Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with customs

Are computers liable for import duty?

SamSugar — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:59:57 -0800

I'm waiting to receive a used computer I bought from China (where it was made) and it is now "Inbound into Customs." This worries me as I was under the impression laptop fell under code 8471, and were import tax exempt. Is this right? If not what are the customs officials going to ask for? Also if duty is charged, will the value be based on the declared value or...?

All I want for Christmas is my yum smoked meat.

nosila — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:19:12 -0800

I'm traveling to Dallas on Northwest Airlines from Montreal Pierre Trudeau Airport tomorrow morning. I just bought three pounds of smoked meat that is NOT shrink wrapped. Can I take it? Can I carry it on? I just spoke with someone from Travelocity and someone from U.S. Customs at the New York border. Both said to put it in my luggage and it should be fine. I wasn't planning on checking a bag. Obviously, I CAN check a bag, and I will if I have to, but does anyone have any experience doing this, either in checked luggage or carry-on? Thanks!

Travelling with Ritalin

Zé Pequeno — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:57:02 -0800

I currently live in Brazil but shall be returning to my country of origin, the UK, for a month or so in December. I recently managed to get a prescription for Ritalin from a psychiatrist here in Brazil and was wondering whether I'd have any complications in bringing this back into the UK. I will most likely be travelling with two 10mg boxes containing twenty tablets each. Perhaps even less. I only use it when I have a really important project to do and, as I'm in the middle of my Masters dissertation, I'm going to need it big time.

Any tips would be appreciated. Luckily, I photocopied the prescription before handing it to the pharmacist because she kept it and I'd have had no supporting documentation. The matter is somewhat complicated by the fact that I was prescribed by a psychiatrist friend without a proper diagnosis, though I have known for a long time that I have a pretty severe case of ADD Inattentive-type for which Ritalin helps me tremendously (i.e. on Ritalin, I can behave like a normal human being).

How do I ship lost jewelry from Vietnam?

snickerdoodle — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:08:11 -0800

Miraclefilter: help me get my lost engagement ring back from Vietnam. While travelling in Hoi An, Vietnam, I dropped my brand-new engagement ring on the beach. Tears and much sand-raking ensued. By some amazing luck, I've just received word that it's been turned into the police station. Unfortunately, I've since returned home to NY.

What's the best way to ship it back? Can I get it through customs without paying duties on it? How do I thank my travel agency in Vietnam, who have been incredibly helpful this entire time?

Can I buy groceries in the USA and bring them back to Canada?

ninefour — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:58:00 -0800

I live in Vancouver, Canada and I am going to the U.S. for the day this weekend. I want to know if it's in fact true, that you can bring groceries back into Canada without paying duty or customs fees? A work colleague said that they pop down to the U.S. often to buy groceries in border cities like Bellingham.

Does anyone have experience doing this and are groceries in fact duty free even though I am just going down for the day?

I want to buy about a $100 worth of groceries.

thanks!

US/Canada customs hate me

ttyn — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:24:18 -0800

Canadian citizen with American green card. Traveling with no passport? Do I need to apply for a passport (Canadian, since I am not an American Citizen) if I am living in the U.S. and would like to fly to Canada to visit my parents for a week?

Can I not get by with entering Canada with my citizenship card and then entering the U.S. with my green card?

How to transit Gatwick expeditiously

lungtaworld — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:17:46 -0800

Mrs L (US passport) and I (UK passport) are flying from Orlando to Gatwick (Virgin Atlantic)arriving 0845, then on to Nice, France on Easyjet departing 1125. Once at Gatwick (and thus inside the EU) will we have to pass through Customs and Passport Control again to get on the Nice flight?
I have paid extra for Easyjet "Special Boarding Plus" but cannot find details of special disabled boarding on their website.
Anyone done this, if so please advise!

