Shipping Company from Madinah to France 0552803439 | Visitors’ Luggage, Furniture and Car Shipping by Sea and Air to Paris

Home Safe is a shipping company from Madinah to France that moves visitors’ luggage, gifts, dates, furniture, goods and cars in two ways: by sea, on a truck to Jeddah Islamic Port and then in containers to Marseille and Le Havre, and by air from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport or via Jeddah airport to Paris. Madinah and Paris are about 4,200 km apart, which a plane covers in roughly six and a half hours, and a container reaches the consignee’s door in four to five weeks. An air kilogram starts from SAR 23, part-load furniture from SAR 5,500, and a saloon car by sea from SAR 2,800. To book: 0552803439.

In this guide44ShowHide

1. Who ships from Madinah to France, and what do they ship?
2. The shipping route from Madinah to France and its duration
3. The price of shipping from Madinah to France
4. What sets shipping from Madinah apart?
5. Sea freight from Madinah to France via Jeddah port
6. A full container or a shared one?
7. Shipping visitors’ luggage and gifts from Madinah to France
8. Shipping Madinah dates to France
9. Shipping furniture from Madinah to France
10. Transfer-of-residence relief in France
11. Shipping parcels and documents from Madinah to France
12. Shipping goods from Madinah to France
13. Car shipping from Madinah to France
14. French customs and the required documents
15. What cannot be shipped to France or needs a permit
16. Delivering Madinah shipments in Paris, Lyon and Marseille
17. Services for individuals, companies, government bodies, embassies and consulates
18. Air freight from Madinah to France
19. Collection from Madinah’s districts and governorates
20. Steps for shipping from Madinah to France
21. Tracking and insurance
22. Shipping from France to Madinah
23. Home Safe’s tips before shipping from Madinah to France
24. How do you choose a shipping company from Madinah to France?
25. Common mistakes when shipping from Madinah to France
26. Why choose Home Safe for shipping from Madinah to France?
27. Related articles and pages
28. Tags
29. Frequently asked questions about shipping from Madinah to France
30. How much does shipping from Madinah to France cost?
31. How long does a shipment take from Madinah until it reaches France?
32. Madinah has no port, so how does my container sail?
33. Does an air shipment leave from Madinah airport itself?
34. I am a visitor from France staying in a hotel near the Prophet’s Mosque; how do I hand you my suitcases?
35. What are hanging-garment cartons, and why do you use them?
36. Can Madinah dates be shipped to France, and do they need a certificate?
37. Will my family in France pay tax on gifts I sent from Madinah?
38. Do you ship Zamzam water from Madinah?
39. Where does the container land in France, and which is nearer to my city?
40. I worked in Madinah for years and am going back to France; is my furniture exempt?
41. Can my car be shipped from Madinah to France?
42. Is there land freight from Madinah to France?
43. Does the price include insurance on the shipment?
44. Do you ship from France to Madinah?

Sea route: Madinah → Hijrah motorway → Jeddah Islamic Port → Suez Canal → Marseille, or Gibraltar → Le Havre · Time: 23–36 days by sea, and 3–6 days by air.

Who ships from Madinah to France, and what do they ship?

Demand on this line is created by the visitor before the trader. Someone arriving from France for Umrah spends days in Madinah after Makkah or before it, and buys most of the gifts here: dates from the central date market, and abayas, rugs and perfumes from around the Prophet’s Mosque. Next comes the resident who has finished a contract at a hospital, university or hotel and is going home with a household, then the student of religious studies who has completed his course, then whoever supplies shops there with dates. Each stands before French customs in a different capacity:

Shipper	What they ship	Best method	Standing before French customs
The visitor returning to France	Suitcases over the allowance, dates and gifts	Plane for what is awaited, shared container for the bulk	What left used returns as effects; new items are assessed on value
A visiting group or agency	The baggage of dozens of people at once	A consolidated shipment on one manifest	Each person’s share is released in their name
The resident leaving for good	Furniture, appliances, a library and perhaps a car	A 20 or 40-foot container	Transfer-of-residence relief if the conditions are met
The graduating student	Books, copied manuscripts and clothes	Cartons in a shared container	Study items with proof of enrolment
The supplier of dates and gifts	Ajwa, Safawi, date products and rugs	By the cubic metre or container	A registered importer paying duty and tax
Someone sending a parcel or a paper	An Eid gift or an attested document	Express shipping	According to the declared value

