used household effects owned and used for a year normally enter free of duty on a Form 3299 declaration. Newly bought items, goods for someone else and shipments arriving more than ten years after your move usually do not.
This is the question that decides whether your move costs what you were quoted or several thousand more, and most companies will not answer it properly until after you have booked.
We are not customs agents and this is not advice about your particular shipment. What follows is what US Customs and Border Protection publishes, set out plainly, so you can ask the right questions before anything is packed.
The moving company you are connected with prepares the customs documents for the shipment. The declaration is still yours, which is why it is worth understanding what it says.
Furniture bought new in the months before you emigrate fails the test. If you have just kitted out a flat intending to ship it, expect duty on those items and say so before the inventory is finalised.
The first is use. US Customs and Border Protection allows household effects in free of duty where the articles were for your personal use, or used in a household where you were a resident, for one year, and are not intended for another person or for sale.
The second is the declaration. Where goods arrive without you, which is almost every sea shipment, a declaration on CBP Form 3299 is required to support the claim for free entry, with anything owned under twelve months listed separately.
The third is time. As a general rule, household effects arriving more than ten years after your last arrival from the country where they were used are not admitted free of duty at all.
| What to do | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| List anything bought in the last year | It goes on a separate declaration and is usually dutiable. Finding out at the port is the expensive version of this conversation. |
| Describe box contents properly | US customs will not accept miscellaneous. A vague inventory is one of the more common reasons a shipment is pulled for inspection. |
| Put your own status question to CBP | Guidance across the moving trade is inconsistent on this point. Ask CBP directly about your circumstances and keep the answer in writing. |
US Customs and Border Protection allows household effects free of duty where the articles were for your personal use, or used in a household where you were a resident, for one year, and are not intended for another person or for sale.
The test is about use and residence rather than the date on a receipt. Goods used in a household where you lived for a year qualify; goods bought recently and not yet lived with do not.
It is the Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles. Where your goods do not arrive with you, this declaration is required to support the claim for free entry.
Yes, but anything owned for under twelve months is declared separately and is usually subject to duty. Tell your movers before the inventory is finalised.
Yes. As a general rule, effects arriving more than ten years after your last arrival from the country where they were used are not admitted free of duty.
Your status at the time of import affects how a shipment is treated, and published guidance across the moving trade is not consistent on the detail. Ask CBP about your own position and keep the answer.
Examinations happen, and the cost falls to the owner of the goods rather than the shipping company. An accurate inventory reduces the odds of one.
The moving company normally prepares the customs documents for the shipment, but the declaration is yours, so check that the details are right before it is submitted.
US Customs and Border Protection's published guidance. Where the industry disagrees on a point, this page says so rather than picking the version that suits us.
For anything unusual, yes, and from CBP rather than from a mover. A written answer costs nothing and settles the question.
Send your collection address, your US destination, the move date and a rough inventory, and flag anything bought in the last twelve months. A moving company from our network takes it from there.
Send your move detailsA Working Member of AGM Group. Enquiries are connected with vetted FIDI FAIM certified and BAR Overseas accredited international moving companies from the network.
We are an enquiry service and not a customs agent. Nothing here is advice about your shipment, and your own position should be confirmed with US Customs and Border Protection.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder.