K1 Visa / Duty on Personal Effects

[rjm_cmyk 75]

Has anyone on a K1 had any problems with US Customs when their personal effects got shipped ? I'm reading some notes on the importation of personal goods and the suggestion is that you need to have a US passport , be a USC or have a GC to get your personal effects in free of duty. I've not seen such an issue mentioned hereabouts but y'know I'd thought I'd check anyway.

[Lynkali 163]

If you're using a shipping company, they should know how to handle this issue -- we used a Finnish company to ship about 14 boxes, and there was no import duty of any kind. My husband did have to give general inventories of what the items in the boxes were, but the overall category of "household goods and personal effects" was sufficient for the forms he had to fill out. (He was a K-1, and did have to give them a copy of the K-1 visa in his passport.) There were no charges beyond the shipping company's own fee ... although once his shipment arrived in the port of Los Angeles, it was "randomly selected for electronic scanning" as part of the customs inspection process, so we had to pay an extra $100 to customs for the privilege of having his items x-rayed. Not a huge deal, but a little annoying!

[Nongorilla 0]

K1 holder is eligible for duty free.
You need a copy of passport, visa, I-94(arrival record) and "Customs Form 3299" and "Supplemental Declaration for Unaccompanied Personal and Household Effects".

Search about "CBP Form 3299" (Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles) so you can get more information.

[rjm_cmyk 75]

K1 holder is eligible for duty free.

You need a copy of passport, visa, I-94(arrival record) and "Customs Form 3299" and "Supplemental Declaration for Unaccompanied Personal and Household Effects".

Search about "CBP Form 3299" (Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles) so you can get more information.

This was the bit I saw. It looks to me like the shipping company can't actually ship until they get a copy of the I-94 arrival record. So they will need to hold onto it until they get it. Will check with them.

[Lynkali 163]

This was the bit I saw. It looks to me like the shipping company can't actually ship until they get a copy of the I-94 arrival record. So they will need to hold onto it until they get it. Will check with them.

That is correct -- the day he arrived here, my husband got an email from the shipping company, asking him to send a scan of his passport entry stamp and the K-1 visa scan as well. They didn't actually ask for the I-94 -- I'm guessing since it's electronic, they may have retrieved it themselves, or maybe all they needed was the passport entry stamp. Once sent, they replied saying the shipment was on its way.

So our timeline on shipping was: two days before his flight out, the shipping company came and packed all the boxes and hauled them away. The day he arrived, he sent the scans of visa/passport entry stamp --- then nothing for a long while, since the shipment was traveling by ship (cheaper than air). Almost eight weeks later, another email telling us the shipment had arrived and making delivery arrangements. Hope that helps, I imagine it's a similar process for all companies!

[rjm_cmyk 75]

Yes that thanks for that. Just spending the afternoon putting stuff in the packing boxes. Journey finally taking shape.

Kiitos