luggage check and some questions

[Brian&Naty 0]

My flight is on Aug 8 but as early as today i am preparing my things that i am going to bring with me to the US

My POE is in Honolulu,Hawaii and its also the place where my fiance and i will stay in a while

Now i am also bringing books with me,one book of mine weigh 4 to 5 kgs (perry's handbook for chemical engineers), Unit ops by McCabe, and other books ....

Is it okey to bring 5 to 6 books,im scared that the custom would questions me with these...

Also im not sure if its okey to bring my notebooks (notebooks from college) and some review materials (some of them is photocopied)...

I have two luggage and the other luggage is for my books and other accesorries..and as PAL website stated i can bring two 32 pcs luggage...

Any advice please.......................

Maraming Salamat po (thank you)

You can bring your books without problems. BUT, Naty is flying this same route on the 10th. I would be interested in hearing your experiences going through the POE in Honolulu if you happen to have access to VJ while you are there. Oh, Welcome to the USA and best of luck in your journey. We are (literally) right behind you.

[rheanick 42]

My flight is on Aug 8 but as early as today i am preparing my things that i am going to bring with me to the US

My POE is in Honolulu,Hawaii and its also the place where my fiance and i will stay in a while

Now i am also bringing books with me,one book of mine weigh 4 to 5 kgs (perry's handbook for chemical engineers), Unit ops by McCabe, and other books ....

Is it okey to bring 5 to 6 books,im scared that the custom would questions me with these...

Also im not sure if its okey to bring my notebooks (notebooks from college) and some review materials (some of them is photocopied)...

I have two luggage and the other luggage is for my books and other accesorries..and as PAL website stated i can bring two 32 pcs luggage...

Any advice please.......................

Maraming Salamat po (thank you)

There is nothing wrong in bringing books. One of my luggage was full of training manuals, training materials. my book collection and recipe books.

[SCFsnoopy 0]

As someone else has said, you can check postal options for sending books over (I've never heard of a "book rate" here in Australia but maybe there is something there). Otherwise you may want to look into shipping some items over via one of the courier services - I will be using DHL to send over a bunch of stuff since I'll be needing some heavy things like my PC (I know, computers are cheap in America, but mine is a customized gaming rig), books, and I'll end up sending the bulk of my clothes over that way too. To send three Jumbo boxes through DHL will cost me about $600AUD (I get special rates but the full rate would be about $840), not sure what prices are like in the Phillipines but considering it gets there in 3 business days and gets pre-cleared through Customs, it's worth the money.

Definitely check with the airlines about baggage restrictions - I've flown both United Airlines and China Airlines to the States, UA wasn't too fussy about luggage (I carried a huge handpag/purse, a laptop bag AND a small suitcase on board and they didn't bat an eyelid) but China Airlines weighed my carry-on luggage and told me to shift some stuff into my check-in. China Airlines also only allowed 24kg for check in luggage as opposed to 32kg that a lot of other airlines allow.

How do you ship personal belongings by courier? Do you have to provide the courier a copy of your immigration papers to show customs so that the stuff don't get taxed?

Are personal belongings tax free? I haven't come across detailed info about how to bring stuff over unlike in the Canadian immigration group where there seem to be detailed instructions about what to show the Customs people (lists of so and so).

BTW, would that be similar in that when you get to the POE, you show the customs/immig people a list of the stuff you're bringing in on the spot and then a list of stuff that will come in later?

There are a lot of little rules and at the end of the day you have to remember that Customs is Customs and they will do whatever the hell they want - if they want to tax your personal belongings or open your shipment and then charge you an $800 inspection fee, they will, regardless of the courier company sending it. DHL, however, is probably the best company to use because they have their own customs brokers who negotiate with Customs before the plane even lands to get all of the shipments pre-cleared.

From personal experience, a large shipment (3 jumbo boxes) sent through DHL took 5 business days to get there (held up for roughly 2 days in customs but as far as I know not inspected or taxed). You fill out your basic customs invoice (google and you'll find a form, I'm pretty sure there's one you can download off the DHL website) as well as a US Inbound Personal Effects form... I don't know off by heart the name/number of the form but I will check it out today and post back. If at all possible you should give your flight details (I think it's just flight number actually) and a photocopy of the photo page in your passport.