The shipping route from Madinah to France and its duration

Before the container sees the sea it covers more than four hundred kilometres on land. It leaves Madinah southwards on the Hijrah motorway to Jeddah and enters the port once the export declaration is issued. The vessel then takes it up the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and on into the Mediterranean. If the consignee is in the French south, the voyage ends at Marseille a few days later; if the consignee is in Paris, the vessel carries on to the Strait of Gibraltar and then north to Le Havre. The table follows a full container bound for Lyon through Marseille:

Stage	What happens	Usual time
Collection in Madinah	Dismantling, packing, numbering and writing the list	1–2 days
The road to Jeddah port	A truck or container on the Hijrah motorway, about 420 km	One day
Export procedures	Weighing the container, the declaration and waiting for the vessel	3–6 days
Sailing to Marseille	The Red Sea, then Suez, then the Mediterranean	9–13 days
Clearance in France	Import declaration and the relief file or payment	2–4 working days
Delivery to Lyon	A truck from the port, about 315 km, then unloading	1–2 days

The figures shift when the port or the shipping method changes. Le Havre adds days because the vessel rounds the Iberian Peninsula, and a shared container adds further days waiting to be filled and sorted. These times are counted from the door of the home in Madinah to the consignee’s door:

Method	Route	Time from Madinah	Suits
Full container via Marseille	Madinah → Jeddah → Suez → Marseille-Fos	23–31 days	Marseille, Lyon, Nice and Toulouse
Full container via Le Havre	Madinah → Jeddah → Suez → Gibraltar → Le Havre	26–36 days	Paris and its suburbs, Rouen and Lille
Shared container	Consolidated in Jeddah and sorted in a French warehouse	29–36 days	Visitors’ luggage, cartons and a single room
Air	Madinah airport or Jeddah airport → Paris	3–6 days	Suitcases, parcels and documents

What lengthens the time?

• Sailing round Africa: when shipping lines avoid the Suez Canal and take the Cape of Good Hope, the voyage grows by at least a week, and we tell you the vessel’s route before you pay.
• Visiting seasons: in Ramadan and the Hajj days central Madinah and the road to Jeddah are crowded, and truck movement is held to narrower hours.
• An incomplete list: an inventory missing its values or signature stops the file at the French broker.
• The French summer break: in August fewer people are at work in warehouses and delivery firms there.

Times for the other destinations are on the transit times page.

The price of shipping from Madinah to France

Price on this line is counted in three units. The kilogram for what boards a plane, the cubic metre for what enters a shared container, and the container itself for whoever fills it. A Madinah shipment also carries an item unknown to anyone shipping from Jeddah: the four hundred kilometres to the port, which varies with the size of the load and the date of our scheduled run. These are the figures our services to France start from:

What you ship	Method	Price starts from
Suitcases, parcels and samples	Air	SAR 23 per kilogram
Documents up to one kilogram	Express shipping	SAR 83
A parcel up to 5 kg	Express shipping	SAR 110
Furniture and baggage	Shared container by sea	SAR 5,500
A complete household	Full container	SAR 11,000
A saloon car	Sea from Jeddah port	SAR 2,800
A visiting group’s baggage	Consolidated shipment	Set by the number of pieces and their weight
Transport from Madinah to Jeddah port	Truck or car transporter	Set on request

Market prices on this line are very far apart, and the Arabic pages offering shipping to France settle for phrases such as “up to 30% off” without a single figure. Published market figures put a parcel of up to one kilogram between SAR 350 and 450, an express parcel of up to 10 kg between SAR 2,500 and 3,500, one to five cubic metres by sea between SAR 2,500 and 7,500, a 20-foot container between SAR 18,000 and 35,000, and a 40-foot container between SAR 32,000 and 65,000. The gap comes down to what the figure covers: the quay only, or clearance and delivery as well.

What sets the price	Its effect on a Madinah shipment
Volume or weight	The basis of every calculation; estimate it before calling with the volume calculator
The road to the port	Joining our scheduled run to Jeddah costs less than a truck booked for you alone
Loading place	A hotel in the centre needs a small vehicle, and a distant governorate adds its mileage
The French port	Marseille is a shorter sailing, and Le Havre is nearer Paris
Delivery in France	A high floor, an outside hoist or a fixed appointment are separate items
Season	Ramadan, Hajj and summer see higher demand

How do you cut the cost?

• Match your date to our scheduled run between Madinah and Jeddah, so you pay your share of the truck and not all of it.
• Give the plane what you need in your first week, and the ship the dates, rugs and books.
• Join your travelling companions in one shipment, so the minimum charge is split between you.
• Leave the old washing machine and air conditioner behind; shipping them costs more than replacing them there.

