Shipping Company from Madinah to the UK 0552803439 | Visitors’ Luggage, Dates, Furniture and Car Shipping to London

Home Safe is a shipping company from Madinah to the UK that moves visitors’ luggage, Madinah dates, furniture, parcels, goods and cars in two ways. The first is by sea: a truck carries the load about 420 km to Jeddah Islamic Port, and from there it sails to Felixstowe, London Gateway or Southampton. The second is by air: from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport in Madinah, or via Jeddah airport, to Heathrow and Manchester. A full container reaches the consignee’s door in 26 to 37 days, and an air suitcase in 3 to 7 days. An air kilogram starts from SAR 26, a parcel up to 5 kg from SAR 110, and part-load furniture from SAR 5,500. To book: 0552803439.

In this guide43ShowHide

1. Who ships from Madinah to the UK, and what do they ship?
2. The route from Madinah to the UK and how long it takes
3. From Madinah to the port, then the UK
4. The price of shipping from Madinah to the UK
5. What is different about shipping from Madinah?
6. Shipping visitors’ luggage and Madinah dates to the UK
7. Parcels, documents and express shipping from Madinah
8. Shipping furniture and appliances from Madinah, and packing them
9. Transfer of Residence relief in the UK
10. A full container or a consolidated shipment from Madinah?
11. Shipping commercial goods from Madinah to the UK
12. Shipping cars from Madinah to the UK
13. Customs clearance in the UK and the documents required
14. What is not shipped from Madinah to the UK
15. Delivering Madinah shipments in London, Manchester and Bradford
16. Services for individuals, companies, government bodies and embassies
17. Air freight from Madinah to the UK
18. Collection from Madinah’s districts and governorates, and temporary storage
19. Advice before shipping, and the steps for shipping from Madinah to the UK
20. Insurance and tracking once the shipment has left Madinah
21. Shipping from the UK to Madinah
22. Tips before shipping from Madinah to the UK
23. How do you choose a shipping company from Madinah to the UK?
24. Common mistakes when shipping from Madinah to the UK
25. Why Home Safe for shipping from Madinah to the UK?
26. Related articles and pages
27. Tags
28. Frequently asked questions about shipping from Madinah to the UK
29. How much does shipping from Madinah to the UK cost?
30. How long does a shipment take from Madinah to reach the UK?
31. Madinah has no port, so how is my container shipped by sea?
32. Does air freight leave from Madinah’s own airport?
33. I am a visitor from the UK staying in a hotel near the Prophet’s Mosque; how do I ship my bags?
34. Are Madinah dates allowed into the UK?
35. Do you ship Zamzam water with the luggage?
36. Do you deliver to Bradford and the towns around it?
37. Do I pay tax on my used furniture in the UK?
38. I have finished my studies in Madinah; how do I ship my books to the UK?
39. Do you ship a car from Madinah to the UK?
40. Why is the container not shipped from Yanbu port, which is closer to Madinah?
41. Is collection delayed in Ramadan and the visiting seasons?
42. Are insurance and clearance included in the price?
43. Do you ship from the UK to Madinah?

Sea itinerary: Madinah → Hijrah Road → Jeddah Islamic Port → Suez Canal → Gibraltar → Felixstowe · Arrival time: 26–37 days for a full container, and 3–7 days by air.

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

Five kinds of people ask for this route, and each has a shipment unlike the others. First is the British visitor who ended Umrah or Hajj with some days in Madinah, and bought from the date market more than a ticket will carry. Second is the British student who has completed a course at Madinah’s universities and is going home with an entire library. Then come the employee returning with a household of furniture, Madinah residents with relatives over there, and the date trader supplying British shops.

Shipper	What they usually send	The method that suits them	What they need in the UK
A visitor to the Prophet’s Mosque who came from the UK	Excess suitcases, boxes of Ajwa, prayer rugs, copies of the Quran and gifts	Air for one or two suitcases; sea for a whole group’s luggage	A list separating returning belongings from new purchases
A student who has finished studying in Madinah	Books, reference works, clothes and items from student housing	Cartons in a shared container	Proof of the study stay and its length
An employee or doctor returning to settle	Furniture, appliances and a car	A 20ft or 40ft container	A Transfer of Residence relief number
A Madinah family with a relative in the UK	Dates, coffee, clothes and gifts for occasions	An air parcel	A description of the gift and its value
A trader in dates and Islamic goods	Packed dates, rugs, perfumes and printed matter	Pallets or a container; air for samples	A registered importer, a commercial invoice and product labels

