Moving from the UK to GA, USA - shipping/customs questions

[dancingcrab 0]

Hello all. I believe this is my first post on the VJ forums (my fiancee has used to site), so a big wave and smile to everyone.

To quickly fill you in, we applied for a K1 in December and I had my interview last Friday. It went super smooth except for one irritating issue: I supplied the wrong birth certificate. The result is that I have now couried my 'long-form' birth cert. to the embassy and am waiting for my passport and visa to be sent back to me.

Today I booked the removal of my 'excess baggage' - i.e. all my worldly belongings, which amount to less than 1.5 cubic metres and thus are merely considered by Eagle Relocations as 'excess baggage'. I've already packed the boxes, but failed to make a detailed inventory during the process. My questions are as follows:

1) How detailed does detailed mean? I can probably go through and list 'books', 'DVDs', 'music CDs', 'video games', etc, quite happily. Would this do? Or does US customs require specific titles and quantities?

2) In one of the boxes are three Swiss army knives. (I'm British/Swiss - it's only natural for me to own a small collection of pen knives.) Will they be a problem?

3) Is it okay to affix a printed inventory to each box with masking tape? Or does is need to be written directly onto the box.

4) Should I really list the items that are less than one year old? I have no idea what is and what isn't, and I'm not taking anything of specific value (everything's pretty much <$50) except the ring (see below).

5) I haven't presented my financee with a ring yet, I hope to bring one over. I will, of course, being taking it in person, not shipping it with my 'excess baggage', but was wondering whether I should carry it on my person (e.g. a pocket), in my hand luggage, or put it with my checked luggage (seems a bad idea).

6) Will I have to pay tax/duty/fees on the ring? (It will not be >$10000, or anywhere near it.) Coming off the back of that, I'm assuming I should definitely declare it?

7) I've read about sealed brown envelopes and DS-230 Pt. 2s in various topics. I have neither. Or rather, I have the open brown envelope that has my chest x-ray in (and only that), which the embassy dude said I could safely put in my checked luggage. And I have an unfilled DS-230 Pt. 2 that I retained after sending my completed DS-230 Pt. 1 to the embassy. During my interview, we did not talk about or look at any DS-230 things.

8) Lastly, anyone able to talk me through the PoE procedure for a K1 like myself? My PoE will be ATL, which is where we'll be living.

Phew. Lotsa questions! If you can help with only one, I'd still appreciate it!

Many many thanks.

[canadian_wife 1,829]

1) I labled my boxes "DVD's", "Kitchen Essentials", "Books & CD's" and it was fine.

2) That will be up to the CO. I suggest you declare everything to prevent any possible misunderstandings if they decide to search your stuff.

3) You can write directly on the box or attach a piece of paper, as long as the contents are labled. If you attach a piece of paper, you must make sure the paper cannot be ripped off during transport. Dont' use masking tape, use clear packaging tape across the ENTIRE piece of paper.

4) Yes - ballpark it if you aren't sure. Again, I go on the assumption that they will search everything so I'd go by the book on this one to prevent any problems. If it looks less than a year old, list it.

5) Carry it in your pocket, but make sure it is declared as well

6) You may have to pay duty on it, do you have a receipt of the ring?

7) When you got your visa you should have gotten a sealed brown envelope that you must show to a customs officer. If you do not get one then you need to return to the embassy to get it as they need it to process your visa at the POE

8) When you arrive in ATL you will go through customs, they will direct you to secondary screening and review the contents of that envelope I mentioned in #7. If all goes well it shouldn't take too long. They may search you (as I have seen) which is why I suggest you declare everything.

I always go on the worst case scenario. My husband, the USC, was carrying some of my belongings back with him to Atlanta, got pulled into secondary and my bags were searched and he had to pay a duty on it. So it can happen - which is why declaring EVERYTHING is so important.

Good luck.

Edited August 5, 2009 by canadian_wife

[dancingcrab 0]

Thank you very much for your reply. Very helpful, I am grateful. Couple of queries:

4) So you think I should literally go through my DVDs/CDs/books/games (pretty much the sum of my possessions) and essentially randomly pick a load which might be less than a year old?

6) I will have some form of receipt I'm sure. This will help?

Oh, and re: 7) - I won't know this until I receive my visa (i.e. passport) back via the courier - now I'm going to be very nervous about the contents!

Cheers again for the response.

[canadian_wife 1,829]

4) I'm saying if you get searched, do you really want this to be a problem? I had 4 out of 17 boxes randomly searched. The put a little sticker on the ones that were searched. Pick the ones that are obviously a year old (DVD's look a day old when they look 10 years old) and list them.

6) Yes, when you declare the ring, I am sure you will need to show the receipt

7) The brown envelope will be contained with the packet that your visa comes in.

Don't be nervous about your contents, as long as you don't try to sneak something in, or appear to try and sneak something in, you'll be fine.

Good luck.

[dancingcrab 0]

4) I'm saying if you get searched, do you really want this to be a problem? I had 4 out of 17 boxes randomly searched. The put a little sticker on the ones that were searched. Pick the ones that are obviously a year old (DVD's look a day old when they look 10 years old) and list them.

Thanks again!

My understanding is that I'll have to pay duty on anything that is less than a year old, so, if that's the case, I wouldn't want to mark up items as new any more than I have to. Most of my collection is either more than a year old, or gifts (don't know if that makes a difference). However, I keep all of my stuff in virtually pristine condition as I'm a bit OCD, which is probably going to suggest to the customs official that everything is new. Oh dear.

So I guess I'll just pick a randomish sample of things that could be less than a year old. Should I mark them on the same inventory attached to the box?

[canadian_wife 1,829]

I had a separete box for all my less than 1 year old garb, but what you can do is list your items on your box with an asterix (*) and then at the bottom list that those items with an asterix denote less than 1 year old.

It's a pain, but after being searched, I wouldn't advise any other way.

[BermyCat 1]

Now I'm so happy that we did the 19 hour drive from Kitchener, Ontario to Atlanta. The border patrol in Detroit couldn't be bothered to look at my list or look in the U-Haul. They were too busy trying to figure out what to do with the contents of the brown envelope.

~ Catherine

[BaWa 0]

I went to visit my fiancee in July, and I got her engagement ring with me too in my carry-on luggage.

I just wrote down the value on the customs slip where it says "Total value of goods that will remain in the United States"

Truth be told, the customs officer didn't even so much as glance at that green slip and just motioned me through. That was on Washington DC.

Good luck d00der.

--BaWa