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

Home Safe is a shipping company from Mecca to France that moves pilgrims’ luggage, furniture, parcels, goods and cars in two ways: by sea in containers from Jeddah Islamic Port to the ports of Marseille and Le Havre, and by air via King Abdulaziz Airport to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The aircraft covers about 4,400 km in roughly six hours, and a container reaches the consignee’s home in three 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 guide46ShowHide

1. Who ships from Mecca to France, and what do they ship?
2. The shipping route from Mecca to France and its duration
3. Shipping price from Mecca to France
4. What is distinctive about shipping from Makkah?
5. Shipping pilgrims’ luggage from Mecca to France
6. Sea freight from Mecca to France via Jeddah port
7. A full container or a shared load?
8. Shipping household furniture from Mecca to France
9. Transfer-of-residence relief in France
10. Shipping electrical and electronic appliances
11. Shipping parcels and gifts from Mecca to France
12. Shipping commercial goods from Mecca to France
13. Car shipping from Mecca to France
14. French customs and the documents required
15. What cannot be shipped to France or needs a permit
16. Delivering Mecca shipments in the Paris suburbs, Lille and Strasbourg
17. Services for individuals, companies, government bodies and consulates
18. Air freight from Mecca to France
19. Shipping options: sea or air, and is there land freight?
20. Collection from Makkah’s districts and surroundings
21. Temporary storage before shipping
22. Steps for shipping from Mecca to France
23. Tracking and insurance
24. Shipping from France to Makkah
25. Home Safe’s tips before shipping from Mecca to France
26. How do you choose a shipping company from Mecca to France?
27. Common mistakes when shipping from Mecca to France
28. Why choose Home Safe for shipping from Mecca to France?
29. Related articles and pages
30. Tags
31. Frequently asked questions about shipping from Mecca to France
32. How much does shipping from Mecca to France cost?
33. How many days does a shipment need from Makkah until it reaches France?
34. Makkah has neither a port nor an airport, so where does my shipment leave from?
35. I am an Umrah pilgrim from France; do you collect my suitcases from the hotel?
36. Do I pay customs in France on Umrah gifts?
37. Do you ship Zamzam water to France?
38. Which French port does the container arrive at?
39. Is my furniture exempt from customs if I move to live in France?
40. Do you ship a car from Makkah to France?
41. Will my Saudi appliances work in France?
42. What should I not put in baggage cartons bound for France?
43. Do you deliver to the Paris suburbs and not only the centre?
44. Can I ship dates, incense and oriental perfumes?
45. Is insurance included in the price?
46. Do you ship from France to Makkah?

Sea route: Makkah → Jeddah Islamic Port → Suez Canal → Mediterranean → Marseille, or Gibraltar → Le Havre · Time: 22–35 days by sea for a full container, and 3–6 days by air.

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

A shipment leaving Makkah for France has a different owner from one leaving a trading city. Most of our callers are French visitors who have finished their Umrah or Hajj and want their purchases to follow them, then the resident who worked in Makkah for years and is going back with a household, then a trader supplying a shop in a Paris suburb with prayer rugs, abayas and dates. Each of them has a method and a standing before French customs:

Shipper	What they ship	Best method	Status at French customs
The Umrah or Hajj pilgrim from France	Extra suitcases, gifts, dates and prayer rugs	Air for the urgent, shared sea load for the bulk	Used items are personal effects; gifts are assessed on value
The group leader or travel agency	The baggage of a whole group	A consolidated shipment with one manifest and numbered tags	Each consignee’s share is cleared in their own name
The resident returning to France for good	Household furniture, appliances and sometimes a car	A 20 or 40-foot container	Transfer-of-residence relief on its conditions
The student and the academic	Books, clothes and household items	Cartons in a shared container	Study items with proof of enrolment
The trader and supplier	Dates, abayas, incense and religious gifts	By the cubic metre or container, and air for samples	Duty by item and 20% tax
Someone sending a parcel or a paper	A gift for the family or a document	Express shipping	According to the parcel’s value

The shipping route from Mecca to France and its duration

The journey starts with eighty kilometres of tarmac before it starts at sea, since the container first goes down from Makkah to Jeddah port. From there the vessel heads north in the Red Sea and passes through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean. At that point the route divides: the Marseille vessel arrives a few days later, while the Le Havre vessel carries on west to the Strait of Gibraltar and then climbs past Spain and Portugal to the Channel. These are the stages of a container bound for Paris through Le Havre:

Stage	What happens	Usual time
Collection in Makkah	Dismantling, packing, numbering and writing the inventory	1–2 days
Down to Jeddah port	A closed truck or a container on the motorway	Mostly the same day
Export and waiting for the vessel	Export declaration and handing the container to the shipping line	3–6 days
Sailing	Suez, then the Mediterranean, then Gibraltar, then the Channel	13–18 days
French clearance	Import declaration and the relief file or payment of tax	2–4 working days
Delivery inside France	From the port to the address, with unloading	1–3 days