The remaining factors are on the pricing factors page.

What sets shipping from Madinah apart?

Madinah combines what its neighbour Makkah lacks: an international airport on its edge, and level districts a truck can enter right up to the front door. It lacks what Jeddah has: the port. So every sea shipment from it starts with a road journey, and every air shipment may leave from its own airport or be moved to Jeddah, depending on the flights available. Its centre around the Prophet’s Mosque has its own regime: the traffic department sets the hours when trucks may enter and tightens them in the seasons, and we confirm the hours in force before loading day. This is what we factor in before promising you a date:

Particularity	Its effect on a France shipment	What we do
No port	The container travels about 420 km to Jeddah	We book the vessel first, then fix the day the truck leaves
An international airport in the city	A suitcase may ship without passing through Jeddah	We choose between Madinah airport and Jeddah airport by flight
Truck regulation in the centre	No loading at just any hour	A small vehicle for hotels, and a slot within the permitted hours
The Haramain train	Passengers only; it carries no freight	We collect a traveller’s baggage before boarding

Sea freight from Madinah to France via Jeddah port

Anything beyond a few cartons belongs at sea, and the sea starts at Jeddah. We send the truck to your home in Madinah, where it is loaded and sets off for Jeddah Islamic Port, the Kingdom’s largest Red Sea port and the one with the most sailings towards the Mediterranean. The truck does not move from Madinah until your space on the vessel is booked, so the container does not wait on the quay and run up storage charges.

• By truck to the port: if the street is wide enough, the container itself stands at your home and is sealed in front of you. If it is narrow, we load a closed truck and stuff the container at our warehouse in Jeddah.
• A 20 or 40-foot container: the first for a flat of two to three rooms, the second for a large house or for furniture together with a car.
• A full or shared container: a full one is yours alone, with a seal number written on the bill of lading; in a shared one you pay only for the volume of your pieces.
• Arrival port: Marseille-Fos for southern and east-central France, and Le Havre for Paris and the north; the sailing may call at an intermediate port.
• Wood: every crate and pallet is heat-treated timber bearing the international stamp, as Europe rejects anything else.

Our sea freight page sets out the service, while the article International Sea Freight from Jeddah takes you inside the port itself.

A full container or a shared one?

What decides is the volume after packing. Below fifteen cubic metres sharing is enough; above that the price nears that of a 20-foot container, which then makes more sense because it is not opened on the way. A Madinah shipment has one further consideration: a full container is sealed at your home and travels to Jeddah closed, whereas shared pieces ride in our truck and are then stowed in Jeddah with others. The table compares:

Comparison	Shared container	20-foot container	40-foot container
Volume	Up to 15 cubic metres	15–28 cubic metres	30–60 cubic metres
Example	A group’s suitcases, or cartons and one room	A small family flat	A villa, or a home and a car
Pricing unit	The cubic metre	The container	The container
Time from Madinah	29–36 days	23–36 days	23–36 days
Number of handlings	Loading in Madinah, stowing in Jeddah and sorting in France	Sealed once and opened once	Sealed once and opened once
Price starts from	SAR 5,500 for furniture and baggage	SAR 11,000 for a household	Set on request

How many cubic metres does each box hold? The answer is on the container sizes page. And what does it cost from the Jeddah quay? You will find that in the article Container Shipping Prices from Jeddah.

Shipping visitors’ luggage and gifts from Madinah to France

Madinah is the last stop on the journey of many visitors from France, and it is where the suitcases fill up. Boxes of Ajwa, prayer rugs, abayas, prayer beads and perfumes, and whatever family and neighbours asked for. At the airport scales the gap shows between what the ticket allows and what is in hand. Rather than pay the excess-baggage rate or leave some purchases behind, you fly with one suitcase and we send the rest to your address.

Case	Method	Time from Madinah	Price starts from
A suitcase or two cartons for one visitor	Air	3–6 days	SAR 23 per kilogram
A small gift for the family	Express shipping	3–6 days	SAR 110 up to 5 kg
A whole family’s purchases	Shared container	29–36 days	Set by volume
A visiting group’s baggage	Consolidated shipment on a manifest	Depends on the method	Set by the number of pieces

• Collection from the hotel or residence: our agent comes to the hotel reception in the central area, or to the furnished flat or the group’s lodging, in a small vehicle that enters where a truck cannot.
• Numbering every suitcase and carton: a label with a serial number, the owner’s name in Latin letters, the address, postcode and French mobile, and the same number on the receipt the owner keeps.
• Hanging cartons for clothes: embroidered abayas, thobes and suits hang on a bar inside a tall carton, so they are neither folded nor creased on the way.
• The group manifest: one table with the piece numbers, their owners and their contents in French, a copy of which the group leader keeps.
• What stays with you: passport, cash, gold and medicine, and the pack of Zamzam water dedicated to the traveller.

