Tag Archives: Moving to another country

A Day at the Customs

Our shipment (furniture and household items from the US) arrived about a month back at Nhava Sheva Port, Mumbai. The shipping company advised us to be present at the time of Clearing (though not mandatory). So we planned in such a way that we would be in Mumbai at the time of shipment arrival.

It was a door to door move; from Atlanta, US to Pune, India. We had about half a container full of household items and furniture. It took us over a year to scale down from a 3000 sq ft house to a moderate 2-3 bedroom apt. Why did we do it? It is a topic for some other day. 🙂

The customs department (like many Govt bodies) in India has a reputation for not letting anybody go without a bribe. We spoke to some friends and relatives that had connections. All advised and agreed that it would be better to bribe for a hassle free experience. Brinda and I were not very keen on the same. So we decided that we would personally visit the port and meet the customs dept. This also gave us an opportunity to inspect and make sure we received all of our items.

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