Customs and Free Entry of Household Goods for Moving to the USA

The tariff wording for subheading 9804.00.05, in chapter 98 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (opens in a new window) (Revision 21, 2026), is “usual and reasonable furniture and similar household effects”, actually used abroad by the importer or by the importer and family for not less than one year. Effects used for a year by a family can also qualify, owned or not, if the importer was a resident member of it for at least a year of that use.

Clothing and similar items are treated separately. CBP’s page on household items brought from abroad (opens in a new window) says clothing, jewellery, photography equipment, electronics and vehicles are personal effects that cannot come in duty-free as household effects, and that duty is “usually waived on personal effects more than a year old”. For a person arriving who is not a returning resident, the tariff has a subheading of its own, 9804.00.20, for apparel, articles of personal adornment, toilet articles and similar personal effects actually owned and possessed abroad at or before departure for the United States.

How a nonresident’s personal effects reach the form is unclear. 19 CFR 148.6 (opens in a new window) requires a declaration on Form 3299 for unaccompanied effects claimed under 9804.00.20, among other subheadings, yet the form’s statements of eligibility name no 9804.00.20. They name 9804.00.45, for residents only, which the tariff words as “All personal and household effects taken abroad by him or for his account”. Ask your customs broker or the CBP port how a nonresident’s clothing and personal effects should be claimed.

Tools of trade follow their own route. Under 19 CFR 148.53 (opens in a new window), professional books, implements, instruments and tools of trade, occupation or employment, owned and used abroad by someone emigrating to the United States, may enter under 9804.00.15. That does not extend to theatrical scenery, properties or apparel, articles for a manufacturing establishment, or articles for another person or for sale. The form’s statement for them cites 9804.00.10 and 9804.00.15.

US citizens, and people who formerly resided in the United States, are deemed returning residents unless there is satisfactory evidence that they have established a home elsewhere. Anyone else arriving is a nonresident, who ticks emigrating or visiting on Form 3299. The class you fall in decides which exemptions you can claim.

19 CFR 148.2 (opens in a new window) divides arriving people into two classes: residents of the United States returning from abroad, and everyone else, called nonresidents. A minor child’s residence is presumed to be the parents’. Form 3299 asks you to tick returning resident, or nonresident and then emigrating or visiting.

A returning resident’s effects taken abroad come in under 9804.00.45: 19 CFR 148.31 (opens in a new window) says each returning resident “is entitled to bring in free of duty and internal revenue tax” “all personal and household effects taken abroad”, and mentions no period of use. The one-year rule above is the separate exemption in 19 CFR 148.52, which covers “resident or nonresidents”. A nonresident has 9804.00.20 for personal effects and 9804.00.35 for vehicles. A person who claims nonresident status for a short visit before returning abroad may bring in articles under 9804.00.20, 9804.00.25, 9804.00.30 and 9804.00.35 free of duty, but must agree to export them on departure, gifts and consumed articles excepted (19 CFR 148.8 (opens in a new window)).

Neither Form 3299 nor 19 CFR 148.2 mentions visas, green cards, or work or study status, and the sources we read do not say which box a person on a particular visa ticks. We therefore give no immigration advice here. If you are unsure whether you are emigrating or visiting, ask CBP or your customs broker before anything is signed.

US government personnel and evacuees complete Part III of Form 3299 instead. That part relies on another subheading, 9805.00.50, and a declaration that the effects came in because an extended-duty assignment ended or the person was evacuated under government orders. 19 CFR 148.77 (opens in a new window) sets that procedure, which this page does not follow further.

19 CFR 148.52 requires use abroad for not less than one year, and says: “The year of use need not be continuous, nor need it immediately precede the time of importation.” Use must be proven to the satisfaction of the port director, who may require evidence of use other than the declaration. Tell your removal company early which items you can show were in use abroad for the year.

Goods used for less than a year do not fit the 19 CFR 148.52 rule. Form 3299 has, as item 7 of Part IV, “Foreign household effects acquired abroad and used less than one year”, which you list separately. CBP’s page for international visitors on customs duty (opens in a new window) says each article has a specific duty rate, determined by a number of factors including where you acquired it, where it was made and what it is made of, so this page quotes no rate.