Before French customs the list is split in two. The used clothes and belongings you left France with return as personal effects. What you bought new and then shipped does not enjoy the allowance of a traveller carrying purchases by hand; in current practice a parcel sent from one individual to another is exempt up to 45 euros, and anything above bears duty and tax. We check the threshold in force before shipping.

Shipping Madinah dates to France

The Madinah region is the Kingdom’s third-largest date producer, and its central market offers Ajwa, Safawi, Sukkari and Medjool all year round. Dates travel well when properly packed, but they are food, and food has its rules at the European border. In current practice dates are excluded from the plant health certificate required for most fruit, and we review the requirements in force before every shipment.

Quantity	Method	What it needs
A few boxes as a gift	Express shipping, or by air with the baggage	Boxes sealed at source, entered on the list with weight and value
Cartons for a family or group	Shared container	Ventilated cartons with nothing heavy stacked on them
A commercial quantity	By the cubic metre or container	Invoice, certificate of origin, a French-language label and a registered importer

Shipping furniture from Madinah to France

Madinah furniture leaving for France passes through three environments: a hot road, then weeks of sea humidity, then the narrow staircase of a French building. Anyone who has lived for years in a district such as Aziziyah or Quba is used to large rooms and a majlis the length of the wall, and the flat waiting in Lyon or a Paris suburb is usually smaller. So we start with one question before any packing: which pieces will find a place there?

• Survey: we visit the home or see it on a video call, count the pieces and work out their volume.
• Dismantling and numbering: beds and wardrobes are taken down into numbered panels, with their screws in a bag taped to the largest panel.
• Packing: blankets then corrugated board for wood, corner guards for glass and marble, and a treated wooden crate for chandeliers and paintings.
• Rugs and soft furnishings: cleaned, dried and rolled in paper that lets air through, not in airtight plastic.
• Appliances: French power runs at 50 hertz with a two-round-pin socket, so we ship electronics that accept both frequencies and advise leaving the old air conditioner and washing machine behind.
• In France: unloading into the flat and reassembling what was dismantled, with an outside hoist when the stairs are too narrow.

The whole service is on the furniture shipping page, and the protective materials in the packing guide.

Transfer-of-residence relief in France

Anyone moving their main home to France from a country outside the European Union pays neither duty nor tax on used belongings, provided it is proved on paper. The file is handed to the customs office when the container arrives, and it is examined for how long you lived in the Kingdom and how long you have had the goods. The conditions in current practice are in the table, and we check those in force before loading:

Condition	Detail
Length of residence outside the Union	More than 12 continuous months
Age of the goods	Owned and used for more than 6 months
Inventory	Two copies, listing every piece and its value, dated and signed
Proof of your residence in Madinah	Residence permit, employment contract or tenancy contract
Proof of settling in France	A housing or employment contract, or a certificate from the town hall
Deadline for entry	Within 12 months of the date of the move, in current practice
Restriction after release	No sale, rental or lending for 12 months

A used car enters under the same file if it is listed in the inventory and you have had it for the required period. Someone furnishing a flat they own in France while staying in their job in Madinah, however, is not treated as moving, and duty and tax are charged on the furniture.

Shipping parcels and documents from Madinah to France

Not everything sent from Madinah is suitcases and containers. A Quran given as a gift, an attested graduation certificate its holder needs in France, or a box of Ajwa before Ramadan. These go by express shipping with a tracking number, from the sender’s hand in Madinah to the consignee’s hand against a signature.

• Price: documents from SAR 83, a parcel up to 5 kg from SAR 110, and above that from SAR 23 per kilogram.
• Time: 3 to 6 days for the main cities, and an extra day for rural towns.
• Accepted: books and Qurans, sealed dates, clothes, rugs, prayer beads and incense.
• Not accepted: Zamzam water, cheese, ghee and meat, loose batteries and pressurised containers.
• Address: the consignee’s name as on the letterbox, the street and number, the five-digit postcode and a French mobile.

How to prepare a parcel is on the parcel shipping page.

