USA
Vietnam trade laneSouthern California is home to the largest Vietnamese community outside Vietnam, and every year families from Orange County, San Jose, Houston and beyond move back to live in Vietnam. A move is a different shipment from a box of gifts: furniture, appliances and the contents of a home, in a 20ft or 40ft container or a share of one, cleared through Vietnamese customs as the belongings of a returning resident.
AGF runs the US end from Glendale — collection, packing coordination, export documents and the ocean booking — and in Vietnam we work through WCA partner agents, who clear customs and deliver to your new home; AGF has no office there. We do not run a per-box parcel service. What we do is explain the Vietnamese rules before you pack, including the one that surprises people most: the duty relief for returning residents does not cover cars or motorbikes.
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Shipping Household Goods & Vehicles from USA to Vietnam
A dedicated 20ft container suits a typical apartment, and a 40ft High Cube a house; smaller moves can share a container, with longer timing. Household goods are packed, inventoried item by item and loaded at your home or at a partner warehouse. The inventory matters more than usual, because Vietnamese customs applies the returning-resident relief item by item.
Containers sail from Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle/Tacoma, Houston or the East Coast to Cat Lai or Cai Mep for Ho Chi Minh City, or to Hai Phong for Hanoi. Transit depends on the service and any transshipment, and we confirm it per booking. Plan the arrival so that your residence registration and paperwork in Vietnam are ready, because the relief depends on them.
- 20ft for an apartment, 40ft High Cube for a house, shared containers for smaller moves
- Detailed item-by-item inventory — the basis of the Vietnamese duty relief
- Professional packing for furniture, electronics and fragile items
- Delivery in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and other cities through our partner agent
What Drives the Cost
- Volume — dedicated 20ft or 40ft, or a share of a container
- Packing: professional packing or self-packed
- Collection location and access at your US home
- Whether your goods qualify for returning-resident duty relief
- Vietnamese customs inspection, storage and delivery to your new home
- A car or motorbike, which pays full Vietnamese taxes
HS Codes and Duty Notes
Classification guidance only — duty rates change and depend on your exact product. Codes are confirmed with the licensed customs representative at destination before you ship.
| HS Code | Products | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Household effects | Used furniture, appliances, clothing and personal belongings of a returning resident | Declared with a detailed inventory; the Vietnamese relief is limited to one of each type of item. |
| 8703 | Passenger cars | Excluded from the returning-resident relief since 2016; import duty, special consumption tax and VAT apply, under conditions set by Vietnamese rules. |
| 8711 | Motorcycles and scooters | Also excluded from the relief; full Vietnamese taxes apply. |
Regulations and Compliance
Duty relief for returning residents
Vietnamese rules (Decree 134/2016) allow people returning to live in Vietnam permanently to bring used household goods and personal effects free of import duty and VAT, limited to one unit of each type of item. Eligibility depends on residence status and documents in Vietnam, so our partner agent confirms it before the container is packed. Goods beyond the limit, or new goods in commercial quantities, are taxed.
Cars and motorbikes
Since 2016, cars and motorbikes have been excluded from the returning-resident relief. A returning resident can import a personal car only under conditions on how long it has been registered to them abroad and how far it has been driven, and must pay import duty, special consumption tax and VAT, which together can exceed the car's value. We price it honestly before you commit; often the better answer is to sell the car in the US.
US export rules for vehicles
A vehicle's title and documents must be presented to CBP at the port at least 72 hours before export, and every used vehicle needs Electronic Export Information filed in AES. Household goods are generally exempt from EEI when they are not for sale. Liens must be cleared before the title is released.
Restricted items
Some items need permits or are prohibited in Vietnam — including weapons, certain publications and media, and some used goods in commercial quantities — and lithium batteries and flammable liquids have their own shipping rules. Our partner agent reviews the inventory before packing.
Door-to-Door Shipping Service
We start with an inventory and your residence situation in Vietnam: that settles the container size and whether the duty relief applies. We arrange packing and collection at your US home, the export documents and the ocean booking.
The container sails to Ho Chi Minh City or Hai Phong, where our WCA partner agent in Vietnam clears customs with your returning-resident documents and delivers to your new home. Quotes are door to door, with exclusions listed up front — Vietnamese duties and taxes on anything outside the relief among them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I ship household goods to Vietnam duty-free when I move back?
Can I bring my car when I move back to Vietnam?
How much does it cost to ship a container of household goods to Vietnam?
Do you ship individual boxes to Vietnam?
Household Goods & Vehicles is just one example. AGF ships whatever your business moves — on this lane and beyond. If your commodity isn't covered by one of our guides, tell us what you ship and we'll build the logistics around it.
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