The figures change with the port and the method. Someone living in the south gains about a week because their vessel does not sail round Spain, and someone shipping a few cartons waits for a shared container to fill. These are the times from Makkah to the door:

Method	Route	Time from Makkah	Suits
Full container to Marseille	Jeddah → Suez → Marseille-Fos	22–30 days	Lyon, Nice, Toulouse and Montpellier
Full container to Le Havre	Jeddah → Suez → Gibraltar → Le Havre	25–35 days	Paris and its suburbs, Lille and Rennes
Shared sea load	A consolidated container sorted in a French warehouse	28–35 days	Pilgrims’ baggage, cartons and one or two rooms
Air	Jeddah airport → Charles de Gaulle	3–6 days	Suitcases, urgent parcels and documents

What lengthens the time?

• Vessel rerouting: some shipping lines at times sail round the Cape of Good Hope instead of crossing Suez, which lengthens the sailing by a week or more. We tell you the voyage’s route on the booking day.
• Transhipment: not every sailing is direct, and some containers change vessel at an intermediate Mediterranean port.
• Makkah’s seasons: after Hajj and at the end of Ramadan demand doubles and truck movement inside the city is restricted.
• An incomplete inventory: a list without a signature or without values delays release in France.
• The French August: it is the holiday month there, and warehouses and hauliers work at half capacity.

Times for all destinations are gathered on the transit times page.

Shipping price from Mecca to France

The question about price is preceded by one about the unit: is your shipment charged by the kilogram, the cubic metre or the container? A suitcase and a parcel are weighed, cartons and furniture are measured by volume, a whole household takes a container, and a car is priced by its class. A Makkah invoice also has one small item that someone shipping from Jeddah does not pay, namely the haul to the port or airport. These are the figures our services to France start from:

What you ship	Method	Price starts from
Suitcases, parcels and samples	Air via Jeddah airport	SAR 23 per kilogram
Documents up to one kilogram	Express shipping	SAR 83
A parcel up to 5 kilograms	Express shipping	SAR 110
Furniture and baggage	Sea part load	SAR 5,500
A full household	Full container	SAR 11,000
A saloon car	Sea from Jeddah port	SAR 2,800
Umrah or Hajj group baggage	A consolidated shipment by sea or air	Set by the number of pieces and their weight
The haul from Makkah to Jeddah port or airport	According to volume and loading site	Set on request

An air example: a pilgrim in a hotel in Aziziyah has two suitcases and a carton of dates with a chargeable weight of 30 kilograms, so the freight is 30 × 23, that is from SAR 690. Had the baggage belonged to ten members of the group, gathering it into one shared sea shipment would have been cheaper for each of them.

Prices quoted in the market for this route are few and far apart, and most Arabic pages offering the service do not publish a single figure. What circulates for furniture by air is between SAR 600 for a small shipment and SAR 5,000 for a large one, for goods by sea between SAR 2,500 and 12,000 depending on the container, for a small parcel up to 5 kilograms from SAR 150, and for a car from SAR 8,000 by sea and from SAR 12,000 by air. European shipping platforms list an express document at about 37 euros and an express package at about 41 euros before tax. So always compare what the figure covers: does it end at the French port or at the front door?

What sets the price	Its effect on a Makkah shipment
Volume or weight	The cubic metre by sea, and chargeable weight by air. Estimate it with the volume calculator
The loading site in Makkah	A hillside district needs a small vehicle and more labour than a wide street
The French port	Marseille is a shorter sailing, and Le Havre is closer to Paris and the north
The consignee’s address	Strasbourg is the farthest city from the French ports, and the Paris suburbs are the nearest to Le Havre
The delivery method	A high floor without a lift, or an external hoist, is a separate item
The season	After Hajj and the end of Ramadan demand is higher than the rest of the year

How do you lower the cost?

• Gather your baggage with that of your group companions into one shipment, so the minimum charge is spread over everyone.
• Send by air only what you need within a week, and leave the dates, rugs and clothes to the sea.
• Choose the port nearest your city, since road haulage inside France is expensive.
• Dismantle beds, wardrobes and tables, because you pay for volume, not weight.
• Do not ship large old appliances; they cost less in France than their freight.

Each factor is explained on the pricing factors page.

What is distinctive about shipping from Makkah?

Loading in Makkah has rules other cities do not know. The city has no sea or air gateway, its inner roads are organised around prayer times and the movement of visitors, and its old districts are built on slopes. Whoever promises you a time without asking about your district and the month you are shipping in does not know the city. This is what we work out before fixing the collection day:

The situation in Makkah	Its effect on the shipment	How we act
No port and no airport	Every shipment to France passes through Jeddah	We carry it to the port or the cargo village in our own vehicles
Large trucks enter at regulated hours	Loading cannot happen at any hour	We confirm the hours in force and book the slot within them
Ramadan and the Hajj season	Tighter restrictions and closed roads around the central area	We bring loading forward before the season or store until after it
Hillside districts and narrow lanes	The container cannot stand at the door	A small vehicle shuttles the pieces to the truck in the nearest wide street
Staying in hotels	No space and no time for lengthy packing	We collect from reception and finish the packing in our warehouse

When the container cannot be parked in the district we load the furniture into a closed truck, then stow it in the container inside our warehouse on the port road, with the numbered inventory at hand. The result before French customs is the same: a sealed container and a list that matches what is in it.