Shipping goods from Madinah to France

Commercial cargo leaving Madinah for France is dominated by two lines: dates and date products, and the devotional items and gifts sold in Islamic bookshops and stores there. It enters in the name of an importer holding a European customs identification number, with duty charged on the heading of the common tariff plus value added tax. Once released in France it moves on between the countries of the Union with no further customs:

Item	Shipping method	What France requires
Dates, date syrup and date paste	Dry container or cubic metre	A French-language label, certificate of origin and expiry date
Prayer rugs, prayer beads and gifts	Cubic metre	An invoice with items, quantities and country of manufacture
Abayas, thobes and covers	Sea, and air before the seasons	A fabric-composition label on every piece
Perfumes, oud oil and incense	Sea, and air with restrictions	A product file and a responsible person inside the Union
Samples	Air	An invoice stating they have no commercial value

We collect from the farm, the factory or the shop, and combine a trader’s purchases from several sellers in Madinah under one bill of lading. Details are on the commercial shipping page.

Car shipping from Madinah to France

The car is not driven to Jeddah; a transporter carries it from your home or the showroom in Madinah and delivers it at the port within a day. There it ships in one of three ways. Note that RoRo lines do not serve every French port regularly, so the car may land at a nearby European port and finish by road, and we name the landing port for you before booking:

Method	Description	For
RoRo	The car drives under its own power into the ship’s hold and is lashed, with nothing left inside	A running car; the lowest charge
20-foot container	The wheels are secured with chocks and straps, and the container is sealed	Luxury, classic and non-running cars
40-foot container	The car at the front and the household furniture behind a partition	Someone returning with home and car

A saloon by sea starts from SAR 2,800 out of Jeddah port, and the transporter charge from Madinah is set on request. What is paid in France is larger than both: 10% customs duty on the car’s value plus shipping, then 20% value added tax on the result. After these comes individual approval of the specification by the competent regional body, because a Gulf-specification car carries no European certificate of conformity, then an environmental tax at first registration that grows with engine size. Someone transferring residence is exempt from the duty and tax on the conditions of their file.

Before the car leaves the Kingdom its plates are surrendered, an export certificate is obtained from the traffic department, and its fines are settled. The difference between the two methods is on the RoRo car shipping and container car shipping pages, and the exit procedures in the article Car Shipping from Saudi Arabia.

French customs and the required documents

France applies the European Union tariff and adds value added tax at its standard rate of 20%, calculated on the price of the goods together with their freight and insurance. The rule we work by is that the paper precedes the ship: we send the file from Madinah to the French broker while the container is still at sea. Each shipment has its papers:

Type of shipment	Documents	Note
Furniture of someone transferring residence	Passport, both copies of the inventory, proof of residence here and there, and the bill of lading	One name on every paper
A visitor’s luggage	Passport copy, a list of contents and values, and the French address	One column for used and one for new
A group’s baggage	A manifest with piece numbers, and a passport copy for each owner of a share	Each share is released separately
Goods	Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin and the European importer number	Extra certificates for food and perfumes
A car	Export certificate, passport, and purchase invoice or proof of value	Entered in the inventory if under the relief
A parcel	Sender’s ID and a declaration of items and values	The consignee’s French mobile

On the Saudi side the export declaration is issued at Jeddah port or at the airport the shipment leaves from. The papers are detailed on the shipping documents page, and the release stages on the customs clearance page.

What cannot be shipped to France or needs a permit

What gets detained from visitors’ shipments in France is few in kind and frequent in occurrence: food containing meat or milk, and an item bearing a famous brand it does not belong to. The second has the harsher outcome, since possessing a counterfeit there is an offence even if it is a single piece for your own use. We go through this list with every customer before the cartons are sealed:

Item	Ruling
Zamzam water	Not shipped; the traveller takes the dedicated pack personally
Counterfeit goods	Confiscated and destroyed, and the owner is fined
Meat, dairy, ghee and maamoul made with ghee	Banned in individuals’ shipments
Honey	A limited personal quantity; we confirm the limit in force
Seedlings, seeds and palm offshoots	With a plant health certificate
Medicines	Personal need with the doctor’s prescription
Protected oud woods, ivory and coral	With an endangered-species certificate
Cash, gold and passports	Go in no shipment

For the general list, open the prohibited items page. And when one particular item puzzles you, a photo sent to us ahead of wrapping settles it.

Delivering Madinah shipments in Paris, Lyon and Marseille

Three cities receive most of what we send from Madinah: Paris and its suburbs, Lyon, and Marseille. The sequence is the same whatever the address: clearance, then delivery to the door. Our agent releases the shipment at the arrival port or airport, then calls the consignee to agree a day and time, and the truck arrives with two men to unload.