The route from Madinah to the UK and how long it takes

The sea journey begins with a road leg longer than many expect. Madinah lies inland, and about 420 km separate it from the quay at Jeddah port, which the truck covers on the Hijrah Road. After that the vessel heads north to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean, then leaves by the Strait of Gibraltar and climbs to the English Channel. These are the stages of a full container from the front door in Madinah to the front door in the UK:

Stage	What happens in it	Usual duration
Loading in Madinah and the road to Jeddah	Dismantling, packing and inventory, then a truck to the port in five to six hours	2–3 days
Export formalities and waiting for the vessel	Export declaration, and the container entering the shipping line’s yard	5–7 days
Sailing	The Red Sea, then Suez, then the Mediterranean, then Gibraltar, then the English Channel	14–20 days
Clearance at the British port	Electronic import declaration, and a relief number or payment of tax	3–4 working days
Delivery inside the UK	A truck from the port to the destination city, and unloading at the house	2–3 days

Not every shipment is a full container. A few cartons share one container with others, which lengthens their time by some days; a car has its own vessels; and a visitor’s suitcase flies and never sees the port at all. The table brings the four methods together, each with its time counted from Madinah:

Method	Itinerary	Time from Madinah	For which shipment
Full container	Madinah → Jeddah port → Felixstowe or London Gateway	26–37 days	A household of furniture, or a trader’s goods
Sea part load	Consolidated in Jeddah in a shared container and sorted in a British warehouse	31–42 days	A student’s books, a group’s luggage, a room or two
RoRo for cars	A transporter from Madinah to Jeddah port, then a car carrier to Southampton	27–39 days	A sound car that runs under its own power
Air	Madinah airport or Jeddah airport → Heathrow or Manchester	3–7 days	Suitcases, urgent dates, parcels and documents

What lengthens the time?

• The visiting season: after Hajj and in Ramadan demand in Madinah rises, so aircraft and shared containers fill quickly.
• Vessels being rerouted: if the shipping line chooses to sail round the Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Suez Canal, the voyage grows by one to two weeks, and we tell you the vessel’s route on the booking day.
• Missing paperwork: a furniture container that arrives before the relief number stays at the British port and is charged storage.

Times for other routes are gathered on the transit times page.

From Madinah to the port, then the UK

Madinah has no seaport, and the nearest coast is more than 200 km away. That is why a container’s journey starts not with a ship but with a truck. We load in your district, close the container or the truck body, and it leaves Madinah southwards on the Hijrah expressway and enters the gate of Jeddah Islamic Port the same day. The Haramain train linking Madinah with Jeddah is a passenger train that carries no cargo, so there is no alternative to the road.

Madinah shipments have two ports on the Red Sea before them, and they are not equal on the UK route. We choose between them by the date of the available sailing, not by the shorter distance alone:

Comparison	Jeddah Islamic Port	Yanbu Commercial Port
Distance from Madinah	About 420 km	About 220 km
Container sailings towards northern Europe	More numerous, with steadier dates	Fewer, and dependent on the lines’ schedules
When we use it	For most UK shipments, and for all RoRo shipments	When it offers a sailing that fits your date, which we confirm before booking

Because the road leg is long, we book the space on the vessel first, then set the loading day in Madinah in the light of the cut-off at the port. That way the container arrives a day before the cut-off and does not wait a week for the next vessel. Details of the service are on the sea freight page, and what happens inside the port is in the article international sea freight from Jeddah.

The price of shipping from Madinah to the UK

Each kind of shipment has a unit it is charged by. Dates, suitcases and parcels go by the kilogram; books, cartons and furniture by the cubic metre; a whole household by the container; and a car by its class. Starting prices to the UK are the same in every city of the Kingdom, and what a Madinah sea shipment adds is one visible line: the truck to the port. These are the figures our services start from:

What you ship	Method	Price starts from
Suitcases, cartons of dates and samples	Air from Madinah airport or via Jeddah	SAR 26 per kilogram
Documents up to one kilogram	Express	SAR 83
Parcel up to 5 kg	Express	SAR 110
Furniture, belongings and books	Sea part load	SAR 5,500
A full household of furniture	Full container	SAR 11,000
Saloon car	RoRo from Jeddah port to Southampton	SAR 2,800
Transport from Madinah to the port	By volume and loading location	Set on request

Of the prices circulating in the market, none is published under Madinah’s name; everything advertised is for the Kingdom in general. The global express couriers offer the smallest parcel to the UK at between SAR 75 and 130, and with some of them international shipping starts from SAR 250. The figures that used to circulate for this route are higher: between SAR 950 and 1,150 for an air parcel up to 10 kg, between SAR 2,800 and 3,600 for goods weighing 30 to 50 kg, SAR 4,500 for furniture in a part load, about SAR 12,000 for a 20ft container, between SAR 18,000 and 22,000 for a 40ft container, and between SAR 8,500 and 10,500 for a small car, with insurance at 1% to 2% of the value. The gap comes down to what each figure covers: to the port or to the door, with clearance or without.

