Ordering Christmas gifts from abroad to Dubai
When to order, how customs works, post or courier, and sending gifts on to family overseas.
Half of Dubai’s Christmas arrives in a cardboard box from somewhere else. The other half is sent the other way, to grandparents waiting on another continent.
Either way, the parcel has a long way to travel, and December is the worst month of the year to be a parcel. Couriers are at their busiest, customs at both ends has more to clear, and the delivery estimate you were given in November quietly stretches. A surprising number of Christmas gift disasters begin with the words “it was ordered from the UK”.
This is our guide to ordering Christmas gifts from abroad to Dubai, and sending them on to family overseas: when to order, how customs works at this end, how to choose between post and courier, and what to do if something is late. For the week-by-week version, see our timeline for when to order Christmas gifts.
Ordering gifts from abroad: the things to know first
A few questions to ask before you press pay on any overseas website in November.
Does the shop deliver to the UAE? Many do; some only appear to. Check the delivery page, not just the country list at checkout, and look for who the courier is.
Are duties and taxes included? Some shops charge them at checkout, so nothing more is due on arrival. Others leave them to be paid when the parcel lands, and the courier will hold it until you do.
How is it being sent? Standard international post is cheaper and slower; express couriers are faster, trackable and usually clear customs more quickly. In December the difference matters.
What does it weigh? Heavy and bulky items cost a great deal to send by air. A bicycle bought abroad can cost more to ship than to buy.
Can it be returned? Sending something back overseas is slow and expensive. For clothes in uncertain sizes, buy locally or order with plenty of time for an exchange.
Is anything restricted? Some items are restricted or need approval to enter the UAE. Batteries, liquids, food, alcohol and anything electronic are the usual sources of delay.
01
When to order
For gifts coming from abroad by standard post, order by early November. For anything bulky, personalised or made to order, order in October. Express couriers give you a little longer, but not much, because every delivery in December is competing with every other.
The simplest rule we know: if a present is coming from another country, it should be in your house by the first week of December. Anything after that is a gamble on the courier, the customs queue and the weather at somebody else’s airport.
02
Customs and duty in Dubai
Parcels arriving in the UAE are cleared by customs before they are delivered. In August 2026, Dubai Customs raised the customs duty exemption for cross-border online shopping from AED 300 to AED 1,000, so most individual gifts under that value no longer attract customs duty. VAT at 5% can still apply, and couriers may add a handling fee for clearing the parcel.
Above the threshold, duty is generally charged at 5% of the value including shipping and insurance, on top of VAT. Tobacco, electronic cigarettes and alcohol are excluded from the exemption. Rules change, so check the current position with the courier or Dubai Customs before ordering anything expensive, and keep the receipt with the parcel’s tracking number.
03
Post or courier
International post is fine for books, clothes and anything light that isn’t urgent, as long as it leaves early. Express couriers cost more but track every step, deliver to your door and usually clear customs faster, which makes them the safer choice for anything valuable or anything ordered after mid-November.
Some families use a parcel forwarding service with an address abroad, which lets you shop from websites that won’t ship to the UAE and have everything sent on in one box. It works well, but add a few days for the forwarding, and a few more in December.
04
Last posting dates
Postal services publish their last recommended posting dates for Christmas each autumn, and the dates for the UAE usually fall in the first half of December. For Christmas 2025, the US Postal Service recommended sending standard international parcels to the Middle East by 9 December and its fastest international service by 16 December. The UK’s Royal Mail publishes its own list of international dates each year.
Those dates are the last possible day for a parcel to arrive by Christmas in the best case, and they don’t include customs at this end. Aim to have everything sent two weeks before them.
05
Sending gifts from Dubai to family abroad
Gifts going the other way need the same care, earlier. Buy, wrap and send them in the second half of November, choose a tracked service, and keep the receipt in case the destination country charges import tax on arrival. Write the contents and their value honestly on the customs form; understating it is the quickest way to have a parcel held.
Photographs are the best thing to send. They are light, flat and cheap to post, they are rarely held at customs, and they are the present grandparents keep longest.