City and its neighbours	Arrival port	Road distance	Delivery note
Paris and its suburbs	Le Havre	About 200 km	Small lifts and a door code, and an outside hoist in old buildings
Lyon, Villeurbanne and Vénissieux	Marseille	About 315 km	Delivery usually a day after release
Marseille and Aix-en-Provence	Marseille	Up to 50 km	The shortest times, as the port is in the city itself
Nice and Toulouse	Marseille	About 200 km and 400 km	One to two days after release
Lille, Rouen and Nantes	Le Havre	Between 90 and 390 km	Joined to the northern and western rounds

A French delivery fails for small reasons. The driver does not go up unless the street door is opened for him, so write the entry code, the entrance number and the floor. In Paris a parking permit is requested from the town hall days before the appointment if unloading needs a hoist. Anyone who misses the appointment has the shipment returned to the warehouse and is charged for a second visit. The other destinations are on the shipping destinations page.

Services for individuals, companies, government bodies, embassies and consulates

Many bodies in Madinah send to France besides the visitor and the resident. Visit operators manage their groups’ baggage, universities send books and exhibits, factories send samples, and official bodies send documents. The French embassy is in Riyadh and its consulate general in Jeddah, so any papers connected with them travel the same road as our shipment. Each body has its needs:

Customer	Their need	Our service
The individual and the family	Suitcases or a household arriving without their follow-up	An itemised price and one member of staff following through to delivery
Visit operators and agencies	A group’s baggage leaving in one day	A team at the hotel, numbering, and a manifest in the group’s name
Companies, factories and farms	Regular supply with sound paperwork	A tax invoice, repeat booking and consolidation from several suppliers
Universities and government bodies	Books, exhibits and documents with a deadline	Early booking ahead of the event, and return of whatever comes back
Embassies and consulates	A transferred employee’s effects and correspondence	Coordination with the department concerned, and clearance by the consignee’s status

Air freight from Madinah to France

The plane is the route for urgent luggage and parcels. Madinah has its own international airport, Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport, with direct flights to Paris in some seasons lasting about six and a half hours. If a flight suits the shipment, it leaves from Madinah airport; otherwise it is moved by road to King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah or travels on a connecting flight. We take the quicker of the two on booking day, and the time in both cases is 3 to 6 days to the door.

• Suits: a visitor’s extra suitcases, Eid gifts, attested documents, a trader’s samples, and whatever is high in value and light in weight.
• Chargeable weight: we weigh the carton and measure it, and charge you on the higher of the two figures. The measured figure is length by width by height in centimetres over 6000, and you will find it ready-made in the volumetric weight calculator.
• Price: from SAR 23 per kilogram, falling as the shipment gets heavier, from SAR 83 for documents, and from SAR 110 for a parcel of no more than 5 kg.
• Delivery within France: the shipment is released at the Paris airport, then trucked to Lyon, Marseille and elsewhere in a day or two.
• Not accepted by air: Zamzam water, perfumes in quantity, loose batteries, lighters and pressurised containers.
• Does not suit: bedroom sets and many cartons, which belong at sea. As for land freight, we do not run it to France, because the road crosses countries and straits with no guaranteed transit time. The comparison is on the shipping methods comparison page.

The service is explained on the air freight page, and what happens at Jeddah airport in the article Air Freight Office in Jeddah.

Collection from Madinah’s districts and governorates

We reach every district of Madinah: Aziziyah, Difa, King Fahd, Salam, Aqool, Quba, Awali, Khalidiyah and Shuran. Most have wide, level streets, so the truck or container stands at the door and the furniture is loaded once. The exception is the city centre around the Prophet’s Mosque, where we work with a small vehicle and at set hours. The region’s governorates are within the service, and what is collected from them is gathered in Madinah or joins the truck on its way to the coast:

Place	Distance from Madinah	How we collect
Hotels of the central area	Within Madinah	From reception against a receipt, in a small vehicle
Al-Hanakiyah and Al-Ula	About 110 km, with Al-Ula farther north	Collected the day before the run and gathered in Madinah
Badr	About 150 km	Close to the coast road, so it joins the truck
Khaybar and Mahd adh-Dhahab	About 170 km each	A date agreed days before the run
Yanbu	About 220 km	Its shipment goes down to Jeddah on the coastal road

If your travel date comes before the vessel’s, we keep your goods packed and numbered in a closed warehouse, and if the shipment reaches France before you, our agent keeps it there until a day you set, at a charge set on request as on the storage page. The cities we serve are on the cities page, and the way of working on the door-to-door shipping page.