Factor	Its effect on a Madinah shipment
Volume or weight	The cubic metre at sea and the chargeable weight in the air. Estimate your volume with the CBM calculator
The road to the port	420 km to Jeddah is a line that someone shipping from a coastal city does not pay, and it eases if your shipment joins a shared run
The consignee’s city	London is close to the ports, Bradford and Manchester are farther, and Scotland is farthest
Customs status	The relief number removes the 20% tax from a mover’s furniture

How do you cut the cost?

• Ask for your shipment to join our shared run from Madinah to Jeddah port, so you split the road charge with other shippers.
• Put your travel companions’ bags on one receipt and one address, and have one of you hand them out over there.
• Send by air what you will give away in your first week, and leave the books and furniture to the sea.
• Complete the relief application before loading if you are returning to settle.

The pricing items are explained on the pricing factors page, and further worked examples are in the article shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to the UK.

What is different about shipping from Madinah?

Madinah combines two things that seldom meet in an inland city: an international airport at its edge, and visitors who fill its hotels for most months of the year. Most of its residential districts are level with wide streets, so a truck stops outside the house without trouble. All the difficulty lies around the Prophet’s Mosque, where the hotels stand shoulder to shoulder and pedestrians are many, and where the entry of large trucks is organised by hours set by the traffic department. Those hours change from one season to the next, so we confirm the ones in force before loading day.

Madinah’s particular feature	Its effect on a UK shipment	What we do
An international airport but no port	Air cargo may leave from Madinah itself, while sea cargo needs a road leg	We choose the airport by the available flight, and book the vessel before moving the truck
Hotels of the central area	No truck parking and no room for packing	A small vehicle collects from reception, and packing is done at our warehouse
Regulated truck movement in the centre	Loading has a permitted time	A slot fixed in advance and a crew that arrives before it opens

Shipping visitors’ luggage and Madinah dates to the UK

A visitor to Madinah who came from the UK mostly goes home with two things: a suitcase that filled up along the way, and dates for every household of relatives and neighbours. Many British groups end their journey in Madinah, leaving no time to sort out excess weight. The answer is for the visitor to hand over the surplus at the hotel and receive it at home. Our representative comes to reception at the agreed time, each piece is weighed and numbered in front of its owner, and a receipt is written with the number of pieces, the weight of each and the British address with its postcode.

Dates need care of a different kind from clothes. The Madinah region is the Kingdom’s third-largest date producer, and its central market sells Ajwa, Safawi, Anbara, Sukkari and Medjool. We stack the boxes in divided cartons with internal partitions, so the top row does not press on what lies beneath and turn soft dates to paste. Nor do we put dates in one carton with perfumes and incense, because they pick up the smell. Great Britain accepts dates from outside Europe for personal use without a plant health certificate under current practice, and we confirm what is in force before shipping.

Case	Method	Time from Madinah	Price starts from
One or two suitcases for a visitor	Air	3–7 days	SAR 26 per kilogram
Urgent cartons of dates before Ramadan or Eid	Air	3–7 days	SAR 26 per kilogram
A whole group’s luggage and dates	Consolidated sea shipment	31–42 days	Set by the number of pieces and their weight

• On every piece: a label with its number, the owner’s name as in the passport, and a British mobile number.
• In the list: clothes and returning belongings on one line, and dates and new gifts on lines giving their quantity and value in pounds.
• Soft and fresh dates: shipped by air only, since weeks at sea in a dry container do not suit them.
• Staying with the visitor: passport, cash, jewellery and medicines, and the Zamzam pack prepared for travellers.

Parcels, documents and express shipping from Madinah

Not every shipment from Madinah is a visitor’s suitcase. There is a mother’s parcel for her married daughter in Manchester, an attested graduation certificate requested by a British university, and a contract that needs an original signature. These small shipments travel by door-to-door express service, and their tracking number is known from the hour of collection.

• Documents: from SAR 83 up to one kilogram, in a stiffened envelope that does not bend, delivered against the signature of the named consignee.
• Parcels: from SAR 110 up to 5 kg, and above that from SAR 26 per kilogram.
• A gift between two individuals: current practice in the UK exempts it from tax up to £39, with customs duty starting above £135. We review both limits in force before sending.
• Contents declaration: the name of each item in English, with its quantity and value. A general word such as “gifts” prompts customs to open the parcel.