Shipping pilgrims’ luggage from Mecca to France

Many visitors arrive in Makkah from France every year, a large share of them in groups organised by travel agencies in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille and Strasbourg. Each goes home with more than they came with: boxes of dates, prayer rugs, abayas and thobes, prayer beads and incense, and gifts for every relative and neighbour. Airlines charge excess weight by the kilogram and at a high rate. The easier way is for the visitor to fly with one suitcase and have the rest of the baggage follow them home.

Case	Method	Time from Makkah	Price starts from
An urgent suitcase or carton for one visitor	Air via Jeddah airport	3–6 days	SAR 23 per kilogram
A small gift parcel	Express shipping	3–6 days	SAR 110 up to 5 kilograms
The baggage of a family or several visitors	Shared sea load	28–35 days	Set by volume
The baggage of a whole group	A consolidated shipment with one manifest	According to the method	Set by the number of pieces

• Collection from the hotel or lodging: from the hotel reception in the central area or Aziziyah, or from the group’s residential building, at a time that does not clash with prayer times and the crowds leaving the Grand Mosque.
• A numbered tag for every suitcase: it carries the name in Latin letters as in the passport, the French address with its postcode, and the French mobile number. Its number is the same one on the receipt that stays with the owner.
• Packing that protects the suitcases: the suitcase is wrapped in taut film and its locks are tied, the carton is double-walled with wide tape, and the dates stay in their original boxes away from fabrics.
• The group manifest: one sheet with the tag numbers, the owners’ names and the contents of each piece in French, with a copy held by the leader.
• Distribution in France: each piece to its owner’s address, or everything to one point chosen by the agency or association.
• What stays with the traveller: Zamzam water in its dedicated pack, and gold, cash, the passport, the phone and medicine.

French customs distinguishes between what you carry with you and what you ship behind you. The used clothes and belongings you left France with return as personal effects with a contents list. New gifts that are shipped, however, do not benefit from the traveller’s allowance, and in current practice a non-commercial parcel between two individuals is exempt up to 45 euros, with duty and tax above that. An expensive gift therefore belongs in hand luggage, and we go over the threshold in force with you before shipping.

Sea freight from Mecca to France via Jeddah port

Jeddah Islamic Port is the Kingdom’s nearest port to Europe, because it lies on the Red Sea and on the lane of vessels heading up to the Suez Canal. The distance between it and Makkah is about 80 km, which a truck covers in under two hours outside peak times. Loading from Jeddah port takes place after the container is weighed and its export declaration is issued, and it is then handed to the shipping line a day or two before the vessel’s cut-off.

• A 20 or 40-foot container: booked for you alone, sealed with a number written on the bill of lading, and opened only in France.
• Shared shipping for small quantities: your cartons go into a consolidated container with other people’s shipments, and you pay for their volume only.
• Where the container is stuffed: at your home if the street allows it, otherwise in our warehouse after the goods are moved by closed truck.
• The French port: Marseille-Fos for the south and Le Havre for Paris and the north, chosen by the consignee’s address.
• Moisture: the container heats up in the Red Sea and cools in the Atlantic, so we add moisture-absorbing bags and never wrap wood directly in plastic.
• Timber: crates and pallets are of heat-treated, stamped wood, a European requirement with no exception.

For how the service runs, see the sea freight page; for what happens at the quay itself, read the article international sea freight from Jeddah.

A full container or a shared load?

The decision here is arithmetic. Below 15 cubic metres a shared load is cheaper; above that its charge approaches that of a 20-foot container, so the container becomes safer and faster for nearly the same money. Pilgrims’ baggage seldom reaches that limit unless it is gathered for a whole group. The table sets the options side by side:

Comparison	Shared load	20-foot container	40-foot container
Suitable volume	Up to 15 cubic metres	15–28 cubic metres	30–60 cubic metres
Suits	Visitors’ baggage, cartons and one or two rooms	A flat of two to three rooms	A large house, or furniture with a car
How it is charged	By the cubic metre	A price per container	A price per container
Time from Makkah	28–35 days	22–35 days	22–35 days
Handling	Consolidated in Jeddah and sorted in France	Opened once at the consignee’s	Opened once at the consignee’s
Price starts from	SAR 5,500 for furniture and baggage	SAR 11,000 for household furniture	Set on request

For someone gathering a whole group’s baggage we measure the volume after packing, not before, as wrapped suitcases take more room than people expect. What each container holds in metres is on the container sizes page, and what it costs from the port is in the article container shipping prices from Jeddah.

