Relocation: Making your move

Whether you're planning a move to Prague or preparing to return home or resettle even farther afield, you'll likely need more than a few boxes and rolls of packing tape to make the transition successfully. Moving is always a headache, especially across borders when customs officials get involved, or if you're bringing pets or other valuables. Jiří Miltner, import manager and sales consultant with Team Allied moving company gave us some advice on how to make your move less painful.

The Prague Post: What kinds of services do expats leaving the country usually need?

Jiří Miltner: Shipping goods at first looks like a very simple procedure that you can simply google, but it might end up a very unpleasant and costly experience. Leaving expats need to make sure that all the services they used like accounts at local banks, utilities and rental agreements were properly terminated. Special assistance is needed by those who ship abroad pets, motor vehicles or valuable fine arts items. Also, each country requires different customs paperwork. There are many details like this, and that is the reason people should contact a company like ours.

TPP: What about those coming to the Czech Republic?

JM: All major removal companies like ours extended services with relocation, which would typically include assistance with finding residency, a school for their kids and an introductory tour around the neighborhood where they'll be staying. Also, shipping personal effects and household goods gives you exclusion from paying import duties and taxes. But it must be supported with paperwork required by law, which might vary depending on the legal status of the person relocating to the Czech Republic.  

TPP: Are there more expats coming or leaving these days?

JM: The main wave of worldwide companies opening their offices in the Czech Republic and relocating necessary staff for them has passed. These days, it's about 50/50. What is growing in numbers is local people who have proved their high professional skills to their employers and are assigned abroad.  

TPP: Have you ever had any strange moving requests?

JM: Yes, over the years, we have solved cases like moving a horse to the United Arab Emirates and moving a helicopter from Africa to Prague. We've also moved a historical weapons collection to the United States, which wasn't an easy task, especially with the increased security customs requirements nowadays.

We also participated in a hospital move. The whole hospital was moved, including some patients still on their beds connected to medical equipment.

TPP: What if people have very valuable property? How can they make sure it doesn't get lost or stolen? Should they buy insurance?

JM: We work for individuals and art galleries shipping and insuring valuable paintings and sculptures including oversized, heavy items. There are a couple of procedures connected to moving high valuables. Double bubble-wrapping protection, polystyrene chips, carton and plywood crates are used to pack it, and the most experienced movers are assigned to this task. Every single box or packed item, valuable or not, is written on an inventory list. It has its number, which is on the package at the same time. Movers check how many items were loaded, how many were unloaded, what came into the warehouse and what came out. Overseas containers are sealed at origin in front of the client and unsealed at the destination. We offer insurance tailored to the value and overall condition of the move and the object, and we let the client choose ours or a third party's solution.

TPP: What is the most complicated part of moving? How does your company handle that?

JM: It is difficult to say. Every relocation is individual - it's like a puzzle; once you miss a single piece, the whole thing does not work out. To watch out for the smallest details is impossible for people out of the moving industry. It is not something you can learn from brochures, books or the Internet. Experience and flexibility to solve any kind of situation is most important. Even after years in the business, we still face new challenges.

TPP: How far in advance should people start planning their move when leaving Prague?

JM: It depends how deeply local you become. The longer you've stayed, the more services you have to terminate, the more items to get rid of, more agreements to close. Also, there are high season times in moving. I would advise people to contact a moving company between two months and half a year in advance, depending on the size of the move and the final destination. Having said that, we have clients in situations that require immediate action, and that means we are able to arrange service with much shorter notice - even the next day.

Emily Thompson can be reached at
ethompson@praguepost.com