NextSpring

The Same Union Relief as Every Member State, With Two Danish Borders Inside the Kingdom Where It Still Applies

Answer

The general rule applies to you

No exception is recorded for citizens of Jamaica on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.

147 exceptions recorded across 54 countries · none match Jamaica to Denmark · Bringing your belongings

Denmark does not decide this. Personal property imported by someone transferring their normal residence from a third country into the customs territory enters free of import duties on conditions a directly applicable Union regulation sets: six months' possession and, for durable goods, use at the former residence; a continuous twelve months of normal residence outside the customs territory; and entry for free circulation within twelve months of the move, in as many consignments as you like inside that period. Alcohol, tobacco, commercial means of transport and trade equipment other than portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts get no relief at all.

Verified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-10

At a glance

Import duty on household goods
None, if the conditions are met

Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009.

How long you must have owned them
Six months before you stopped living there

Article 4(a), which allows special cases justified by the circumstances.

How long you must have lived abroad
A continuous 12 months

Article 5.

Deadline to bring them in
12 months from establishing residence here

Article 7(1). The goods may arrive in several consignments inside that period.

No relief at all
Alcohol, tobacco, commercial means of transport, and trade equipment other than portable instruments

Article 6.

Requirements

  • Transfer of your normal place of residence from a third country to the customs territory
  • Possession, and use of durable goods, at the former residence for at least six months
  • Normal residence outside the customs territory for a continuous twelve months
  • Entry for free circulation within twelve months of establishing the new residence

What applies to you

Nothing changes for a citizen of Jamaica

We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.

What the law says

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 · Article 3
«Subject to Articles 4 to 11, personal property imported by natural persons transferring their normal place of residence from a third country to the customs territory of the Community shall be admitted free of import duties.»

The relief itself.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 · Article 4
«The relief shall be limited to personal property which: (a) except in special cases justified by the circumstances, has been in the possession of and, in the case of non-consumable goods, used by the person concerned at his former normal place of residence for a minimum of six months before the date on which he ceases to have his normal place of residence in the third country of departure; (b) is intended to be used for the same purpose at his new normal place of residence. In addition, Member States may make relief conditional upon such property having borne, either in the country of origin or in the country of departure, the customs and/or fiscal charges to which it is normally liable.»

Six months of ownership and the same-use condition.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 · Article 5
«Relief may be granted only to persons whose normal place of residence has been outside the customs territory of the Community for a continuous period of at least 12 months.»

The twelve months abroad.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 · Article 6
«No relief shall be granted for: (a) alcoholic products; (b) tobacco or tobacco products; (c) commercial means of transport; (d) articles for use in the exercise of a trade or profession, other than portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts.»

The four exclusions.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 · Article 7
«1. Except in special cases, relief shall be granted only in respect of personal property entered for free circulation within 12 months from the date of establishment, by the person concerned, of his normal place of residence in the customs territory of the Community. 2. The personal property may be released for free circulation in several separate consignments within the period referred to in paragraph 1.»

The deadline, and the permission to move in more than one consignment inside it. Article 5 carries the same number for a different rule and is not this one.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Practical notes

The Regulation is directly applicable, so this record is the same law as the Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Dutch, Irish, Belgian and Swedish ones, and all of them rest on one text.

Danish import VAT on a transfer of residence is a separate relief under a separate instrument and was not read. Nor were the Danish rules on bringing in a vehicle.

Nothing Danish was read for this topic, and no page of the Danish customs and tax administration was read. Where it imposes a procedure on top of the Regulation, this record does not show it.

Sources1 · all accessed 2026-10-10
  • consolidates
    Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009

    EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union

    About this source

    The Union's legal database. Publishes each act as adopted in the Official Journal and, separately, a consolidated version carrying every amendment to a stated date, identified as 0YYYYRNNNN-YYYYMMDD. The consolidated text marks each amended passage with the instrument that changed it.

    Standing: Maintains the text in force

    Cannot be cited for: A consolidated text is explicitly not authentic - EUR-Lex says so on the document - and only the Official Journal version has legal force. It also says nothing about how any member state applies the act: a regulation is directly applicable but the border practice, the evidence an officer may ask for and the national exceptions are in national law, which is published elsewhere.

    We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source