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

Shipping furniture and appliances from Madinah, and packing them

Furniture leaving Madinah goes through three handlings before it sees the sea: loading in the district, a long road leg, then the lifting of the container at the port. So we pack on the assumption of vibration. Before measuring, we ask about the width of the door and stairs in the British house, as many terraced houses in the towns of northern England have narrow entrances, and a wardrobe that will not go up the stairs is sold in Madinah, not shipped.

• Dismantling and numbering: bedrooms, wardrobes and desks are taken apart, each piece is marked with its room number, and the packing stages are photographed and sent to you with the inventory.
• Packing layers: a blanket and then corrugated board for wood, reinforced corners and foam for glass and marble, and acid-free paper for old books.
• Wooden crates: for mirrors, chandeliers and ornaments, in heat-treated timber stamped ISPM 15, a British requirement for all wood packaging.
• Moisture: absorbent bags inside the container and between the soft furnishings, because the furniture moves from Madinah’s dryness to the damp of the sea and then the cold of British ports.
• Appliances: electricity there is 230 volts at 50 hertz, and the socket is the three-pin type common in the Kingdom. Whatever is marked 50/60 Hz on its plate will work, and anything else we go over with you before shipping it. The fridge and washing machine are drained and dried a day ahead.

How a household move is run is set out under furniture shipping, and the packing guide covers the materials used for each kind of piece.

Transfer of Residence relief in the UK

Anyone returning from Madinah to settle in the UK pays no tax on used household belongings, provided the relief is applied for before shipping. The application is made online to HM Revenue and Customs, and it produces a reference number that goes into the import declaration. These are its conditions under current practice, and we check with you which are in force before booking the vessel:

Condition	In detail
Previous residence outside the UK	At least 12 continuous months before the date of the move
Possession and use of the belongings	At least 6 months, so anything bought recently for the journey is not covered by the relief
Deadline for bringing the shipment in	Within 12 months of the move
After release	The belongings stay for their owner’s use for 12 months, neither sold nor hired out
What it does not cover	Tobacco, alcoholic drinks, commercial vehicles and non-portable tools of trade

Attached to the application are the passport, the list of contents, proof of residence in Madinah such as the tenancy contract or a letter from the employer or university, and proof of the new British address. The reply may take weeks, so we start the file on the survey day and hold back sealing the container until the number arrives.

A full container or a consolidated shipment from Madinah?

A consolidated shipment means your cargo shares one container with others, so you pay only for the space you occupy. It is cheaper for someone with books, cartons or a room of furniture, but it takes days longer and involves more handling. A full container belongs to its owner alone: it is sealed in Madinah or at the warehouse, its seal number is entered on the bill of lading, and it is not opened before British customs.

Point of comparison	Full container	Consolidated shipment
Basis of the price	The charge for the whole container, whatever is in it	The cubic metre occupied
Time from Madinah	26–37 days	31–42 days
Number of handlings	Loading in Madinah and unloading at the house	Plus consolidation in Jeddah and sorting in a British warehouse
For whom	A house of three rooms or more, or furniture with a car	A student’s library, visitors’ luggage, a small flat
Price starts from	SAR 11,000	SAR 5,500

A 20ft container holds about 28 cubic metres, the measure of a two-bedroom flat once its furniture is dismantled. A 40ft container comes close to double that. Dimensions are on the container sizes page.

Shipping commercial goods from Madinah to the UK

The best-known thing Madinah exports commercially to the UK is dates, and demand for them peaks weeks before Ramadan. After them come the devotional items and gifts sold by Islamic shops in London, Manchester, Bradford and Birmingham. Commercial goods differ from a gift in every respect: they enter in the name of a British importer with a customs identification number, are classified under a tariff heading, and bear tax and duty according to type.

Goods	How they ship	Required on arrival
Packed dates for sale	A dry container for dry varieties; refrigerated or air for soft ones	An English label with ingredients, weight and the importer’s name and address, and a certificate of origin
Prayer rugs, abayas and thobes	Compressed bales or cartons on pallets	A statement of fabric type and country of manufacture
Perfumes, incense and cosmetics	Sea; air is restricted for flammables	A responsible party inside the UK and product data

Wooden pallets carry the heat-treatment stamp, otherwise they are turned back at the port. Commercial terms are on the commercial shipping page.

