There are 5 reputable international moving companies in Indonesia:
AGS Movers, Allied Pickfords, Asian Tigers, Crown Worldwide, Santa Fe.
Moving is a lot about coordination of the different logistics steps, and
you should always look for Door-to-Door quotes instead of trying to organize any step of the removal yourself (including packing). This way the responsibilities are clear and you can keep the moving company liable to their word and delivering your goods until destination as per removal contract. You should ideally look for a moving company that is present both in your origin and your destination country (Indonesia) so you can ensure they don't subcontract to the cheapest available local partner at the other end, but deliver the same quality from beginning to end.
The below information is provided by AGS Movers and is up to date (2021):
The following rules apply for ALL shipments.
There are three possible cases when importing used household goods into Indonesia:
a) Duty-free import:
Besides full completion of ALL import documents (see details below), two basic rules apply:
1. the goods must arrive at the latest 3 months after the shipper’s arrival to Indonesia
2. max. one sea shipment and one air shipment are eligible for duty & tax-free import.
b) Import subject to Duties and Taxes:
The goods can be imported but are subject to duties and taxes that are calculated
differently based on the (air)port of entry, i.e. when the shipment arrives after 3 months or
the documents are incomplete but still tolerable by customs.
c) No import possible
The goods cannot be imported at all, even when willing to pay duties and taxes, i.e. no
import documents, couriered goods not incident to a removal, commercial goods etc.
If you are a private shipper and foreign citizen, you can import up to one Sea Shipment and one Air Shipment
Duty- and Tax-free if you complete the following requirements. You will see that only Number 2 and 3 are "difficult" or limit the eligible people. The rest is standard and easy to complete.
1. Original Passport with arrival stamp.
2. Original Work Permit (“Notifikasi”) valid min. 12 months (365 days).
3. Original Limited Stay Permit Card (KITAS) valid min. 12 months (365 days).
4. Original Authorization Letter (“Surat Kuasa”) to the moving company to represent the client during custom clearance process, with duty stamp (“Materai”)
5. Copy of flight ticket of the shipper showing the travel from origin country to Indonesia.
6. Copy of Packing List (no valuation).
7. Bill of Lading/Sea Waybill/Air Waybill
if you are intending to bring new items as inflight baggage do not have it still in boxes and plastic wrapping. Personal baggage tends to be allowed without tax unless there are conspicuous new and boxed items. You are only allowed one litre each of alcohol so having more than one bottle showing up on airport xray might then expose you to more a rigorous search and examination.
The part on new items without original packing/repacked is good advise.
The alcohol part is true for your flight luggage. On removals zero alcohol is permitted. Also no adult entertainment. No cars/motorbikes for private shippers. All goods are supposted to be used household goods (>12 months), but as long as they are not obviously new (original box etc.) customs doesn't care too much. Generally everything that looks like a commercial import will cause issues, i.e. non-reasonable quantities like 3 washing mashines, or a "removal" that consists only of electronic items etc.
For 6 m3 the most economic option is LCL (Less container Load), your goods are loading into a wooden Lift Van that is combined by forwarding companies with other boxed items to fill a container. Due to global disruptions in logistics and supply chains, freight rates are currently unfortunately at all-time heights.
I hope this information is helpful for anyone moving into Indonesia.
Please feel free to ask questions.
Cheers