Shipping household furniture from Mecca to France

Someone leaving Makkah for France for good after years of work at a university, hospital or hotel takes a whole home along. The first thing we agree on with them is not the price but what deserves to cross the sea. A French flat is usually smaller than a Makkah flat, its doors are narrower, and an Arabic majlis the length of a wall may not find a wall there. So we sort the pieces with you before packing anything.

• The survey: a home visit or a video call in which we count the pieces and estimate the cubic metres.
• Dismantling: bedroom sets, wardrobes and tables come apart into numbered boards, and each bag of screws is taped to its own piece.
• Packing: moving blankets then corrugated board for wood, reinforced corners for glass, and a treated timber crate for mirrors and paintings.
• Carpets: cleaned, rolled on a core and covered with breathable paper, as a damp carpet rots during weeks at sea.
• The inventory in French: we write it during packing, piece by piece and carton by carton, because it is the paper the customs officer there reads.
• In France: unloading into the flat and reassembly of what was dismantled, with an external hoist to the window when the staircase is tight.

Service details are on the furniture shipping page, and the protection methods in the packing guide.

Transfer-of-residence relief in France

France exempts anyone moving their main residence there from outside the European Union from duty and tax on their used belongings. The relief is not granted automatically but through a file submitted to the customs office when the shipment arrives. The officer looks for two things in it: that you really were resident outside the Union, and that the goods have long been yours. These are the conditions in current practice, and we review those in force before loading:

Condition	Detail
Previous residence	More than 12 months outside the European Union
Ownership and use of the goods	More than 6 months before the move, so new items in their boxes fall outside the relief
The inventory	Detailed, valued, dated and signed, in two copies, listing the car if there is one
Proof of previous residence	A Saudi residence permit, employment contract, tenancy contract or bills in your name
Proof of settling in France	A tenancy contract, employment contract, residence card or certificate of residence
After entry	The goods may not be sold, rented out or lent for 12 months
Antiques and works of art	They have a special declaration form attached to the inventory

A car comes under the relief if it was bought tax-paid in the country of residence and used by its owner for the same period, and customs issues a certificate with which it is registered. Someone who owns a flat in France but remains resident in the Kingdom, however, does not have their furniture treated like a mover’s, as the relief is tied to moving the main residence. We put the papers in order with you on the survey day so the container does not stand in the port waiting for a document.

Shipping electrical and electronic appliances

Before you ship an appliance to France, read the label on its back. The voltage is close in both countries, but the frequency there is 50 hertz against 60 hertz in the Kingdom, and the French socket with two round pins differs from the one common here. Modern electronics accept both frequencies, whereas anything with a motor or compressor may run weaker or overheat. Not every appliance is worth its freight:

Appliance	Ship it?	Note
Computer, phone and screen	Yes	They accept 50/60 hertz and need only a plug adaptor
Small kitchen appliances	Yes, if recent	Check the label, and pack glass jugs separately
Fridge and washing machine	Depending on age and label	Dried a day ahead, with the washing-machine drum fixed by its transit bolts
Split air conditioner	Not advised	Fitting it there needs a certified technician, and a new one costs close to the freight
Home medical devices	Yes	With their prescription or report, and in the original box if available

A valuable appliance is packed in shock-resistant foam inside a double carton, its serial number is written in the inventory, and it is listed individually in the insurance policy. Loose batteries and power banks do not go in an air shipment, so take them out of the carton before it is sealed.

Shipping parcels and gifts from Mecca to France

A parcel from Makkah means something special to whoever receives it in France: a copy of the Quran, a prayer rug, or a box of dates from beside the Grand Mosque. Most of these parcels are small and are sent before Ramadan and the two Eids. They leave by express shipping via Jeddah airport with a tracking number, and are delivered against the consignee’s signature or left at a nearby pick-up point if they are not at home.

• Price: a parcel of up to 5 kilograms starts at SAR 110, heavier ones are charged from SAR 23 a kilogram, and documents begin at SAR 83.
• Time: 3 to 6 days to Paris and the major cities, and slightly more for villages and small towns.
• What is accepted: dates in sealed packs, prayer beads, incense, prayer rugs, abayas and books.
• What is taken out: Zamzam water, ghee, cheese and meat, alcohol-based perfumes in quantity, and loose batteries.
• The declaration: each item by name, number and value in French or English, as the word “gifts” alone delays the parcel.
• The address: building number, street name and five-digit postcode, plus the door code and a French mobile number.