Shipping cars from Madinah to the UK

A car does not travel 420 km to the port on its own wheels. A car transporter lifts it from outside your house after it has been photographed and its condition and odometer reading recorded in a report you sign. At Jeddah port it takes one of three methods, and its destination in the UK is mostly Southampton, because that is the port for car carriers there:

Method	How it is done	Suits
RoRo	A port driver takes it inside the vessel and it is secured on the car deck, empty of belongings	An ordinary sound car, and the cheapest
20ft container	Lashed with straps and timber chocks inside a container that is sealed	Luxury and classic cars, and those whose engine does not run
40ft container with furniture	The car at the front and the rest of the container for furniture	Someone returning to settle with home and car

RoRo starts from SAR 2,800 for a saloon, counted from Jeddah port, and a 4×4 costs more because the charge is by volume. The UK drives on the left, yet it registers left-hand-drive cars. Under current practice the authorities are notified of the arrival within 14 days, 10% duty and 20% tax are paid unless the mover’s relief covers the car, its headlamps, speedometer and rear fog lamp are modified, and it passes the Individual Vehicle Approval test as long as it is under ten years old. We confirm which of these conditions are in force before booking. The difference between the two methods is on the RoRo car shipping and container car shipping pages, and the detail is in the article car shipping from Jeddah to the UK.

Customs clearance in the UK and the documents required

Fast clearance is made in Madinah before it is made at the British port. Customs there read the electronic declaration before the shipment arrives, and whatever is vague in it is held for inspection. The general rule is that imports bear 20% value added tax calculated on the value and the freight together, plus a duty that follows the type, unless they enter under a relief. We review the documents and classify the items under their headings before the truck moves, so you know in advance what you owe.

Shipment	Its papers	What we point out
A visitor’s luggage	Passport copy, a list of used and new items, and a British address with its postcode	The value of each new item in pounds
Furniture of someone returning to settle	Passport, relief number, inventory list and bill of lading	The container is not sealed before the number
Gift parcel	The sender’s ID, and a statement of items and value	The occasion is stated, and that it is from one individual to another
Commercial goods	Commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, bill of lading and the importer’s number	Product labels for foods and cosmetics
Car	Registration, export certificate from the traffic department, passport and purchase invoice	The chassis number matching on every paper

On the Saudi side we issue the export declaration from Jeddah port or from the airport, and obtain from a resident leaving for good whatever is required of them. Each document is explained on the shipping documents page, and the release steps on the customs clearance page.

What is not shipped from Madinah to the UK

The prohibited items here form two lists: what the Kingdom bars from leaving, and what the UK bars from entering. What we most often take out of visitors’ bags at collection is bottles of Zamzam, followed by home-made foods containing meat or milk. These are the main items and the ruling on each:

Item	Ruling
Zamzam water	Not shipped; what is allowed is the traveller’s pack carried in person
Meat, dairy products and ghee	Do not enter the UK in parcels or personal luggage
Honey	A limited personal quantity under current practice, and we confirm the limit before shipping
Seedlings, seeds, soil and planting stones	With a plant health certificate; dates as fruit are excepted
Oud oil and wood in quantity, ivory and coral	With an endangered-species convention certificate; a small personal amount of oud is accepted
Medicines	For personal use with a prescription; some require prior permission
Knives, daggers and sharp ornamental pieces	Heavily restricted, and mostly confiscated

The full list is on the prohibited items page. If you hesitate over an item, photograph it and send it to us before closing the carton.

Delivering Madinah shipments in London, Manchester and Bradford

Three cities receive most of this route’s shipments: London, Manchester and Bradford. They have large Muslim communities from which visitors set out and to which they return. After the vessel or aircraft arrives comes clearance, then delivery to the door: our agent releases the shipment and calls the consignee to agree the delivery day and time band, then the truck leaves the port or airport for the address. A single group’s luggage is sorted by its numbers at the agent’s warehouse and distributed to the houses in one round.

City	Distance from the port of Felixstowe	Delivery note
London and Luton	140–170 km	The nearest big cities to the port; some of their streets need a parking permit in advance
Birmingham and Leicester	225–260 km	The Midlands, delivered a day after release
Bradford and Leeds	345–365 km	West Yorkshire, with terraced houses on narrow streets, so a medium truck is used
Huddersfield, Halifax, Dewsbury and Keighley	The towns neighbouring Bradford	Served on the Bradford round itself
Manchester, Bolton, Oldham and Blackburn	390–430 km	The North West, with a day added
Glasgow, Edinburgh and Cardiff	400–700 km	Two to three days added

We also deliver to warehouses, shops, student accommodation and exhibitions at a time booked with their management, carry the pieces into their rooms and reassemble what we took apart. Write the address in its British order: house number, then street, then town, then the full postcode. Northern Ireland has a special customs position, so alert us to it when booking. Other countries are on the shipping destinations page.

