Forms needed for moving household items?

[H_Love1988 2]

Hi, I had my K1 visa interview in Montreal, back in February. I've been approved.. yay! I am moving to the US on June 3rd. I know that I need a list of everything I am bringing with me. My question is do I need to fill out a CBP Form 6059B (customs declaration) or can I make up a spreadsheet in Excel and print it off? Also, my fiance, along with with his parents and my own parents will be helping me with the move. There will be 3 cars following behind me, all filled with my personal belongings. I was going to give them all a list of what is in their cars, along with a copy of everything for myself, and explain the situation to the officer at the border. Do I need to provide them with a CPB Form 3299 (Declaration for free entry of unaccompanied articles), or will a typed list be fine?

 

Thanks for any help!

[NikLR 13,232]

As long as you are all together the typed list should be fine but it doesn't hurt to make sure your other drivers have the form 3299 in case the CBP officer isn't being nice.  

[NikLR 13,232]

~~moved to Canada regional forum with other like topics as OP is doing a land crossing~~

[Leafsfan 54]

 

Hi, I had my K1 visa interview in Montreal, back in February. I've been approved.. yay! I am moving to the US on June 3rd. I know that I need a list of everything I am bringing with me. My question is do I need to fill out a CBP Form 6059B (customs declaration) or can I make up a spreadsheet in Excel and print it off? Also, my fiance, along with with his parents and my own parents will be helping me with the move. There will be 3 cars following behind me, all filled with my personal belongings. I was going to give them all a list of what is in their cars, along with a copy of everything for myself, and explain the situation to the officer at the border. Do I need to provide them with a CPB Form 3299 (Declaration for free entry of unaccompanied articles), or will a typed list be fine?

 

Thanks for any help!

I did an inventory for my possessions on an excel sheet. All boxes were numbered and contents declared, it can be general (for example, clothing, kitchen goods, etc) but I included serial numbers for expensive electronic devices as well. If you're importing your car, you're going to need a compliance letter from the manufacturer and have it clear of liens.

 

The customs declaration form is something they will provide to you to fill out upon arrival. In my case, the CBP officer didn't bother and was really only concerned with filling out paperwork for the vehicles I was importing. Make sure to tell the officer you pull up to that the other cars following you are carrying some of your personal possessions, and of course make sure they're admissible before leaving. The whole process took me about 45 minutes from the time I handed my passport over. Good luck!

[H_Love1988 2]

4 hours ago, Leafsfan said:

I did an inventory for my possessions on an excel sheet. All boxes were numbered and contents declared, it can be general (for example, clothing, kitchen goods, etc) but I included serial numbers for expensive electronic devices as well. If you're importing your car, you're going to need a compliance letter from the manufacturer and have it clear of liens.

 

The customs declaration form is something they will provide to you to fill out upon arrival. In my case, the CBP officer didn't bother and was really only concerned with filling out paperwork for the vehicles I was importing. Make sure to tell the officer you pull up to that the other cars following you are carrying some of your personal possessions, and of course make sure they're admissible before leaving. The whole process took me about 45 minutes from the time I handed my passport over. Good luck!

Thank you! This helps a lot! Just wondering if I need to declare the value of my items as well? I seem to be getting some mixed messages about this.. not really sure how I would put a value on my belongings.

[kenikki 26]

On 5/7/2017 at 5:33 PM, H_Love1988 said:

Thank you! This helps a lot! Just wondering if I need to declare the value of my items as well? I seem to be getting some mixed messages about this.. not really sure how I would put a value on my belongings.

Hello... Appears that it has been about a year since crossing... Could you share your experience with bringing your personal and household items into the US? Did you end up declaring the value of items?

[H_Love1988 2]

Turns out I was way over prepared. I had given each box a number and labeled it with it's contents. I had also created a spreadsheet in Excel with the box numbers and contents, so that I could have a master list. I did not include the value of anything though.

 

I didn't have a moving truck. Instead, family helped move, and we had 4 cars total, including my own. Everybody just got in line behind me when we reached the border. (I had also given everyone copies of what was in their cars). 

 

When it was my turn at the border, after the officer opened my packet they basically just asked where I was moving to. I tried to give him my list and explained about the cars behind me. Honestly, they didn't really even care. He never even took the list. 

 

My now husband was behind me, and I found out after that the officer had kind of made a joke at my expense. He laughed and said that I was very prepared, and that they don't normally see lists like that. That it's usually just a generalization of the box contents. 

 

Anyways, overall it was a very easy crossing. It probably helped that I was over prepared haha.

 

[NikLR 13,232]

1 hour ago, H_Love1988 said:

Turns out I was way over prepared. I had given each box a number and labeled it with it's contents. I had also created a spreadsheet in Excel with the box numbers and contents, so that I could have a master list. I did not include the value of anything though.

 

I didn't have a moving truck. Instead, family helped move, and we had 4 cars total, including my own. Everybody just got in line behind me when we reached the border. (I had also given everyone copies of what was in their cars). 

 

When it was my turn at the border, after the officer opened my packet they basically just asked where I was moving to. I tried to give him my list and explained about the cars behind me. Honestly, they didn't really even care. He never even took the list. 

 

My now husband was behind me, and I found out after that the officer had kind of made a joke at my expense. He laughed and said that I was very prepared, and that they don't normally see lists like that. That it's usually just a generalization of the box contents. 

 

Anyways, overall it was a very easy crossing. It probably helped that I was over prepared haha.

 

You were over prepared but that sounds like your personality.  They didnt even look at my list of general items! (Or open the uhaul for that matter.) 

box 1 -kitchen

Box 2 - books  lol

 

But better than not right?!  Glad to know it went well for you.  

[NikkiFromCanada 233]

On 5/23/2018 at 7:19 AM, H_Love1988 said:

Turns out I was way over prepared. I had given each box a number and labeled it with it's contents. I had also created a spreadsheet in Excel with the box numbers and contents, so that I could have a master list. I did not include the value of anything though.

 

I didn't have a moving truck. Instead, family helped move, and we had 4 cars total, including my own. Everybody just got in line behind me when we reached the border. (I had also given everyone copies of what was in their cars). 

 

When it was my turn at the border, after the officer opened my packet they basically just asked where I was moving to. I tried to give him my list and explained about the cars behind me. Honestly, they didn't really even care. He never even took the list. 

 

My now husband was behind me, and I found out after that the officer had kind of made a joke at my expense. He laughed and said that I was very prepared, and that they don't normally see lists like that. That it's usually just a generalization of the box contents. 

 

Anyways, overall it was a very easy crossing. It probably helped that I was over prepared haha.

 

This is very helpful as I will be doing a land crossing as well. Thank you for updating us!