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

Shipping commercial goods from Mecca to France

The suburbs of French cities have many shops selling Hajj and Umrah supplies and Islamic gifts, and their suppliers buy part of their stock from Makkah’s markets and factories. Commercial goods differ from a gift in every respect: they enter in the name of a registered importer, with an import declaration, and with a duty calculated on the European tariff heading. What is cleared in France then moves freely within the Union’s countries, which is why its papers are scrutinised:

Item	Shipping method	What it needs in France
Dates and date products	A dry container or by the cubic metre	A label in French and a certificate of origin
Abayas, thobes and fabrics	Sea, and air for the season	A label with fibre composition and country of manufacture
Prayer rugs, beads and gifts	By the cubic metre	An invoice itemised by type and quantity
Perfumes and personal-care products	Sea, and air under flammable-goods restrictions	A responsible person inside the Union and a product file
Incense and oud	Sea or air	A statement of ingredients, and a certificate for protected woods where required
Samples	Air	An invoice stating they are samples of no commercial value

The French importer needs a European customs identification number before the shipment arrives, and we ask you for it with the first invoice. We collect from the shop in Makkah or from the factory, and combine a trader’s purchases from several suppliers into one shipment under one declaration. Details are on the commercial shipping page.

Car shipping from Mecca to France

Sea freight is the smallest figure in the sum for a car bound for France; taxes and conformity are what settle the decision. The car is moved from Makkah to Jeddah port within hours, and there it takes one of three routes. We warn you before booking that RoRo vessels do not call at every French port, and the car may be landed at a neighbouring European port and then moved by road, so we confirm the arrival port on the booking day:

Method	How it works	Suits
RoRo	The car is driven into the vessel’s hold and lashed by its wheels, and ships empty	The ordinary running car, and it is the cheapest
20-foot container	Secured with straps and timber chocks, then the container is sealed	Luxury and classic cars and non-runners
40-foot container	A car with the household furniture in one container	A family moving with its home and car

Shipping a saloon by sea starts from SAR 2,800 from Jeddah port. In France a 10% customs duty is paid on the car’s value plus its freight, then 20% value added tax on the total, unless it enters under the mover’s relief. After customs, a car built to Gulf specifications goes through individual approval with the competent regional body, and at first registration an environmental tax is paid that is calculated on emissions and rises steeply with large engines. So add up the total before you ship.

If you are torn between the open vessel and the closed box, two pages explain the difference: RoRo car shipping and container car shipping. What the car needs before it leaves the Kingdom is set out in the article car shipping from Saudi Arabia.

French customs and the documents required

French customs applies the common European tariff, and on top of it French value added tax at the standard rate of 20%, calculated on the value of the goods plus freight and insurance. What enters under relief needs more paperwork than what enters with tax. We prepare the file from Makkah so that it reaches the French broker complete before the vessel arrives. These are the papers for each type:

Type of shipment	Documents	Note
A mover’s furniture and belongings	Passport, the signed inventory in two copies, proof of both residences, and the bill of lading	The name on the bill as in the passport
An Umrah or Hajj pilgrim’s baggage	Passport copy, contents list with values, and the French address	Used items are separated from new gifts in the list
Group baggage	The group manifest with tag numbers, and a passport copy for each consignee	Each share is cleared in its owner’s name
Commercial goods	Commercial invoice with packing list, the bill of lading, a certificate of origin, plus the French importer’s EU customs number	Extra certificates for foods and perfumes
A car	Registration and export certificate, passport, and purchase invoice	Listed in the inventory if it enters under relief
A parcel or gift	Sender’s ID and a statement of the items and their value	A French mobile number for the consignee

At the Saudi end the export declaration is raised at Jeddah port or airport, and a resident departing for good is asked to show proof of final exit where needed. The required documents page covers every paper, and the customs clearance page walks through release.

What cannot be shipped to France or needs a permit

Two things account for most seizures of Makkah shipments in France, both packed in good faith: food of animal origin, and counterfeit goods bought in a popular market. The second is more serious, because French law punishes possessing a counterfeit, not only selling it. We go through this list with you before the cartons are sealed:

Item	Ruling
Zamzam water	Not shipped; the traveller carries the dedicated pack
Counterfeit bags, watches and perfumes	Seized and destroyed, with a heavy fine
Meat, dairy, ghee and cheese	Banned in personal baggage and parcels
Honey	A small personal quantity; we confirm the limit in force
Plants, seeds and seedlings	With a plant health certificate
Medicines	A personal quantity with the prescription
Ivory, coral and some oud woods	With a certificate under the international convention on protected species
Weapons, daggers and ornamental swords	Banned without a French licence
Cash, gold and original documents	Not shipped with baggage; they stay with the traveller

The wider list sits on the prohibited items page. Unsure about something? Photograph it and send us the picture before it is packed.

Delivering Mecca shipments in the Paris suburbs, Lille and Strasbourg

Most people who receive Makkah shipments in France live outside the city centres: in the northern and eastern suburbs of Paris, in Lille and around it such as Roubaix and Tourcoing, and in Strasbourg and Mulhouse to the east. Once the vessel arrives our French agent handles clearance, then delivery to the door with a truck that suits the street. Delivery there is by appointment: the driver calls the consignee before arriving, and if they are absent the shipment returns to the warehouse and a second visit is charged.

