Package forwarding to the UAE
Dubai's duty-free allowance for personal courier parcels is AED 300 on CIF. Abu Dhabi's is AED 1,000. Almost nobody tells you they differ.
What makes importing into the UAE less predictable than it looks
The emirate you receive in changes the threshold
Dubai lowered its duty-free allowance for personal courier shipments to AED 300 on CIF in January 2023, down from AED 970. Abu Dhabi's threshold is AED 1,000. Same country, different number.
CIF means the freight counts
The threshold is measured on cost, insurance and freight — not on the price of the goods alone. A cheap item on expensive shipping can cross a line that the price tag suggested it would not.
European shops deliver at home only
Zalando sells only in Europe, MediaMarkt Spain only in mainland Spain and the Balearics, PcComponentes only across the EU. There is no Emirati checkout to use.
Stop reading "we don't ship to your country".
A real local address at checkout is all that stands between you and that cart.
From our warehouses worldwide to your doorstep — in four moves.(View all)
Resendify gives you a real local address at our warehouses. Shop where the deals are, we collect, repack and forward — you stay in control the whole way.
- 01Sign up
Get your local address
Pick a warehouse in Spain, Germany, the UK or the US. We assign you a real street address — yours within minutes.
Ready in 2 minutes - 02Shop
Buy from any store
Use your Resendify address at checkout — Amazon DE, Zara, Decathlon, eBay, anywhere. Even sellers that don't ship abroad.
Works with 10k+ shops - 03Consolidate
We receive and forward
Photos on arrival, optional repacking, and consolidation of multiple orders into one shipment to save up to 70%.
Up to 70% off shipping - 04Ship
Worldwide to your door
Pick your courier and track door-to-door. Email alerts on every tracking update.
Live email alerts
Routes into the UAE we have already mapped
You know where to shop. Now get somewhere to ship it.
Create your account and your receiving address is ready in minutes.
What a parcel into the UAE pays, and why the emirate matters (2026)
The UAE is administratively simple and the rates are stable: 5% customs duty on the CIF value and 5% VAT calculated on CIF plus duty. What trips people up is the low-value allowance, because it is not one number for the whole country.
Dubai lowered the duty-free allowance for personal courier shipments to AED 300 on CIF in January 2023, down from AED 970. Abu Dhabi's threshold is AED 1,000. So the same parcel can be exempt or not depending on which emirate it clears in, and almost no guide mentions it. Note also that the threshold is measured on CIF — cost, insurance and freight — so an inexpensive item on expensive shipping can cross a line the price tag alone would not have suggested.
One more distinction worth knowing before you plan anything commercial: the low-value courier allowance belongs to personal imports. A shipment imported under a trade licence is declared and assessed from the first dirham, and VAT-registered businesses then recover the VAT on their return. If that is your situation, the planning question is landed cost and VAT recovery, not staying under a threshold.
| Item | Rule (2026) |
|---|---|
| Customs duty | 5% on CIF value |
| VAT | 5% on CIF plus duty |
| Dubai, personal courier shipment | Duty-free allowance AED 300 on CIF (lowered from AED 970 in Jan 2023) |
| Abu Dhabi | Threshold AED 1,000 |
| What the threshold measures | CIF — cost, insurance and freight, not the goods alone |
| Under a trade licence | Assessed from the first dirham; VAT recoverable if registered |
Last updated: September 2026. Informational only — not customs or tax advice. Thresholds differ by emirate and the treatment depends on classification and on whether you import personally or under a trade licence. Confirm with the relevant customs authority before committing to an order. Source: Dubai Customs.
We declare the real value and prepare the paperwork.
Accurate invoices and customs data, so your parcel is presented as cleanly as it can be.
Calculate your shipping to the UAE
Get the freight price before you fill the basket.
Thousands of global shoppers trust Resendify
From fashion to car parts, from luxury to electronics — global shoppers use Resendify to buy from Europe without limits.
“Finally a service that actually works for buying from Spanish stores. I ordered from Zara España, MANGO and El Corte Inglés in the same week — everything arrived consolidated in one box. Shipping to LA was way cheaper than I expected.”
“I bought a MediaMarkt laptop that wasn't available in Canada at that price. The process was seamless — got my European address, placed the order, and Resendify handled everything from there. Will definitely use again.”
“Been sourcing European car parts for years. Resendify is the best forwarding service I've used for Europe-to-India shipments. The consolidation feature saved me hundreds on a single order.”
“Bought from a French boutique that doesn't ship to Australia. Got my Resendify address in minutes, placed the order, and it was on my doorstep in Sydney two weeks later. Exactly as advertised.”
“I source from 4–5 European suppliers every month. Resendify consolidates everything before it hits the US, which cuts my per-unit shipping cost significantly. The quote tool is accurate and the team is responsive.”
“Found a Zalando deal that was EU-only. Used Resendify, got the item shipped to Dubai without any issues. The customs documentation was all handled — that's the part I usually dread.”
Forwarding packages to the UAE
It depends on where the parcel clears. Dubai's allowance for personal courier shipments is AED 300 on CIF, lowered from AED 970 in January 2023; Abu Dhabi's is AED 1,000. Above the applicable threshold you are looking at 5% duty and 5% VAT.
Yes. The threshold is measured on CIF — cost, insurance and freight — so freight is included. That is why an inexpensive item on an expensive service can cross a line its price alone would not.
Yes. The low-value courier allowance is for personal imports. A shipment under a trade licence is declared and assessed from the first dirham, and a VAT-registered business recovers the VAT on its return.
The ones with no Emirati checkout at all, which is most of the interesting ones. Start from our store directory, and combine several orders into one shipment so you pay international freight once.
Still deciding? Try it for 14 days.
New accounts get a 14-day trial period — set it up now and see how the flow works.
No account or your card won't pay? We buy it for you
Can't register on the store, card rejected, or the seller won't deal with international buyers? Just send us the product link and we'll buy it for you. You choose the item — we pay, receive it at the warehouse and forward it to you.
- 1Send us the product link (or a list) and your preferences
- 2We confirm availability, price and conditions
- 3We buy it, receive it and forward it to your country
Start buying from shops with no Emirati checkout
Open a free account, get your address today, and run a quote before you buy so the landed cost is not a surprise.