How long does a ToR1 take, and what if it isn't back by moving day?

A ToR1 can come back from HMRC in two days or take weeks: HMRC publishes no processing time, and on the moves we handled last year most approvals came within three weeks, so plan for up to six. Transfer of residence relief is what lets you bring your own belongings into the UK without paying import VAT or duty, and the ToR1 is how you apply for it. This guide sets out how long it took on our moves, who qualifies, how to apply before you have a UK address, and the three choices you still have if your URN is not back by moving day.

These are the moves from last year where the customer told us the day they applied and the day their approval came. Two came back in about two days. One took ten to twelve days, one fourteen, and one about sixteen, after HMRC asked the customer to send the application again. One took up to twenty-nine days; we know only that it was somewhere inside that. And one, a move from France in October, was still not back ten days later, when the van was due.

That is seven moves, not a survey, and yours can be quicker or slower than any of them. It is why we tell people to plan for up to six weeks: none of ours took that long, but nobody can promise you yours will not. One customer was told by HMRC on the phone to expect two to three weeks, and had her approval two days later.

The waiting is not what went wrong for our customers last year. What went wrong is what we told them late.

That is why this guide sets out each route, and what it needs, before you need it.

Transfer of residence relief is for people moving their home to the UK. HMRC's tests are plain: you must have lived outside the UK for at least 12 consecutive months, you must have had your belongings for at least 6 months before you move, and they must arrive within 12 months of you coming to live in the UK. Once they are here, you cannot sell, lend, hire out or give them away for 12 months.

Some things never qualify: alcohol, tobacco, and anything from a second or holiday home. If you have lived abroad for less than a year, or you are coming to study, the rules are different, so tell us at the first call. If you are moving from the EU to Northern Ireland, you do not need to apply at all.

Yes. Often a customer has no tenancy signed yet when they should be applying, and HMRC does not make you wait for one. You can send a statement from the person you will be living with and proof of their address, or evidence of temporary accommodation, such as a hotel booking. Your belongings do not have to go to that address afterwards: they can wait in storage, as long as they arrive within those 12 months.

The one mistake you cannot undo: once the application is sent, HMRC lets you add to it but not change it. Check the address, and everything else you have written, before you send it.

When HMRC approves your relief, it gives you a reference number, the URN, and the import declaration claims the relief with it. On the relief route your belongings do not cross the border until you have it. You can book before it arrives: a customer moving from Brittany to Plymouth last November asked whether he could, and his approval came back two days later, before he had even placed his order. If yours is still not back when the van is due, you have three choices.

• Move your dates. Ask for new dates from your move page; it is free with the notice your booking states, so ask as soon as you see the URN will be late. Your belongings stay with you until it comes.
• Pay the VAT and duty and claim it back. Your move keeps its date, customs charges VAT and duty on your belongings and the transport, and once HMRC approves your relief, you ask HMRC to repay it.
• Go ahead of your belongings. Leave them packed in storage or with someone you trust, and we collect them from there once the URN arrives. You do not need to be there, but someone does need to bring them out to the van.

The customer from France chose the second. He was leaving his flat that week and could not wait, so he paid the VAT and duty to keep his date, and he can claim it back from HMRC with his approval.

HMRC decides, not us, and it can say no. If it does, VAT and duty are due on your belongings, and your move goes on the paid route. That route needs an itemised inventory, each item with its value, if your goods are worth more than a set amount, which your document pack states. It is the second inventory the customer from Spain was asked for, and now you know before you need it.

What the paid route costs is VAT at the standard rate on your goods and the transport, plus any duty, and our guide to what a move to Europe costs explains it. If you believe you did qualify, you can still apply for the relief afterwards, and if HMRC grants it, claim back what you paid.

Before you start your ToR1, have these ready.

• Check HMRC's tests: a year living abroad, six months with your belongings, arrival within a year of moving.
• Proof of who you are, and of where you live now.
• A UK address, or a statement from the person you will live with, or a hotel booking.
• A list of your belongings by group, such as books, clothes and kitchen things. HMRC does not want every item named, photos, prices or brands, and estimates are fine.
• Read the whole application before you send it: you can add to it later, but not change it.
• Tell us the day you apply, and the day your URN arrives.
• If your date is close, ask me about the three choices before you book, not after.