The Fastest Way to Send Documents or a Package to France from the US

1. Buy it in France. For a gift or any item that exists in French stores, the fastest route is not to ship anything: someone in Paris buys it and hand delivers it the same day, anywhere in France. No transit, no customs.

2. An on board courier. A person flies with your documents or package and hands them over in person. From the East Coast, an evening flight lands in Paris the next morning and the delivery happens that morning. This is the fastest option for anything that has to physically leave the US: original signatures, parts, prototypes.

3. An express carrier. FedEx International First and International Priority deliver from the US to France in one to three business days, through their hubs. UPS and DHL offer equivalent express services.

4. The postal service. USPS Priority Mail Express International is the fastest postal option, typically several business days, with the French postal service handling the last mile.

When a scan is not enough, it is usually because a French notaire, a bank or an administration needs the original with a wet signature, or a document with an apostille. The United States and France are both parties to the Hague Apostille Convention: the apostille is issued in the US, by the Secretary of State of the state where the document was notarized, before the document leaves.

Documents generally clear customs without duties, so the choice is purely about time. If the signing appointment in France is in a week, an express carrier is fine. If it is tomorrow morning, only an on board courier gets the original there in time. Once in France, the document often still has to reach the notaire or the office: our team handles that last step, see document collection and delivery in Paris.

Since July 1, 2026, the European Union applies a flat €3 customs duty to low value parcels arriving from outside the EU, charged per type of item in the parcel rather than per parcel. France has suspended its own €2 small parcel fee while the EU duty is in place.

A gift sent between private individuals is exempt when its declared value is under €45 and the customs label clearly states that it is a gift. Above €150, regular customs duties apply. French VAT, at 20 percent for most goods, is due on parcels other than gifts between private individuals.

In practice, the carrier often asks the recipient to pay these amounts before delivering. For a business shipment that is an administrative step. For a gift, it means the person you wanted to surprise receives a bill first.

Flowers, champagne, macarons and fresh food do not survive an international shipment well, and luxury goods attract duties and VAT on arrival. The same items are on sale in Paris. When we receive a gift brief before 10am Paris time, which is 4am in New York, we buy the gift in Paris, write the card and hand deliver it the same day, with a photo sent back to you.

This covers a birthday bouquet for a parent in Lyon as well as a Hermès scarf for a client staying at a palace hotel. The full service is described on our page on how to send a gift to Paris, hand delivered the same day.

An express carrier commits to one to three business days, and weekends do not count. A shipment handed over on a Friday afternoon may not arrive before Tuesday. An on board courier travels on the next flight, any day of the week.

With an on board courier, a person carries the shipment as baggage and delivers it in person, with an update at each stage and a signed receipt. It is also the right choice when the item cannot be duplicated or let out of sight. Our on board courier service to and from Paris works in both directions: from the US into France, and from Paris out to the US and the rest of the world.

Paris is six hours ahead of New York and nine hours ahead of Los Angeles for most of the year. A request sent at the end of the US working day reaches Paris in the middle of the night, and is handled first thing in the Paris morning.

For a same day delivery in Paris, the brief has to reach us before 10am Paris time. For a same day hand carry from Paris to London, before 9am Paris time. Express carriers have their own pickup cut off times, which vary by location: check them before promising a delivery date.