Customs intensive exam, fees, Fiance visa?

[GJ&Rach 12]

My now husband shipped his personal property from The Netherlands on october 15th, it was supposed to be here on october 29th. He paid the shipper for everything (freight to st louis...including: destination costs, customs clearance, ISF filing, excluding taxes and duties) He had to give up front a list of everything in there, the description that it was personal effects, his contact details in the Netherlands and his new contact info in the US. He also had to give power of attorney for the ISF. He shipped 57 packages, 2.54 cubic meters. Customs targeted the container his stuff is in for x-ray. then that wasnt good enough, now it's going through CET physical exam where they tear through everything in the container and inspect it. Apparently this is contracted out to a separate company, not customs itself. They're telling him he's going to have to pay a bunch of extra fees for all this. Anyone have an idea how much and if there's a way to avoid it (some or all?) I see in old posts something about a form he was supposed to fill out but those are from 2006ish...he wasnt asked to fill out anything like that.

If this is going to cost several hundred extra we're going to have an issue doing that and filing the AOS stuff too!

Any help/advice would be appreciated!

Edited November 9, 2013 by GJ&Rach

[Lynkali 163]

My husband's belongings also went through a customs scan, unexpectedly. His moving company contract of course had the standard "customer is responsible for extra fees incurred" so I think it's a normal thing that can happen if the border control people feel it's needed. Our stuff arrived at the port of Los Angeles, then the shipping company notified us that it was going through extra customs inspection, which would cause delays and incur fees. After all was said and done, it took a little over a week, and cost $155 -- not the end of the world, just a bit annoying.

[GJ&Rach 12]

is there some sort of form he has to send in to avoid customs fees? i'm a little worried the shipper isn't doing something he needs to since he's getting notices it's going to cost a lot more than expected.

[Lynkali 163]

I can't say for sure ... my husband filled out some forms prior to leaving Finland, including several details about his belongings (packing lists etc) as well as his immigration status and arrival/flight info (the shipment came by ship, later). Then, once he arrived here, the local arm/partner of the moving company asked us to send scans of his I-94 and visa page, proving his legal immigration status -- that pretty much took care of everything and we didn't have to pay any particular duties, just the extra charges for the scans/inspection.