Every year Grenadians who spent twenty, thirty or forty years in Brooklyn, Toronto, Birmingham or Port of Spain decide it is time to come home. Many of them ship a lifetime of furniture, appliances and sometimes a car. The difference between doing that with a returning nationals concession and without one can run to many thousands of EC dollars in duty and VAT, which is why the order in which the paperwork is done matters as much as the paperwork itself.
This article explains how the concession system generally works, who it is aimed at, what it can and cannot cover, and the mistakes that cost returning residents the relief they were entitled to. Rules, qualifying periods and lists of eligible items are set by government and revised from time to time, so treat this as an orientation and confirm the current conditions with the Customs and Excise Division and the ministry responsible for diaspora affairs before you book a container.
What the concession is and why it exists
Grenada, like most of its OECS neighbours, offers relief from import duties and some taxes to citizens who have lived abroad for a substantial period and are returning to settle permanently. The policy logic is straightforward: returning nationals bring savings, pensions, skills and spending power, and the state would rather encourage them to resettle than penalise them for bringing their own belongings home.
In practice the relief usually covers personal and household effects that the person has owned and used abroad, and in many cases one motor vehicle, subject to conditions. It is not a general shopping allowance. New items bought specifically to ship home, goods in commercial quantities and anything that looks like stock for resale are treated differently, and officers do look closely at containers that arrive packed with boxed appliances.
The concession is normally available once. If you use it on a partial shipment and then send a second container a year later, the second one may attract full charges. Plan a single, complete move if you can.
Who usually qualifies
Citizenship. The applicant must be a Grenadian citizen, by birth, descent or registration. Spouses and dependants are normally included in the household application rather than applying separately.
Time abroad. There is a minimum period of continuous residence overseas. The exact qualifying period and how it is measured are set by the authorities and have changed over the years, so check the figure that applies on the date you apply rather than relying on what a relative was told a decade ago.
Intention to settle. The concession is for people moving back permanently. Expect to show evidence that you are winding up your life abroad: a resignation or retirement letter, proof of sale or termination of a lease, or pension documents.
Proof of residence abroad. Utility bills, tax returns, employment records or residence documents from the country you are leaving help establish the length of your stay. Gaps or frequent long visits home can complicate the calculation.
Ownership and use. Items should be yours and should have been used. Receipts are not always required for old furniture, but keep any you have for expensive electronics and the vehicle.
The order to do things in
The most common reason people lose relief is shipping first and applying later. A sensible sequence looks like this:
- Contact the ministry responsible for diaspora affairs, or the Grenadian high commission or consulate where you live, to get the current application form and checklist.
- Assemble proof of citizenship (Grenadian passport or birth certificate), proof of residence abroad and proof of your plans to settle.
- Prepare a detailed, itemised inventory of everything you will ship, with approximate values. Vague lines such as 'household goods, 40 boxes' invite questions and delays.
- Submit the application and wait for written approval of the concession before your goods are loaded. Keep copies of everything.
- Book a shipper or freight forwarder experienced with Grenada, and appoint a licensed customs broker in St George's to handle the declaration.
- When the container lands at the port in St George's, your broker lodges the entry with the approval attached, and Customs examines the goods against your inventory.
- Pay any charges on items that fall outside the concession, then arrange haulage to your home.
Vehicles: the part that causes most arguments
Motor vehicles attract the heaviest charges in Grenada, so the vehicle element of a returning nationals concession is worth the most and is examined most carefully. Conditions typically relate to how long you have owned and registered the vehicle abroad, its age and engine size, and whether it is for your personal use. A car bought a few weeks before departure may not qualify.
Grenada drives on the left. Many returnees from North America ship left-hand-drive vehicles, which can be registered but are less convenient on narrow, winding roads such as the Western Main Road or the route over Grand Etang. Spare parts for some North American models are harder to find locally than parts for the Japanese vehicles that dominate Grenadian roads.
Even with a concession, some charges or fees may remain, and the vehicle still has to be inspected, registered and licensed before it goes on the road. Before shipping a car, get a written estimate from your broker of what you will pay with and without the concession, and compare that with buying a vehicle locally.
Mistakes that cost returning residents money
These come up again and again with families who resettle:
- Shipping before approval. Goods sitting at the port while an application is processed run up storage and demurrage charges, and the concession may be refused if the paperwork is incomplete.
- Mixing in goods for others. Packing a cousin's fridge or a church's donated items into your container can put the whole shipment under suspicion.
- Overpacking new appliances. A container of brand-new, boxed items looks like commercial stock, whatever the intention.
- Undervaluing. Customs can reassess values, and a declaration that looks deliberately low creates far more trouble than an honest one.
- Ignoring local voltage and plugs. Grenada uses 230 volts at 50 hertz with British-style three-pin sockets in most homes, so North American 110-volt appliances need transformers or rewiring.
- Forgetting the hurricane season. Containers arriving between June and November can be delayed by storms, and goods left in a carport in September are at risk.
Beyond customs: settling in properly
The concession is only one step. Returning residents also need to sort out a Taxpayer Identification Number with the Inland Revenue Division if they will earn local income or own property, register with the National Insurance Scheme if they will work, and update their address with any overseas pension provider. Opening a local bank account takes longer than many expect because of due diligence requirements, so start that process early, ideally on a visit before the move.
Health care deserves early attention too. The General Hospital in St George's is the main public hospital, and there are private clinics, but specialist services are limited and many returnees keep some form of overseas or regional insurance. Finally, give yourself time to re-adjust: Grenada will have changed since you left, and so will you. The people who settle most happily tend to rent first, take a year to learn the new rhythms, and buy or build only once they know which part of the island suits them.
Choosing a shipper and a broker
Two service providers make or break a returning resident's move. The freight forwarder or shipping line abroad packs, consolidates or loads the container and issues the bill of lading. Forwarders based in Brooklyn, Toronto, Miami and the London area have long handled Grenadian household moves, and many offer groupage, where your goods share a container with others, which is cheaper for a smaller household but slower to clear because every consignee in the box must be processed.
The customs broker in Grenada prepares the electronic declaration in the customs system, presents your concession approval, attends the examination and pays charges on your behalf. Ask for a written quotation covering the broker fee, port charges, haulage and any likely duty on items outside the concession. Ask, too, how storage is charged if paperwork is delayed, since free time at the port is limited.
Get recommendations from people who moved back recently rather than years ago, because procedures and personnel change. Avoid anyone who suggests under-declaring goods to save money: the consequences, from seizure to penalties, fall on you as the importer, not on the agent who made the suggestion.
Frequently asked questions
Can a car come in under the returning nationals concession?
Often yes, but vehicle relief comes with conditions on ownership period, age, engine size and personal use, and it is examined closely. Get the current conditions in writing from the ministry or Customs and a cost estimate from a licensed broker before you ship.
Do you need to be retired to qualify?
No. The concession is aimed at citizens returning to live permanently after a long period abroad, whatever their age. What matters is citizenship, the qualifying time overseas and genuine intention to resettle, supported by documents showing you are leaving your life abroad.
Can the concession be used twice?
Generally it is a one-time relief. If you split your move into two shipments, the second may attract full duty and taxes. Plan one complete shipment, or confirm in writing how a second shipment would be treated before relying on it.
Does the concession cover building materials for my house?
Building materials are normally outside the household effects concession. Separate rules and occasional government incentives may apply to construction, so ask Customs or the Ministry of Finance directly rather than assuming they can go in your container duty-free.
Who should handle my container when it arrives?
A licensed customs broker in St George's. The broker lodges the electronic entry, attaches your approval, attends the examination and calculates any charges on items outside the concession. Choose one before the ship sails so nothing waits at the port.
My spouse is not Grenadian. Is the household still covered?
In most cases the household application is made by the Grenadian citizen and covers the family's shared effects. A non-citizen spouse may separately need residence or immigration approval, which is a different process handled by the immigration authorities.