Steps for shipping from Madinah to France

1. The call: you say what you have, where it is in Madinah, and which French city and postcode it is going to.
2. Your status: a visitor returning, a resident moving or a trader supplying, as the customs papers are built on it.
3. Price and method: we estimate the volume or weight, suggest sea or air and the most suitable port, and send the price itemised.
4. Booking: we fix your space on the vessel or flight, then the collection day to match it.
5. Collection: packing and numbering of every piece, a list in French that you sign, and a receipt with the count.
6. Exit: the truck to Jeddah port, or the shipment to the airport, and the export declaration is issued.
7. Follow-up: the container or waybill number, and a notice at sailing, arrival and release.
8. Delivery: clearance in France, a call to the consignee, unloading and signature.

Tracking and insurance

A Madinah shipment changes its means of transport more than once: a small vehicle from the hotel, then a truck to Jeddah, then a ship, then a French truck. At each change a piece can fall behind the others. So we record every piece number at four points: when it leaves your hand, when it enters the container, when the container is opened in France, and when the consignee signs.

• Tracking: by container number on the shipping line’s site, or by air waybill number on the carrier’s site; the method is on the track your shipment page.
• Insurance: you take it or leave it; it is calculated as a percentage of the list value and covers the road leg to Jeddah as well as the sea. Its terms are on the cargo insurance page.
• Delivery day: the consignee counts the pieces and checks their numbers against the receipt, and writes any remark on the driver’s sheet before signing.

Shipping from France to Madinah

The line works in both directions. Before the visiting seasons French agencies send their printed matter and their groups’ supplies to Madinah, Saudi families returning from study or work ship their homes. Our agent takes the shipment from its address there, and it arrives by plane at Madinah airport or Jeddah airport, or by ship at Jeddah Islamic Port, after which we clear it and carry it to your home. A returnee’s used effects enter with a contents list, new items bear a duty by item and 15% value added tax, and goods subject to the technical regulations are registered on the Saber platform before they are shipped.

Home Safe’s tips before shipping from Madinah to France

• Buy your dates and gifts in your first days in Madinah, not your last, to leave time for packing and numbering.
• Write your list in two columns: used items that came back with you, and new items you bought, with the price of the new as on the invoice.
• Make your name on the label match your passport letter for letter.
• Tell the consignee in France the approximate arrival date so their phone stays on.
• Do not put in the container what you will need within a month, as the sea cannot be hurried.

How do you choose a shipping company from Madinah to France?

Around the hotels there are people offering to ship a suitcase at a price quoted on the pavement. They may be honest, but you will only know after you have flown. These questions reveal the matter before you hand anything over:

Question	A good sign	A warning sign
Do you have a commercial registration?	A number given at once and a stamped receipt	Dodging the answer
Which port and airport does my shipment leave from?	They explain the Jeddah road and when Madinah airport is used	“From Madinah directly by sea”
How do I tell my suitcase among a hundred?	A number on the piece and the same on the receipt	A name in pen on the carton
What about French customs?	They ask about the value of the gifts and your status	“No customs on visitors”
Who delivers in France?	An agent who clears, calls and delivers to the door	“Collect it from the port”

Common mistakes when shipping from Madinah to France

• Assuming the container sails from Madinah, then being surprised by the transport-to-Jeddah item.
• Handing over the suitcases the night before travel, leaving no time for numbering and the list.
• Tucking bottles of Zamzam water among the clothes.
• Mixing dates with perfumes and incense in one carton.
• Writing “gifts” on the list with no items or prices.
• Asking for Le Havre for a consignee in Marseille, or Marseille for a consignee in Paris.
• Forgetting the building’s door code and the French mobile in the address.

Why choose Home Safe for shipping from Madinah to France?

To book: 0552803439 by call or WhatsApp, from 7 am to 11 pm. Or through the request a quote page.

Related articles and pages

• Shipping from Saudi Arabia to France
• Shipping Company from Mecca to France
• Shipping Company from Jeddah to France
• Shipping Company from Madinah to Belgium
• Shipping from Saudi Arabia to Europe
• Car Shipping

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Frequently asked questions about shipping from Madinah to France

How much does shipping from Madinah to France cost?

The unit changes with what you send. Whatever is weighed starts from SAR 23 a kilogram by plane, an envelope of papers from SAR 83, and a light parcel of no more than 5 kg from SAR 110. Whatever is measured by volume goes by sea: a part load of furniture and baggage from SAR 5,500, a household container from SAR 11,000, and a saloon car from SAR 2,800 out of Jeddah port. The road leg between Madinah and the port is an item set on request. Message us on 0552803439 with the number of pieces and the consignee’s city.