Services for individuals, companies, government bodies and embassies

An individual wants a clear price and a contact who answers; a company wants a schedule and an invoice; an official body wants documentation and confidentiality. Madinah has universities and hospitals that send documents and exhibits to the UK, and visit operators that handle the luggage of hundreds of visitors in a single day.

Client	What they ask for	What we provide
Individuals and families	Moving luggage or a household without complication	A survey, an itemised price, and one contact from collection to delivery
Visitors and visit operators	Collection from hotels at short notice	A schedule naming the owners of the pieces, collection from more than one hotel, and distribution in the UK
Companies and exporters	Regular shipping of dates and goods	An annual contract, fixed slots and tax invoices
Government bodies and universities	Documents, printed matter and conference exhibits	Sealed envelopes, a written timetable and a signed delivery report
Embassies and missions	Their staff’s belongings and their correspondence	Coordination with the body, discretion in description, and delivery to the authorised person only

Air freight from Madinah to the UK

Air freight is the route for urgent luggage and dates, and it leaves from Madinah airport or via Jeddah. Madinah has Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport, where a shipment is loaded when there is a suitable flight to the UK, direct in some seasons or with a connection at an intermediate airport. If the flight is missing or short of capacity, the shipment moves by road to King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, where flights to Heathrow are more numerous. The time door to door is 3 to 7 days, including security screening, clearance and delivery inside the UK.

• For whom: a visitor’s suitcase in a hurry, dates that must arrive before Ramadan, a gift parcel, and a document with a deadline.
• Basis of the charge: the chargeable weight, which is the higher of the actual weight and the volumetric weight obtained by multiplying the three dimensions in centimetres and dividing by 6000. Try it in the volumetric weight calculator.
• Price: from SAR 26 per kilogram, from SAR 83 for documents, and from SAR 110 for a parcel up to 5 kg.
• Dates by air: a carton of dates is heavy and small, so it is charged on its actual weight, which works in its owner’s favour.
• What is left out: alcohol-based perfumes, aerosol cans, and lithium batteries not fitted in their devices.

The service is explained on the air freight page.

We do not offer land freight to the UK: a truck crosses several countries and then needs a ferry or a tunnel at the end of the road, which competes with a sea container on neither cost nor time. The guide to the continent is the article shipping from Saudi Arabia to Europe, and the methods are weighed against each other on the shipping methods comparison page.

Collection from Madinah’s districts and governorates, and temporary storage

We collect from the house in every district of Madinah: Aziziyah, Difa, King Fahd, Salam, Aqool, Quba, Awali, Khalidiyah and Shuran. We collect from hotels, and from the Haramain railway station for those leaving by train for Jeddah. Shipments from the region’s governorates are brought to Madinah or picked up on the way, then travel with the same port or airport run:

Place	Distance from Madinah	How we collect
Hotels of the central area	Inside Madinah	A small vehicle at reception, with weighing and numbering on the spot
Residential districts	Inside Madinah	A truck at the door with the dismantling and packing crew
Al-Hanakiyah	About 110 km	Brought in before loading day
Badr	About 150 km	On the coast road, so picked up on the way to the port
Yanbu	About 220 km	Added to the Madinah shipments, or sent from Yanbu straight to Jeddah

Temporary storage solves two recurring problems: a tenant who hands back the house before the relief number is issued, and a visitor who leaves before the group’s luggage is complete. The belongings are kept in our warehouse, numbered against a signed inventory, and our agent in the UK has similar storage for anyone whose shipment arrives ahead of the accommodation. Charges and periods are on the storage page, and the cities we collect from on the service cities page.

Advice before shipping, and the steps for shipping from Madinah to the UK

The cheapest mistake is the one found before loading. So we begin with a short consultation free of charge, in which we ask what you are shipping, in what capacity you are entering the UK, when you need the shipment, what the delivery postcode is, and whether it contains food, medicine or oud that needs a permit. On your answers we suggest the most suitable route and write the cost item by item, then the shipment goes through eight steps:

1. The request: a call or message giving the type of shipment, the name of the district or hotel, and the British city.
2. Survey and price: photographs for suitcases and cartons, a visit for furniture, then an itemised price.
3. Opening the customs file: the relief application for a mover, the used-and-new list for a visitor, or the importer’s papers for a trader.
4. Booking the departure: space on the vessel or aircraft, from which the loading day in Madinah is set.
5. Collection: weighing and numbering at the hotel, or dismantling, packing and inventory at the house, and your signature on the list.
6. Leaving Madinah: a truck to Jeddah port for what sails, and handover at the airport for what flies, with the export declaration.
7. Follow-up: the container number or air waybill, and a message at every move.
8. Clearance and delivery: release in the UK, then delivery to the door and a signature on the delivery receipt.