Flying With A Canadian Ham to China

mushroom_tattoo — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:58:50 -0800

Can I bring a leg of ham though Hong Kong customs from Canada? I'm flying from Canada to Hong Kong tomorrow to see family and was planning on bringing a 3 kilo leg of ham as a gift. But I'm worried about declaring it in customs. Are there any Canadian pork restrictions currently in effect there?

How do I get my package that's been "Inbound Into Customs" in NY for 12+ days?

gemmy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:37:48 -0800

My perfectly boring package from Sweden has been listed as "Inbound Into Customs" since September 4. How can I find out what the problem is? Can I get it cleared somehow? I purchased some Swedish foods (some soft thinbread, a tube of cheese, a box of pearl sugar, a container of baking molasses, and two bags of licorice candy) from an online retailer - a mom & pop type shop that I've used successfully several times before. They shipped the package from Sweden on September 2, and the USPS tracking tool shows it arriving in New York on September 4. Since then, however, the package status has been "Inbound Into Customs" with no further updates. (Compare with my last three orders from them, which got to me in 4-5 days.)

I asked the store if they knew what was up - they say that they have never had this happen before, and their local post office doesn't know why it's been delayed so long. I talked to my postman and to a clerk at my post office, and neither of them had any suggestions or insights. Searching online for others in the same situation, my case seems a bit odd because a) it's taking more than 4-5 days to clear customs, b) the package doesn't contain even possible contraband of any kind, and c) it doesn't contain enough of anything to make them suspect that it's for re-sale.

I'm extra pissed about the whole thing because the bread and cheese would have been fine after five or six days in transit, but will be stale/spoiled now. And I craved it so...

Have you had this happen to you, and if so how did it turn out? Will they send me some sort of form to explain what happened to my package, and if so when? Can I find out what the problem is? Can I get it cleared somehow by explaining the contents? Any idea why this very boring package would be stuck in customs so long? Any help would be appreciated.

Bringing legally prescribed controlled substances through customs in Asia?

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:01:33 -0800

Advice on bringing a small quantity of legally prescribed Ritalin (methylphenidate) and other prescriptions for personal use into Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, and the Philippines? I'm traveling to a number of Asian countries in the next three weeks, and I would like to bring my prescriptions with me. The drugs are 30x20mg Ritalin (methylphenidate), 6x200mg Provigil (modafinil), and 30x10mg Ambien (zolpidem). These are legally prescribed by a U.S. doctor, and I will carry the pills in the original, labeled bottle and will have an official-looking letter from the doctor.

But Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, according to their customs Web sites, either ban these drugs outright or require preapproval through a bureaucratic process. I wasn't able to find info on the other countries, but it's those three places that I'm most concerned about anyway (Japan and Singapore especially).

In those countries, since they require preapproval, if I indicate on my customs forms that I have controlled substances, then I'll almost certainly have them confiscated and could face other penalties (right?). If I play stupid and just state I have no items to declare, I'd most likely get through OK. But if they pull me aside and search my bags, then I'd be in big trouble, right? I will have entered and exited different countries ~13 times by the end of this trip, so at least on that I'd look suspicious.

So: what actually happens if Japan/Singapore/Hong Kong customs finds undeclared, un-preapproved but legally prescribed controlled substances in your bags? Is it something I can plead ignorance on and just get a warning, or are there serious consequences? I'm not sure if these laws are actually enforced in the case of small quantities and legal personal use. Should I just not bring the drugs?

How not to get detained at customs

nostrich — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:35:03 -0800

At what point during the customs process did they decide I was a "red flag" and how do I avoid it happening again? I'm travelling to the US in the next couple of weeks -- to Indianapolis, probably via Ohio, if it matters -- and I'd like to know how I can avoid being detained at customs again, and what I should say if I am.

Last time I was in the US -- which was less than 3 months ago, which I understand may be a red flag in itself -- I was asked to get my luggage and "go to that room" after trying to get through at customs. I don't remember the details very clearly, but this is how I think it went down:

The guy at the desk asked what the purpose of my visit was, and I told him I was visiting my girlfriend (mistake #1, I suspect). Then we went through the usual hoohah of taking my fingerprints and so on. He asked how long I intended to stay, and I told him 3 months. He said I can't stay longer than 90 days, I told him I knew that and would not. He also asked how much money I had with me, and I told him $200, which probably didn't help. He asked some other questions, but I don't remember them. That was when I was asked to collect my luggage and go to a side room he pointed me to.

The guy in there was very brisk and unfriendly and immediately took to a thorough search of my luggage, and lots of questions about the purpose of my visit, the majority of which I don't recall. I do remember that he asked for the phone number of my girlfriend and called her to corroborate my story. He was very concerned that we were planning to marry while I was in the country. We both assured him we had no intention of doing so. Eventually, I was allowed to pass through -- having re-packed my luggage myself, of course.

Ridiculously, at one point, he alse noted that I seemed nervous and asked why. As if being detained at customs wasn't enough to make a person nervous!

I later noticed a label in my luggage that informed me that it had been searched at some point before reaching customs, too. I'm guessing because my computer (a Mac Mini) was inside. So I'm wondering if that showed up on their system at customs and was a contributing factor.

The circumstances this time will be largely the same. I will have more money -- closer to $700 -- for one. But this time, my purpose _is_ to get married, and then return home to apply for a K-3 visa. I will also be travelling with largely the same luggage.

I'm assuming my luggage was what prompted the difficult questions, and my wrong answers that prompted the eventual detaining. If I'm right, I'm almost certain I'll at least be questioned again. So what should I say if I am?

Honesty is usually the best policy. But telling customs I'm here to marry my girlfriend is almost definitely a bad idea, right?

At the moment, I'm thinking the best course is to say I'm merely visiting a friend, and leave out all the romantic stuff. Why do I have my computer? I'm a geek, I can't go 3 months without my computer, sir!

But is lying to customs like this likely to get me in trouble somewhere down the line? Can they check up on this stuff? And more importantly, will it affect my chances of being granted a visa?

Don't try to shampoo a shampooer!

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:47:32 -0800

Flying back to Canada via US - from Amsterdam. Will US Customs hassle me about coffeeshop visits? I've booked a trip through Europe, passing through several countries but flying back to Canada from Amsterdam via a major US airport. As I understand it, I will have to pass through US Customs during my layover.

I'm not an active smoker of anything, but during my time in Amsterdam I just might want to stop in at one of the legal establishments in that city and sample substances that are allowed in the Netherlands, and condoned in Canada.

My only worry is that, coming back through the US, I'll say I was coming from Amsterdam and get a steely-eyed customs officer who asks specific questions about my activities there and uses the opportunity to search my luggage and/or person, causing me to miss my connecting flight.

For what it's worth, I'm a fairly young, Caucasian (half-Dutch in fact), short hair, clean-shaven, button-down-shirt wearing nerd. Not sure if that fits any profiles or not. I'd also prefer to not lie to anyone, so if it's going to be a big deal I'll just stick to poffertjes.

Anyone had negative encounters with customs after returning from Amsterdam? Is this a legitimate concern or just (ironically, drug-induced) paranoia?

Calculating Canadian customs duties?

fogster — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:18:15 -0800

CustomsFilter: I shipped something to Canada and messed up the declared value. How do I calculate what the recipient will have to pay? I sold some used electronics to someone in Quebec. (I'm in the United States.) I just realized that I mistakenly included shipping in the cost I put on the customs form. As I understand it, he will have to pay customs taxes when receiving the package, but I'm wholly clueless about the process. I would like to reimburse the buyer for the difference between actual cost and the mistakenly-too-high cost. (The goods were worth $25, and shipping was another $25. The shipping cost was mistakenly included, so the package has a declared value of $50.)

It seems like answering this should be a quick task for Google, but the results suggest that there are actually a number of components involved and depend on things I don't understand. Can someone explain how to calculate this? There's a duty charge, and some of GST, HST, and PST, from what I have read. The recipient is in Quebec. I have no idea whether it will go Canada Post or Priority Courier, or even what the difference is.

The gory details: Shipped USPS Priority Mail; USPS form CP72 customs declaration filled out and indicates $50 value, with "Merchandise" box checked. (Not a gift.)

I'm specifically interested in the difference between a $25 and a $50 value, so that I can reimburse the buyer for the unnecessary costs, but I'm curious about how to calculate it, since I'm now curious about how this works.

How can I bring unpasteurized cheese home from Paris?

CunningLinguist — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:15:05 -0800

Have you ever successfully brought French cheeses into the US? Did you declare them, or not? Also, seeking recommendations on the raw milk cheeses I shouldn't miss, and wrapping/packing advice.

Traveling after farm animals

RajahKing — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:48:13 -0800

How do you answer questions about livestock proximity when coming back to the US? What happens when you answer yes to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Declaration Form questions 11 & 12, ie "Have you or any family members traveling with you been in close proximity of (such as touching or handling) livestock outside the United States?"

I ask this for a friend who will be returning shortly from a trip to
rural Ecuador, where s/he was in close proximity to livestock and
would appropriately answer yes. Has anyone had the experience of answering yes? What happens? Questioning, quaranteening, searching of bags, etc?

Has anyone ever had the experience of lying and answered no?

How would customs officials know to be suspicious of your time spent with livestock?

I fully understand the legal and ethical obligations my friend has
here, but if s/he takes the ethical lowground and says no, what
recourse does the government have?

Bringing electronics stateside: Headache or no?

dunkadunc — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:18:11 -0800

Returning to the States from Austria with electronic equipment: What to worry about at customs? I'm going to be returning to the United states in a bit more than a week after a year studying abroad in Austria. What I'm worried about here is any potential problems with customs bringing electronics back to the States.

When I flew over here, I packed my laptop computer, Mac Mini and iPod Touch- and had no problems whatsoever. However, during my stay here, I've picked up an external hard drive and DSLR, and am concerned that customs (the US being what it is) will give me grief when I return.

So- Is this something I have to be concerned about, or is this a non-issue?
Bonus Question: Do I have to worry about my music backups (ca. 70GB) on the external HD? Do I have to delete my socialist and anarchist PDFs?

Thanks in advance!

Moving to Canada. B4 I go...

routergirl — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:54:52 -0800

Just married, and moving from San Diego to join my husband (non-resident, living in CA on a work visa) in Toronto, Canada. Customs forms? Tips? Advice? Help! I have a moving company set up, but it's a "You-pack-it" kind of deal. I pack my stuff, put it in a trailer they bring to my house, and they drive it for me. Fortunately I have a few friends who worked for a moving company - all ready to help me fit my things in the trailer, tetris style. I don't have, say, a full house of stuff. I have 2 beds, 2 TVs, a dining room table/chairs, and most of the rest is boxed stuff. Lots of clothing, books, dishes, that sort of thing. Nothing sparkly and new, but the usual electronics people acquire - dvd player, computer, etc.

After booking the company, they sent me links to download a B4 customs form [pdf], and asked me to fill it out. This is where I got confused, the moving company sent me to the Canadian customs site for answers, and googling on how other people have done it made it worse. People seem to have done it in a few different ways, over the years, and either I'm super dense about this, or the Canadian customs site is written for an audience that is familiar with moving to a new country. Do I need to detail every single item? Can I say, "One box of clothes - $value"? If I do that, should I pack things in boxes of like items? That seems a bit silly - I have too many TYPES of things!

The other thing is that I am not traveling WITH the truck full of goods. I am driving two dogs*, a kid**, and myself from here to there, and will likely get there after the truck arrives. Will it sit in customs, or can my husband pick it up, or how does that work? Instead of a B4, do I fill out the other form, on goods to follow?