06
Carrying gifts in a suitcase
If you are flying home for Christmas, the fastest post is your own luggage. Pack presents unwrapped, or in gift bags you can open, because airport security may need to look inside. Bring the paper and ribbon with you and wrap on arrival.
Check the airline’s rules for batteries, liquids and food before you pack, and the destination country’s customs allowance for gifts. Leave room for the presents coming back.
07
When something is late
Track everything, and check the tracking weekly from the end of November. If a parcel stalls at customs, the courier will usually ask for an invoice or a payment; answering the same day often saves a week.
If a present won’t make it, don’t panic. Wrap a photograph of it with a note, or a promise written in a card. Children are far more forgiving of a late parcel than of a disappointed parent, and a present that arrives on the twenty-eighth is still a present.
Paying on delivery
If duties and taxes weren’t paid at checkout, the courier will usually message you before delivery with an amount to pay, often by a payment link. Pay it promptly; parcels waiting for payment sit in a warehouse, and in December that can mean a week. Check that the message really comes from the courier handling your parcel, using the tracking number from the shop rather than the link in an unexpected text, because fake delivery messages are common at this time of year.
Gifts that travel well
Some presents are made for shipping and some are not. Books, clothes, prints, flat-packed toys and anything soft travel well, cost little to send and rarely cause trouble at customs. Fragile glass, liquids, anything with a large battery, food and oversized boxes are the ones that break, get held, or cost more to ship than they are worth.
If the gift is fragile, like a glass bauble or a framed print, ask the shop how it is packed before you order, and consider having the frame made here and only the print sent. Our Christmas gift guide has ideas that are easy to send, and our guide to personalised gifts covers the ones that need the most time.
Returns and exchanges
Sending something back overseas is slow, expensive and occasionally impossible, so buy with that in mind. Order clothes one size up rather than hoping to exchange, check the return policy before you pay, and keep the original packaging until after Christmas. Some international shops offer local returns points in the UAE; many don’t, and the return postage can cost more than the item.
For anything where the size, colour or fit is uncertain, buying in Dubai is almost always the better choice.
If family are flying in for Christmas
When grandparents are coming to Dubai for Christmas, the easiest present is often the one they bring with them. Ask them to carry anything from home that would be difficult to ship, and have their own presents waiting here. It saves weeks of shipping and customs, and a suitcase of presents arriving at the airport is its own kind of Christmas morning. For ideas on what to do together while they are here, see our guide to Christmas in Dubai with kids.
Or buy it here
Dubai has most of what families look for at Christmas: bookshops, toy shops, kidswear, homeware and makers who will personalise things locally and quickly. Buying here avoids customs, international shipping and December queues entirely, and supports businesses that are part of your children’s city. Keep overseas orders for the things you genuinely can’t find, and order those first.
Let’s sum up
If a gift is coming from abroad, order it by early November, earlier if it is personalised or bulky, and aim to have it in the house by the first week of December. Check whether duties are included at checkout, choose a courier over standard post for anything valuable or late, and keep receipts and tracking numbers together. Send gifts to family abroad in late November, and let photographs do the heavy lifting: light, flat and the present grandparents keep longest.
Customs details from VATupdate on Dubai Customs Notice 16/2026. Posting dates from the US Postal Service. Rules and dates change every year; always check with the courier, the shop or Dubai Customs before you order.
Questions about ordering gifts from abroad
Since August 2026, online orders into Dubai valued at AED 1,000 or less are exempt from customs duty, though 5% VAT and courier handling fees can still apply. Above that, duty is generally 5% of the value including shipping. Check with the courier for your order.
Longer than the estimate at checkout. Allow at least an extra week in December for courier volumes and customs clearance, and more for standard post. Aim to have overseas gifts delivered by the first week of December.
A printed photograph of their grandchildren, or a small album of the year. It is light, cheap to post, rarely held at customs and the present grandparents keep longest.
Yes, and it is often the quickest way. Pack them unwrapped or in bags that open easily for security, check the airline’s rules on batteries and liquids, and check the destination country’s allowance for gifts.
The Setup Collective builds three Christmas rooms in Dubai each season, The Forest, The Tree and The Kitchen, then photographs families in them. Candidly: nobody gets told to tuck their chin in. Who we are