A little trick for sending personal effects just about anywhere - if you send it from yourself, TO yourself, it reduces the chance of tax. There are little tricks for certain countries - for example, sending to India you would write "unaccompanied passenger baggage" in the description of contents on the connote, but this is not the same for all countries.

EDIT: Sorry, to specifically answer your first question - no, you don't have to show the courier your immigration papers, but if your have your flight details and the copy of your passport that will help a lot. I will double check on some specifics today (mainly, if including a photocopy of your immigration papers/visa with the shipment paperwork will help it through customs) but I'm pretty sure that's all you'll need.

Edited July 30, 2009 by SCFsnoopy

[Armenia 18]

EDIT: Sorry, to specifically answer your first question - no, you don't have to show the courier your immigration papers, but if your have your flight details and the copy of your passport that will help a lot. I will double check on some specifics today (mainly, if including a photocopy of your immigration papers/visa with the shipment paperwork will help it through customs) but I'm pretty sure that's all you'll need.

If I'm arriving in the US on a CR1 visa, can I mail my boxes to the US (from Canada) a week or a few days before I get to the US? Or should the boxes be mailed AFTER I've already arrived in the US? Being able to mail the boxes BEFORE would be more convenient since I would prefer not to have to bother anyone with mailing my boxes for me AFTER I leave Canada.

I read in an older forum/thread that we can mail/ship personal belongings BEFORE arriving in the US and that, if Customs impose a tax on any of the items, we can file for refund later after providing proof of immigrant status in the US. Has anyone done this recently?

[SCFsnoopy 0]

EDIT: Sorry, to specifically answer your first question - no, you don't have to show the courier your immigration papers, but if your have your flight details and the copy of your passport that will help a lot. I will double check on some specifics today (mainly, if including a photocopy of your immigration papers/visa with the shipment paperwork will help it through customs) but I'm pretty sure that's all you'll need.

If I'm arriving in the US on a CR1 visa, can I mail my boxes to the US (from Canada) a week or a few days before I get to the US? Or should the boxes be mailed AFTER I've already arrived in the US? Being able to mail the boxes BEFORE would be more convenient since I would prefer not to have to bother anyone with mailing my boxes for me AFTER I leave Canada.

I read in an older forum/thread that we can mail/ship personal belongings BEFORE arriving in the US and that, if Customs impose a tax on any of the items, we can file for refund later after providing proof of immigrant status in the US. Has anyone done this recently?

Sure, no problem with mailing them before you leave. You can even mail them to "yourself" (ie, put your name as the shipper AND the receiver) and put your SO's name as the contact person.

I've never heard about getting a refund for the tax due to immigrant status. As far as I've had experience with, the US isn't one of those countries that arbitrarily tax personal effects just "because they can" - unlike countries like Italy, Serbia, India, Vanuatu, PNG... all countries I've had experience with where the customer has reported back (ie complained) that their personal effects were taxed.

[gennyangel 3]

i have a smooth POE experience and custom here in honoluly.Luckily i was interviewed by the filipino immigration officer,as what have been previously stated yes its okey to bring books (well if you will make sure its not photocopied)..

They look thoroughly at each paper which are in the visa packet,also was asked about me and my fiance. They asked about when is the is marriage too and was given the I-94. I bought some food like bread with cheese on top (2 box). The only thing that they do not allow aside from you know illegal is fresh veggies and fish...

all in all went well..it was very smooth.

++++

sorry brian, i wasnt able to reply asap with your question but i guess your wife underwent the same nice experience in honolulu

+++++

i am loving it here as i love my country,there almost like my country the Phillippines

[Armenia 18]

Sure, no problem with mailing them before you leave. You can even mail them to "yourself" (ie, put your name as the shipper AND the receiver) and put your SO's name as the contact person.

I've never heard about getting a refund for the tax due to immigrant status. As far as I've had experience with, the US isn't one of those countries that arbitrarily tax personal effects just "because they can" - unlike countries like Italy, Serbia, India, Vanuatu, PNG... all countries I've had experience with where the customer has reported back (ie complained) that their personal effects were taxed.

Thanks. That's good to know.

I'll compare CanadaPost, FedEx, UPS, and Greyhound when it comes time to ship my stuff. I'm planning to get rid of most of my stuff anyway so most of the stuff I will shipping are just lots and lots of papers, book, clothes, electronics.