I realize this is cheating a bit, as I have packed a lot of questions into one. But they're all related. If someone can answer all of these at once by saying, look, call this service, or this agency***, or there are trained people to help you, please do. I'm one of those people who worry too much about things going wrong, and the more info I have about this, the better.

*Dogs have rabies vaccinations and certs of health.
**Kid does too (ha). As well as a passport.
***I tried calling Canadians Customs - they sent me to their website again, which confused me.

UK/USA Customs and laptops

occidental — Mon, 11 May 2009 10:12:35 -0800

Outside of porn which I am not concerned about what does UK/US customs look for on laptop computers? Specifically, I have some movies that I have 'ripped' from dvd and I wanted to know if those are something they get finicky about.

Is a HealthCanada card a legit photo id?

ascetic — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:22:27 -0800

Is a Health Canada card considered government issued photo ID? My friend is visiting from Canada and I would like to know if her Health Canada card will be sufficient for US Customs and Borders. She has her birth certificate to prove her citizenship.

My uncle has been deported.

ooklala — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:44:23 -0800

My Greek uncle has been deported from the US for overstaying his visa last year by one month. What do I do? My Greek uncle who is a recluse has been deported. Last year he overstayed his visa by one month. He reentered the US with no problems in November. On Wednesday he joined us on a vacation to the Bahamas. Tonight upon arriving back into the US he was taken by customs and detained. We flew back via a different airport due to flight overbookings. According to my Greek aunt, he is to be deported to Greece. She also says she cannot get in contact with him and nobody in the Miami airport will talk to her. What do we do? Is he even going to be deported, or just lost in the detaining cells. Also complicating the situation is his assortment of medical ailments, which all need drugs that he does not have (including a recent cataract operation, depression, and others). Also told to us by her is that supposedly the airport workers are taunting my uncle when he mentioned where he was going to (East Hampton, NY).
Hive mind, I need your help desperately.

Don't shoot, I'm a book dealer

crazylegs — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:51:51 -0800

What can I expect from a US border guard if I go into the USA from Canada carrying packages of things I've sold on ebay to mail in the USA? I've been selling things on ebay for many years. I've mailed hundreds and maybe thousands of packages from Canada to the USA. However Canada Post has become so ridiculously overpriced that I'm looking into a new method to save money. I live in Kingston and can drive over the border to Wellesley Island in New York in less than half an hour, mail things at the post office there, and save huge amounts of money. However, something tells me that the border patrol may have a problem with this, even though I can apparently mail things to the USA with no problem. What's the difference between mailing something and taking it over the border in a car? Will the border patrol make me pay duty on these things? Will they require me to have some sort of proof of sale? I'm particularly looking for answers that can be positively backed up with an official source of some sort, ideally the US Border Patrol, or Customs, or whatever. I have three packages of used books that were sold for very little money (US$50, $18, and $10). Is there a minimum limit below which they don't care about it? I could just not tell them about them, or tell them I'm giving them away, or sending them to friends, but I know from experience that you DON'T want to start playing those games with US Customs. If they sense one thing that's a bit funny it gets very weird very fast. So I'd rather be totally honest about what I'm doing, but don't want to pay duty or taxes.
Sorry for being so long winded. Thanks!

Why does India consider the iPhone a "Dangerous Item" that cannot be shipped to the US?

smersh — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:12:59 -0800

How do you ship an electronic item (iPhone) with a non-removable battery out of India? It's labelled as a "dangerous item." It seems like a lot of my questions stem from an inherent frustration of an American living in a Thirld World country. This question is no exception.

India has this policy of not allowing you to ship out products with their battery inside. That is, I can send you a Nokia cell phone from Mumbai to New York, as long as the battery is separate from the phone.

It can be in the same box, just not in the device. If it's in the device, it's labelled as a dangerous item and you need import/export licenses and such to be able to send it.

So, my brother wants my old iPhone from here and I cannot get it to him. I've tried calling Fed Ex, DTDC, the Post Office. Nobody will take it.