Area	Arrival port	Road distance	Delivery note
Paris and its suburbs	Le Havre	About 200 km	Tall blocks with small lifts, a door code and a prior appointment
Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing	Le Havre, or Antwerp	About 300 km from Le Havre	Terraced houses with narrow doors and short streets
Strasbourg and Mulhouse	Le Havre, or Antwerp	About 700 km from Le Havre	The farthest cities; a day or two is added
Lyon and Saint-Étienne	Marseille	About 315 km	Delivery a day after release
Marseille, Nice and Montpellier	Marseille	Up to 200 km	Nearest the port and the shortest time
Toulouse and Bordeaux	Marseille	400–650 km	The south-west
Nantes and Rennes	Le Havre	280–390 km	The west

In the suburbs a few details decide whether delivery succeeds first time. Write the consignee’s name as it appears on the letterbox, with the building number, entrance, floor and the electronic door code. Say whether the lift works and how big it is, since lifts in old blocks will not take a sofa. For flats in central Paris we order an external hoist and a parking permit from the town hall days before the appointment. Our network is on the shipping destinations page.

Services for individuals, companies, government bodies and consulates

The individual visitor is not our only customer in Makkah. Around it are Hajj and Umrah agencies handling hundreds of suitcases in a week, a university and hospitals with staff of many nationalities including French, and official bodies sending documents and printed matter. The French Consulate General is based in Jeddah, on the way to the port and airport. Each needs an arrangement that suits it:

Customer	What they need	What we provide
Individuals and families	Suitcases or a whole home without daily follow-up	An itemised price and one person who answers you until delivery
Hajj and Umrah groups and agencies	Group baggage within a few days	A collection team at the hotel, numbered tags and a manifest per group
Companies and shops	Repeat supply with correct papers	A tax invoice, a shipping schedule and consolidation from several suppliers
Government bodies and universities	Books, printed matter and conference exhibits	Commitment to the event date, and return of what comes back afterwards
Embassies and consulates	Transferred staff’s belongings and correspondence	Coordination with the administrative section, and clearance by the consignee’s status

A diplomatic officer’s belongings are cleared in France as their organisation decides, so we ask for the organisation’s letter in the file. Official documents leave in a waterproof envelope with its own tracking number and are handed to the named consignee and no one else.

Air freight from Mecca to France

Air freight from Makkah goes via Jeddah airport, the nearest international airport, with direct flights to Paris covering the distance in about six hours. We collect the shipment from the hotel or home and carry it to the cargo village at King Abdulaziz Airport, where it is weighed, measured and security-screened. It is the route for urgent baggage and parcels: someone who hands us a suitcase on the day they leave Makkah finds it at their door 3 to 6 days later.

• For whom: pilgrims’ extra suitcases, seasonal gifts, documents, commercial samples and high-value items.
• Calculation: the carton’s three dimensions in centimetres are multiplied and divided by 6000, and if the result exceeds the scale weight you are charged on it. A suitcase stuffed with light clothes is the obvious case, and you can test it in the volumetric weight calculator.
• Price: a kilogram from SAR 23, cheaper per kilogram on heavy shipments; documents from SAR 83; and a parcel not exceeding 5 kilograms from SAR 110.
• Delivery inside France: after clearance at Charles de Gaulle the shipment goes by truck to Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon and Marseille within a day or two.
• What does not pass: Zamzam water, perfumes in quantity, power banks and loose batteries, and pressurised containers.
• What it does not suit: a houseful of furniture or dozens of cartons, which cost several times more by air than by sea.

Service details are on the air freight page and in the article air freight office in Jeddah.

Shipping options: sea or air, and is there land freight?

There are only two practical routes to France: sea and air. We run land freight by truck to the Gulf states and Jordan, but the road to Europe crosses several countries, borders and straits, and we do not rely on it for individuals’ shipments. Three things settle the choice between the two routes: volume, time, and the value of what you ship:

Comparison	Sea	Air	Mixed
Time from Makkah	22–35 days	3–6 days	Days for the urgent and weeks for the rest
Charging unit	The cubic metre or the container	The chargeable kilogram	Both
Best for	Furniture, cars, goods and group baggage	Suitcases, parcels, documents and samples	A family needing some belongings on arrival
Exit point	Jeddah Islamic Port	King Abdulaziz Airport	The port and the airport under one file
Price starts from	SAR 5,500 for a part load	SAR 23 per kilogram	According to the two parts

Collection from Makkah’s districts and surroundings

Our team reaches every district of Makkah: Aziziyah, Sharaye, Shawqiyah, Awali, Naseem, Zaidi, Kudai, Otaibiyah, Batha Quraysh, Zahir and Rusayfah. Each district gets the vehicle and time that suit it, as a wide street in Sharaye is not a climbing lane in an old quarter. We also collect from hotels and from nearby towns, and their shipments join the same Makkah run to Jeddah:

Place	Distance from Makkah	How we collect
Hotels in the central area	Inside Makkah	From reception against a receipt, in hours when vehicles are allowed in
Aziziyah and group lodgings	Inside Makkah	Group collection with a manifest and numbered tags
Hillside districts and lanes	Inside Makkah	A small vehicle shuttles to the truck
Al-Jumum and Bahrah	20–40 km	On the same Makkah day
Jeddah	About 80 km	On the way to the port and airport, so it is added directly
Taif	About 90 km	Collected a day before loading and brought down to Jeddah

All service cities are on the cities page, and the collection and delivery service on the door-to-door shipping page.