Insurance and tracking once the shipment has left Madinah

The liability of sea and air carriers is limited to small sums calculated by weight or by number of packages, which do not come near the price of a household of furniture or a library gathered over years. That is why we offer insurance as a separate item for you to take or leave. Tracking, for its part, starts in Madinah, before the shipment enters any port.

• Insurance: covers loss and damage from the door in Madinah to the door in the UK, on the value declared for each item in the inventory. Details are on the cargo insurance page.
• Tracking: a container has a number you look up with its shipping line, and an air shipment has a waybill number you look up with the airline. The method is on the track your shipment page.

Shipping from the UK to Madinah

The opposite direction is asked for by those arriving to work or study in Madinah, by those who buy from British shops, and by tour organisers who send their groups’ supplies ahead of them. Our agent collects from any address in the UK, then the shipment takes one of two routes:

• By air: to Madinah airport when a flight is available, or to Jeddah airport and then a vehicle to Madinah after clearance.
• By sea: from Felixstowe or Southampton to Jeddah port, then a truck to Madinah that enters its centre at the permitted time.
• At Saudi customs: whatever is used among the belongings of a person coming to live there is released against its list as personal effects, while anything new bears 15% value added tax and a duty that follows its type.

Tips before shipping from Madinah to the UK

• Buy your dates a day before the collection appointment, not within the hour, so they can be stacked and weighed calmly.
• Ask the seller for tightly sealed boxes, since loose dates in a bag spoil and raise questions at customs.
• Record the true value of your purchases, because the value is the basis of both the insurance and the relief.
• Give us a British number that someone at home will answer, since your temporary Saudi number stops after you travel.
• If fewer than six weeks remain before Ramadan, do not count on the sea for dates you want on the iftar table; choose air.

How do you choose a shipping company from Madinah to the UK?

Around Madinah’s hotels in the seasons there are people offering shipping by the kilogram with no office and no registration. The difference between a lawful carrier and a passing one shows in three signs:

What to check	What reassures you	What warns you
Identity	A visible commercial registration and a receipt in the establishment’s name with its stamp	A name with no registration, and a transfer to a personal account
Scale and receipt	Each piece weighed in front of you, with its number on the paper	An approximate weight and a count with no detail
End of the journey	A known British agent and delivery at the door	Handover at a distant warehouse you are asked to travel to

Common mistakes when shipping from Madinah to the UK

• Assuming Madinah has a port, and working out the time without the days on the road to Jeddah.
• Leaving dates in a closed car under the sun for hours before handing them over.
• Putting a bottle of Zamzam or a tin of ghee among the clothes.
• Writing “personal effects” on cartons that are all new purchases.
• Loading a returning resident’s furniture before the relief number arrives, then paying the tax in full.
• Shipping books in large cartons whose bottoms tear at the first lift.
• Handing suitcases to someone standing outside the hotel with no receipt.

Why Home Safe for shipping from Madinah to the UK?

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

Related articles and pages

• Shipping company from Saudi Arabia to the UK
• Shipping company from Mecca to the UK
• Shipping company from Jeddah to the UK
• Shipping company from Madinah to France
• Car shipping
• Shipping services

Tags

shipping company from Madinah to the UK, shipping from Madinah to the UK, shipping price from Madinah to the UK, shipping visitors’ luggage from Madinah, shipping Madinah dates to the UK, shipping from Madinah to London, shipping from Madinah to Manchester, shipping from Madinah to Bradford, air freight from Madinah to the UK, sea freight from Madinah to the UK, furniture removals from Madinah to the UK, car shipping from Madinah to the UK, parcel and document shipping from Madinah to the UK, shipping students’ books to the UK, shipping from the UK to Madinah, Home Safe international shipping

Frequently asked questions about shipping from Madinah to the UK

How much does shipping from Madinah to the UK cost?

It depends on what you are sending. An urgent envelope of papers starts from SAR 83, a gift parcel of no more than 5 kg from SAR 110, and a carton of dates or a suitcase by air from SAR 26 for each kilogram. By sea, part-load furniture starts from SAR 5,500, a full-house container from SAR 11,000, and a saloon car on a RoRo vessel from SAR 2,800 counted from Jeddah port. The truck to the port is a line set on request. To book: 0552803439.