How long ago you last arrived from the country of use also matters. As a general rule, household effects arriving more than 10 years after the importer’s last arrival from the country where they were used are not admitted free, unless the port director is satisfied from the importer’s explanation that they were unavoidably detained beyond the 10 years. Under this exemption, free entry is never allowed when 25 years or more have passed since that last arrival. The text does not say how the count works for someone arriving for the first time, so ask.

The claim can still be made when the goods travel without you. Form 3299 is the declaration for unaccompanied articles, and the Federal Register notice describes it as the one made when personal and household effects enter the United States but do not accompany the owner or importer on arrival, and says it supports a claim for duty-free entry.

Part I of the form asks for the importer’s date of arrival and the arriving carrier. The sources we read do not say how to complete that if you have not yet arrived.

Under 19 CFR 148.6(b), if the port director is satisfied that an entry would serve no good purpose, none need be required. Evidence of ownership for customs purposes, such as a carrier’s certificate or a properly endorsed bill of lading, is still required with the declaration. The regulation says this exemption from entry may also be applied to unaccompanied household effects and tools of trade that qualify for free entry.

If it is impracticable to produce the declaration at entry, 19 CFR 148.52(c) lets the importer give a bond on Customs Form 301 for producing it within 6 months, on the conditions in 19 CFR 113.62.

Goods that land before you are also subject to timing at the port: 19 CFR 4.37 (opens in a new window) lets goods landed from a vessel without a release permit “remain at the place of unlading until the fifteenth calendar day after landing”. The vessel’s master, owner or agent must report unentered goods to Customs no later than 20 calendar days after landing and must also notify a bonded general order warehouse within that period; the warehouse then arranges their transport and storage at the consignee’s risk and expense. That regulation does not mention household goods, and we found no CBP text on whether CBP takes the declaration before you arrive. Ask your removal company or customs broker before you ship.

A sea shipment does, and an air shipment does not. CBP’s page on the Importer Security Filing (opens in a new window), known as 10+2, says the rule applies to “import cargo arriving to the United States by vessel” and that failure to comply could result in monetary penalties, increased inspections and delay of cargo. Our guides to sea freight and air freight explain how each travels.

CBP’s ISF FAQ (opens in a new window) (updated May 2023) asks “Are ISFs required for goods arriving in the U.S. via rail, truck or air?” and answers “ISFs are only required for goods scheduled to arrive in the United States by vessel.” It does not say what air cargo needs instead, so ask your removal company what advance information applies to an air shipment.

The filer, the ISF importer, is the goods’ owner, purchaser, consignee or an agent such as a licensed customs broker (19 CFR 149.1 (opens in a new window)). Under 19 CFR 149.2 (opens in a new window), the seller, buyer, importer of record number and consignee number are due no later than 24 hours before the cargo is laden aboard the vessel at the foreign port, and so are the manufacturer or supplier, ship-to party, country of origin and commodity number, which may first be filed on the best available data and updated.

Under 19 CFR 149.2, the container stuffing location and the consolidator are due as early as possible and no later than 24 hours before arrival at a US port. The ISF importer must update the filing if the information changes before the goods enter the limits of a US port.

CBP’s ISF FAQ says household goods and personal effects are filed under coded transaction type 03, and that bond requirements are not enforced for that type. Its type 03 guideline asks for the owner’s full name with a new US address and a last foreign address, the importer’s new US address as ship-to party and, for someone without a US social security number, the full name, passport number, country of issuance and date of birth. An agent may act as ISF importer if every actual consignee is identified. CBP calls its answers informational and non-binding.

Free entry does not remove other agencies’ rules. CBP’s page on prohibited and restricted items (opens in a new window) (last modified 14 March 2025) says CBP enforces laws for 40 other government agencies, among them the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CBP’s prohibited-items page also says you may not import fresh, dried or canned meats or meat products from most foreign countries, that it is best not to bring fresh fruits or vegetables, and that soil is prohibited unless accompanied by an import permit.

On alcohol, CBP’s prohibited-items page says the laws of the state where you first arrive govern how much alcohol you may bring and whether you need a licence. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (opens in a new window) (updated 31 July 2025) adds that some states prohibit direct shipment of alcohol to individuals. On medicines, the Food and Drug Administration’s page on personal importation (opens in a new window) (current as of 18 August 2025) says that in most circumstances it is illegal for individuals to import drugs or devices into the US for personal use, and it lists limited circumstances in which FDA personnel may allow personal-use importation.