The Documents You Need to Ship to Haiti

Paper is what turns a pile of goods into a shipment that can move. The documents fall into four small piles: who you are, what you are sending, proof that anything valuable is yours to send, and the shipping papers the company creates with you. None of it is complicated, but all of it is easier before packing day than after the barrel is sealed and the truck is waiting.

Companies differ a little in what they ask for, and customs in Haiti has the final word on what it accepts — so treat this page as the preparation list, then confirm it against your own company's asks. If the names on your papers do not match each other, fix that first. More shipments are delayed by a name spelled two ways than by any other single cause.

What documents does every sender need?

• Your identification — the name on it must match the name you give the shipping company, letter for letter.
• Your receiver's full name and phone number, written exactly as they appear on their identification in Haiti. The receiver collects with that identification; a nickname on the shipping papers is a problem at the port.
• Your contents list — what is inside each barrel, box or container, in plain words. You build it while packing; see how to pack a barrel for the method.
• The receipt and shipping documents the company gives you when it takes your goods. Photograph them the same day and send copies to your receiver.

That is the whole foundation. Everything else on this page is added by the kind of shipment: a car adds ownership papers, a business load adds invoices, and anything unusual adds a question you ask the company before packing, not after.

What extra documents does a car need?

A vehicle must be provably yours to ship. The company will ask for the car's title paperwork and your identification, and the receiver in Haiti will clear the car with the shipping documents and their own identification — the full walkthrough is in clearing a car through customs in Haiti. If you bought the car recently or the title carries a different name from yours, raise it with the company before the car goes anywhere near a port. Title problems are solvable on land and miserable at a dock.

Vehicle shippers handle these papers weekly: Interworld Freight from Miami, CargoMax International with pickups in Montreal and Toronto, and companies along the South Florida and Canada corridors. Ask your chosen company for its exact list — then check your papers against it twice.

What about business goods, and goods for someone else?

If you are shipping stock for a shop or goods you bought for resale, keep the purchase invoices with the shipment papers. Invoices explain value in a language customs understands, and they protect you if the contents are ever questioned. Our customs charges guide explains how charges are built on the value customs works with, which is exactly where invoices earn their keep.

If you are shipping on behalf of someone else — a common kindness in every diaspora family — agree whose name goes on the papers before anything moves, and make sure the receiver in Haiti matches that name. The person named is the person who can collect, redirect and argue for the shipment. Choose that person deliberately. For mixed and regular routes, companies like Velox Logistics from Montreal, which ships parcels, barrels and vehicles to Port-au-Prince, deal with named-receiver questions constantly and will tell you how they want the papers written.

How do you keep the papers safe until pickup is done?

Make three copies of everything: one with you, one photographed on your phone, one with your receiver in Haiti, sent before the shipment lands. Papers that exist in three places cannot be lost in one. Keep the set together until your family confirms collection — then keep it a while longer, because questions, when they come, come with reference to exactly these pages.

Ready to prepare? Print this page, tick each item as you gather it, and confirm the list with your company on the New York & New Jersey corridor or whichever corridor you ship from. The pack gathers these checklists in one keepable place, and the frequently asked questions page covers the small paper questions families ask most.

Treat your papers the way you treat the goods themselves: nothing folded into a random pocket, nothing left to memory, nothing held by only one person. A sender who can produce every page on demand — at the warehouse, on the phone with the company, or for family at the port — is a sender whose shipment keeps moving when others stall. Gather the papers first, and the rest of the work gets lighter at every step.