effects exemption), eCFR
• CBP, Importing a Motor Vehicle
• EPA, Learn About Importing Vehicles and Engines
• CBP, Money and Other Monetary Instruments (FinCEN Form 105)
• CDC, Frequently Asked Questions on Dog Importations
• CDC, Documents for Veterinarians (dog importation)
• CBP, Bringing Pets and Wildlife into the United States
• USDA APHIS, Bring a Pet Dog into the United States
• USDA APHIS, Bring a Pet Cat into the United States
• USDA APHIS, Pet Travel From the United States to Luxembourg