Temporary storage before shipping

In Makkah the travel date often comes well before the shipping date. The visitor’s visa runs out, or the group leaves, or the tenancy ends, and the vessel is a week away. So we take the baggage and keep it in a closed warehouse on the Jeddah road, packed, numbered and inventoried, then load it on the first suitable sailing. Someone waiting for a flat in France leaves their furniture with us for weeks or months, and storing it here costs less than storing it there. We do not store perishable food or anything flammable. The service terms are on the storage page.

Steps for shipping from Mecca to France

1. The request: you tell us what you are shipping, where it is in Makkah, hotel or home, and the French city with its postcode.
2. Establishing your status: a returning visitor, a mover, or a trader. The file before French customs is built on it.
3. The price: we estimate the weight or volume, suggest the method and the port, and you receive an itemised price.
4. The collection slot: we fix it within the hours when vehicle movement is allowed in your district.
5. Packing and numbering: a tag for every piece, an inventory in French that you sign, and a receipt in your hand.
6. To Jeddah: the port for sea and the cargo village for air, where the export declaration is issued.
7. Follow-up: the container or waybill number, and a message at sailing, arrival and release.
8. Delivery: the French agent clears and calls the consignee, then unloading and a signed receipt.

Tracking and insurance

The baggage of a single group may exceed a hundred pieces for dozens of people, and one lost suitcase among them spoils its owner’s whole trip. That is why we tie tracking to the piece and not only to the shipment: the tag number is recorded at collection in Makkah, on entering the warehouse, at loading, and at delivery in France.

• Tracking: a sea shipment is followed online through its container number, an air one through its waybill number. The track your shipment page shows how.
• Documentation: a photo of every piece with its tag before it leaves the hotel or home.
• Insurance: optional, at a percentage of the value written in the inventory, covering loss and damage from the door in Makkah to the door in France. Terms are on the cargo insurance page.
• On receipt: count the pieces and match their numbers, and write any remark on the delivery note before you sign.

Shipping from France to Makkah

The same route works in the other direction. Umrah agencies send their printed matter and group supplies ahead of the season, a Makkah resident buys from French shops, and a family returning to the Kingdom ships its home. Our agent collects from the French address, and the shipment arrives by air at Jeddah airport or by sea at Jeddah Islamic Port, then we clear it and carry it to Makkah in the permitted hours. A returnee’s used belongings enter the Kingdom as personal effects with a contents list, new items bear a duty by item and 15% value added tax, and commercial goods covered by technical regulations are registered on the SABER platform before shipping.

Home Safe’s tips before shipping from Mecca to France

• Establish the type of your shipment first: used belongings, new gifts or goods for sale, as each has its own papers and tax.
• Hand over your suitcases at least two days before you leave Makkah, and do not put it off until the night of travel.
• Write your name on the tag in Latin letters as in your passport, not as you pronounce it.
• Separate used from new in the list, and give new items their true value.
• Plan for time: sea means weeks and air means days, so do not put in the container what you will need in your first week.
• Take insurance for anything whose cost is not easily made good, and photograph valuable pieces before they are packed.
• Keep the collection receipt and a photo of the list on your phone until delivery day.

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

Around the Grand Mosque many people offer to ship suitcases at a per-kilogram price given by word of mouth. There is nothing wrong with a low price if a receipt, a tracking number and an agent in France stand behind it. Ask these questions before handing your suitcase to anyone:

What you ask about	A reassuring answer	A worrying answer
Legal standing	A commercial registration and a stamped receipt with the number of pieces	A handwritten slip or nothing at all
Identifying the pieces	A numbered tag for every suitcase, with its number on the receipt	A name written in pen on the carton
French customs	Asks about the gifts and their value and explains what is due	“No customs on pilgrims’ baggage”
The time	Distinguishes sailing days from the time to the door	“A week by sea to Paris”
After the port	A French agent who clears, delivers and calls the consignee	“You collect it from the airport or port”
The price	Items: collection, freight, clearance and delivery	One figure with no telling what it covers

Common mistakes when shipping from Mecca to France

• Putting bottles of Zamzam water among the clothes in a shipped carton.
• Buying a counterfeit bag or watch and sending it with the baggage.
• Handing over suitcases with no tag and no receipt on the strength of personal acquaintance.
• Writing “gifts” or “personal items” instead of a list of items and values.
• Choosing Le Havre for a consignee in Nice, or Marseille for a consignee in Lille.
• Leaving out the door code and the French mobile number, so the driver returns with the shipment.
• Shipping new furniture in its boxes within a mover’s relief file.