Has anybody a clue how I can ship out an item with a non-removable battery from a country that labels the iPhone as a dangerous item?

I don't know what the metafilter readership is like. Hopefully, there's enough people dealing with India for me to get some help.

Also, if I succeed, how much will customs set my brother back when he receives it? What if I send him 2 new iPhone 3Gs valued at $600 each?

Help is appreciated.

Will my spice mix get confiscated by Japanese customs?

teem — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:43:49 -0800

Will I have trouble with customs bringing homemade Indian food spice mixes (made in Australia) into Japan? In a week I'm visiting my girlfriend who's over there, and I was planning to bring her some of the homemade spice mixes I use to make Indian food. They're your typical mixture of spices (cumin, coriander, etc) assembled in Australia from spices bought in Australia.

It'd be a shame to go to the effort only to have them confiscated, so for those who have travelled into Japan, how likely is it that they'll get taken away? Is there anything I can do to minimise the chances of this?

Need advice re. crossing U.S. border for my wedding

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:40:00 -0800

How paranoid do I need to be about crossing the US border to get married? I'm a Canadian. I currently intend to cross into the USA to marry an American in California in May, then as a honeymoon take a leisurely road trip up the West Coast: drive up the coast, drop the rental car off in Seattle and re-enter Canada from Seattle (being picked up by my parents) to begin our life together in Vancouver.

I've been told by acquaintances that American border guards are extremely paranoid, though, and my best course of action is to pay the extra money for a return ticket and NOT tell anyone at the border I intend to get married and return to Canada with my husband -- essentially, I'm being told I should try to deceive the border folks. Their rationale is that the one-way ticket plus saying I'm getting married will red-flag me as not admissible, even though I am also presenting the rental car agreement (which is not pre-paid, so maybe not that "binding"), a copy of my municipal tax bill to show I am a property owner, recent utility bills to show I am living in the property I own, pay stubs and my business card to show I am employed, and a letter from my employer stating that I'm expected back at the end of May.

Neither of us are wealthy, and even the extra $200 for a return flight (uncancellable) or the $150 or so in cancellation and related fees for a $1000 "cancellable" flight would be a significant hardship. Plus, if the border is really in that high a state of anxiety, maybe a cancellable flight would be just as bad as none at all. I have no idea.

The idea of both spending $200 (or rolling the dice on a hassle-free refund on a much more expensive plane ticket) rubs me the wrong way. So does the idea of lying to the border agents.

If it matters, and it might: I'm white, Canadian-born and have always lived in Canada, mid-thirties with a spotless record and an uninterrupted employment record for the last 20 years. There's nothing "weird" in my past, and I don't fit any of the racial/social profiles that seem to attract extra scrutiny under normal circumstances. My fiancé is similar, except for a misdemeanour about a decade ago on an otherwise flawless record.

I'd really like some insight here: is it worth a hard-fought $200 that we really don't have, and outright deceit at the border, to try to get into the USA for a marriage when I really, honestly, truly have absolutely no intention of staying? How likely are US border officials to deny me entry for my own wedding?

The rattling of change in my brain.

ayerarcturus — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:18:45 -0800

EatingOutFilter: With the denominations that we have in the US, is it rude to leave coinage in addition to dollar bills when you're leaving tip? A couple of years ago, I asked one of my friends who was a waitress at several points in her life if she minded receiving loose coins or credit card tips. She gave me a strange look and basically said that whatever form the customer left was fine. All was good, until a month ago one of my friends (a grad student who had never waitressed) told me that leaving coins was a way of indicating that you didn't like the service without going to the extreme measure of not leaving a tip. I didn't think much of it until I was out again tonight, and the same thing happened with a different person. He was never a waiter either, if that's any indication. I have never heard of this custom before this, am I alone? What do the members of the hive mind who have been in the restaurant business think of the generosity/rudeness of leaving coins? I STFW but can't find anything close. (I'm not talking about leaving tens of pennies, just what you'd have in your pocket)