How long does a shipment take from Madinah to reach the UK?

A parcel or suitcase by air takes between 3 and 7 days door to door. A full furniture container takes between 26 and 37 days, most of it at sea, where the vessel spends 14 to 20 days. Part-load cartons take between 31 and 42 days, because their shared container is filled in Jeddah and emptied in a British warehouse before distribution.

Madinah has no port, so how is my container shipped by sea?

It is loaded outside your house or at our warehouse, then the truck carries it along the Hijrah Road for about 420 km to Jeddah Islamic Port, which it covers in five to six hours. There it is handed to the yard of the shipping line on which space was booked beforehand, and the export declaration is our job.

Does air freight leave from Madinah’s own airport?

It does whenever there is a flight that suits the shipment and has room for it. Direct flights between Madinah and London run in some seasons and disappear in others, so when none is available the shipment is loaded on a connecting flight, or moved by road to King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah. We tell you the departure airport before you pay.

I am a visitor from the UK staying in a hotel near the Prophet’s Mosque; how do I ship my bags?

Message us two days before you leave, giving the hotel name, the room number and the number of pieces. Our representative arrives at reception in a small vehicle, because trucks cannot stop in the central area. He weighs each bag in your presence, numbers it, and hands you a receipt with the count and weights, then the bags follow you home.

Are Madinah dates allowed into the UK?

Yes. Dates are named among the fruits that may be brought into Great Britain from outside Europe for personal use without a plant health certificate, under current practice. So Ajwa, Safawi, Anbara and Sukkari ship in their sealed boxes inside divided cartons. Quantities for sale enter in the name of a registered British importer, and we confirm the requirements in force before shipping.

Do you ship Zamzam water with the luggage?

We do not ship it, from Madinah or anywhere else. Taking Zamzam water out of the Kingdom is limited to the pack prepared for travellers, which they collect from its outlets and take on their own flight. Any bottle slipped into a shipped suitcase exposes the whole suitcase to being stopped at screening.

Do you deliver to Bradford and the towns around it?

Yes, and they are among the commonest addresses on this route after London and Manchester. We deliver in Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax, Dewsbury and Keighley, all in West Yorkshire, so one round serves them, one to two days after customs release.

Do I pay tax on my used furniture in the UK?

You do not if the furniture enters under a Transfer of Residence relief number, an application made to the British tax authority before shipping. Under current practice the applicant must have lived outside the UK for 12 continuous months, and the belongings must have been in their possession and use for 6 months. Anyone who ships without this number is charged 20% tax and a duty on certain items.

I have finished my studies in Madinah; how do I ship my books to the UK?

Books are heavy and compact, so sea suits them better than air. We pack them in small cartons weighing no more than roughly 20 kg each so the bottom does not tear, and add them to a shared container. They are listed as used books belonging to their owner, and enter under Transfer of Residence relief for anyone who meets its conditions.

Do you ship a car from Madinah to the UK?

Yes. A car transporter lifts it from Madinah to Jeddah port, and from there it sails to Southampton, driven on to a RoRo vessel or lashed inside a container. RoRo for a saloon starts from SAR 2,800 from the port. Its left-hand drive does not bar it from registration in the UK, but it does call for modifications and a test that we explain to you before booking.

Why is the container not shipped from Yanbu port, which is closer to Madinah?

Yanbu really is closer, at about 220 km against 420 km for Jeddah. But the container lines bound for northern Europe call more often and more regularly at Jeddah. So we use Yanbu when it offers a sailing that fits your date, and rely on Jeddah otherwise.

Is collection delayed in Ramadan and the visiting seasons?

It may be delayed by a day or two if the request comes at the last moment. Truck entry to the centre of Madinah is organised by hours set by the traffic department, and they tighten in Ramadan and after Hajj when visitors pour in. That is why we book the slot early and confirm the hours in force before loading day.

Are insurance and clearance included in the price?

Clearance in the UK and delivery to the door are written into our offer line by line. Insurance is optional, and is calculated as a percentage of the value you declare for each item. British tax and duty, where they are due, are paid to customs there and are not part of the freight charge.

Do you ship from the UK to Madinah?

Yes. An air shipment arrives at Madinah airport or Jeddah airport, and a container arrives at Jeddah port and is then trucked to Madinah. The used belongings of someone arriving to live there are cleared as personal effects against a list, and new goods carry 15% value added tax and a duty that follows their type.