How long does a shipment take from Madinah until it reaches France?

A parcel or suitcase by plane needs 3 to 6 days to reach an address in Paris, perhaps a day more for Lyon or Marseille. A full container spends 23 to 31 days if it lands at Marseille and 26 to 36 days if it lands at Le Havre. Anyone sharing a container waits for it to fill, which makes the time 29 to 36 days.

Madinah has no port, so how does my container sail?

The container or closed truck is loaded at your home and travels about 420 km down the Hijrah motorway to Jeddah Islamic Port, where it is handed to the shipping line. Yanbu Commercial Port is nearer, at about 220 km, but we choose it only if a sailing from it suits France on your date, and we tell you so when you book.

Does an air shipment leave from Madinah airport itself?

It does when a flight suits the size and timing of the shipment, and there are direct Madinah–Paris flights in some seasons lasting about six and a half hours. At other times we move the shipment by road to King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah or send it on a connecting flight. The time we give you covers both cases.

I am a visitor from France staying in a hotel near the Prophet’s Mosque; how do I hand you my suitcases?

You call us with the hotel, the room number and a time that suits you, and our agent comes to reception in a small vehicle. He numbers every suitcase and carton in front of you, writes your name and French address on them, and gives you a receipt with the count.

What are hanging-garment cartons, and why do you use them?

They are tall cartons with a metal bar across the top, on which abayas, thobes and suits hang on their hangers just as they do in the wardrobe. They reach France unfolded and uncreased, and move straight from the carton to the wardrobe.

Can Madinah dates be shipped to France, and do they need a certificate?

Yes; Ajwa, Safawi, Sukkari and Medjool are shipped in their sealed boxes. In current European Union practice, dates are among the few fruits excluded from the plant health certificate, so a personal quantity passes with a contents list alone. A commercial quantity, however, needs an invoice, a certificate of origin and a French-language label, and we check the requirements in force before packing.

Will my family in France pay tax on gifts I sent from Madinah?

In current French customs practice, a parcel sent free of charge from one individual to another carries no duty and no tax as long as its value stays within 45 euros. If the value is higher, duty is charged by item together with 20% value added tax. The threshold changes, so we review it with you on the day of sending.

Do you ship Zamzam water from Madinah?

We do not accept it in any shipment, by air or by sea, because its exit from the Kingdom is limited to the dedicated pack the traveller takes personally through the airport. If our team finds bottles of it among the baggage, they hand them back to you before the carton is sealed.

Where does the container land in France, and which is nearer to my city?

We rely on two ports in France. Marseille-Fos on the Mediterranean serves Marseille itself, Lyon, Nice, Toulouse and Grenoble. Le Havre on the Channel serves Paris and its suburbs, Rouen, Lille and Nantes. We ask for the consignee’s postcode and then decide on the port, and some sailings call at an intermediate port before reaching it.

I worked in Madinah for years and am going back to France; is my furniture exempt?

In current practice it is exempt when three things come together: your residence outside the European Union has exceeded 12 months, the goods have been yours and in use for more than 6 months, and you are really moving your main home. You give customs a detailed, valued inventory in two copies bearing the date and your signature, and you undertake not to sell what was exempted for a full year.

Can my car be shipped from Madinah to France?

It can. A car transporter carries it from Madinah to Jeddah port, then it ships by RoRo or inside a container, and a saloon by sea starts from SAR 2,800 out of the port. But count what comes after the sea: 10% customs duty, 20% tax, individual approval of the specification, and an environmental tax on registration day. The duty and tax fall away only for the car of someone transferring residence, on its conditions.

Is there land freight from Madinah to France?

We do not offer it. A truck would have to cross many countries and a sea or strait before entering Europe, and transit procedures in each country have no guaranteed duration. So we send what is light or urgent by plane, and the heavy furniture, goods and cars by ship.

Does the price include insurance on the shipment?

Insurance is a separate item that you choose, calculated as a percentage of the value you declare in the list. We advise it for a household container, a car and every valuable appliance, and for group baggage because its owners are many. In a claim, the reference is the piece number and its photo on collection day in Madinah.

Do you ship from France to Madinah?

Yes. Our agent takes the shipment from its address in Paris, Lyon or Marseille, and it arrives by plane at Madinah airport or Jeddah airport, or by ship at Jeddah Islamic Port and then by truck to your home. A returnee’s used belongings are released as personal effects with a contents list.