Why choose Home Safe for shipping from Mecca to France?

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

Related articles and pages

• Shipping from Saudi Arabia to France
• Shipping company from Jeddah to France
• Shipping company from Mecca to Belgium
• Shipping company from Saudi Arabia to Europe
• Car shipping
• Shipping services

Tags

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Frequently asked questions about shipping from Mecca to France

How much does shipping from Mecca to France cost?

An air kilogram via Jeddah airport starts from SAR 23, express documents from SAR 83, and a parcel of no more than 5 kg from SAR 110. By sea, part-load furniture and baggage start from SAR 5,500, a household container from SAR 11,000, and a saloon car from SAR 2,800. Message us on 0552803439 with the number of pieces and the name of your French city and we will work out your own shipment.

How many days does a shipment need from Makkah until it reaches France?

By air, 3 to 6 days to the consignee’s door in Paris, and a day or two more for the farther cities. By sea, 22 to 30 days through Marseille and 25 to 35 days through Le Havre. A few cartons in a shared container usually need 28 to 35 days.

Makkah has neither a port nor an airport, so where does my shipment leave from?

From Jeddah in both cases. The container is handed to Jeddah Islamic Port, about 80 km from Makkah, and an air shipment enters the cargo village at King Abdulaziz Airport. We cover that distance ourselves, mostly on the collection day, so you carry nothing to Jeddah.

I am an Umrah pilgrim from France; do you collect my suitcases from the hotel?

Yes. You leave the suitcases and cartons at the hotel reception, or we take them from your room at a time we agree, and we attach to every piece a numbered tag with your name and French address and hand you a receipt with the number of pieces. Handing them over two days before you leave Makkah is enough.

Do I pay customs in France on Umrah gifts?

In current practice a non-commercial parcel between two individuals is exempt if its value does not exceed 45 euros; above that, a duty by item and 20% value added tax are charged. The used clothes you left France with, however, return as personal effects. We confirm the threshold in force before sending.

Do you ship Zamzam water to France?

No. Zamzam water is not shipped in baggage, parcels or containers, because its export is restricted, and what is allowed is the dedicated pack the traveller carries from the airport. If we find bottles of it in a carton we take them out before sealing it.

Which French port does the container arrive at?

Marseille-Fos on the Mediterranean for those living in Lyon, Nice, Toulouse and the south, and Le Havre on the Channel for Paris and its suburbs, the north and the west. Shipments for Lille and Strasbourg arrive from Le Havre or from the neighbouring port of Antwerp, depending on the sailing available on the booking day.

Is my furniture exempt from customs if I move to live in France?

Yes, if you are moving your main residence, have lived outside the European Union for more than 12 months, and have owned and used the goods for more than 6 months. A detailed, valued, dated and signed inventory in two copies goes to customs, and the goods may not be sold or rented out for 12 months after entry.

Do you ship a car from Makkah to France?

Yes. The car is taken from Makkah to Jeddah port, then sails on a RoRo vessel or inside a container. Shipping a saloon by sea starts from SAR 2,800. In France the car bears 10% duty, 20% tax, an individual conformity inspection and an environmental tax at registration, unless it enters under transfer-of-residence relief.

Will my Saudi appliances work in France?

Both countries run on a similar voltage, yet France uses 50 hertz against the Kingdom’s 60, and French sockets accept two round pins. Anything marked 50/60 hertz needs nothing more than a plug adaptor. An old washing machine or air conditioner, though, is better bought there than shipped.

What should I not put in baggage cartons bound for France?

Meat, dairy, ghee and their products, counterfeit bags, watches and perfumes, medicines without a prescription, Zamzam water, and cash, gold and passports. Possessing a counterfeit in France is a punishable offence even when it is for personal use.

Do you deliver to the Paris suburbs and not only the centre?

Yes, and most Makkah shipments go to the suburbs anyway: Saint-Denis, Aubervilliers, Bobigny, Montreuil, Créteil, Nanterre, Argenteuil, Sarcelles and Évry. We need the building door code, the floor number and a French mobile, because the driver calls before arriving to make sure the consignee is there.

Can I ship dates, incense and oriental perfumes?

Dates are accepted in sealed packs, and in current practice they are among the few fruits for which no plant health certificate is required in the European Union. Incense, prayer beads and prayer rugs carry no restriction. Perfumes and oud oil, however, are limited in quantity in a personal parcel and go by sea when there is a lot.

Is insurance included in the price?

No, it is an optional item at a percentage of the value you write in the inventory. We consider it necessary for household furniture, a car and appliances, and useful for group baggage because the pieces are many and belong to different people. Compensation rests on the numbered tag and the photos taken at collection.

Do you ship from France to Makkah?

Yes. Our agent collects from the home or shop in France, and the shipment arrives by air at Jeddah airport or by sea at Jeddah Islamic Port, then we carry it to your address in Makkah. A returnee’s used belongings are cleared in the Kingdom as personal effects with a contents list.