Moving personal belongings to US

[Sofitalian 134]

Update: I sent my personal belongings by mail (by surface mail and by Speedpost separately). The boxes by Speedpost arrived without problem. Those by surface mail may take 1-2 months. Fingers crossed.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

On 8/7/2020 at 1:34 AM, mave said:

Hello, I think this topic must have been discussed somewhere but I couldn't find any recent threads. If yes, please point me to the threads, thanks.

 

I'm planning on my move to US this Fall. I don't have that much stuff to worth booking a container/partial container. I figured that I most likely will use the Post Office to send some boxes via surface mail. 

 

- Is there any formal document I need to prepare (e.g. a checklist of "Goods to follow") to bring with me at POE? 

- Is there any info on the U.S. Customs & Border Protection website that gives details about what new immigrants should follow?

 

 

 

We moved in 2018.  I arranged it with a shipping company and they provided all the paperwork + it was delivered.  
Our shipment included a vehicle/household stuff (surface) plus an air shipment.

If you have multiple boxes, contact an international shipping company.  I contacted 3, took the best quote (they were all similar) My vehicle was about $2500 bucks to ship.

You do have to inventory and value everything but they code it, complete the forms, and send them to you to sign.  It was relatively painless and we literally shipped an entire house full of stuff.

One of the forms you sign is power of attorney for an agent to receive the goods for you at customs.  You can then have them delivered (or) you can pick them up.  They’ll contact you after the packages clear customs.

 

Edited October 25, 2020 by Nitas_man

[Sofitalian 134]

2 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

We moved in 2018.  I arranged it with a shipping company and they provided all the paperwork + it was delivered.  
Our shipment included a vehicle/household stuff (surface) plus an air shipment.

If you have multiple boxes, contact an international shipping company.  I contacted 3, took the best quote (they were all similar) My vehicle was about $2500 bucks to ship.

You do have to inventory and value everything but they code it, complete the forms, and send them to you to sign.  It was relatively painless and we literally shipped an entire house full of stuff.

One of the forms you sign is power of attorney for an agent to receive the goods for you at customs.  You can then have them delivered (or) you can pick them up.  They’ll contact you after the packages clear customs.

 

Thanks. My husband used a shipping company when he moved back to US. When it's my turn, I did get a few quotes, but decided they're too expensive for what I need to ship. 

 

I ended up sending 11 boxes by sea via Post Office, and then 2 extra large boxes by Speedpost (by air) via Post Office. I had to complete Customs declaration forms online via Post Office. Inside the boxes, I also put the Form 3299, my passport copy and my visa copy. The two Speedpost boxes already arrived my home in US couple days ago after I entered US. They weren't opened at all.

[Sofitalian 134]

Update: The 11 boxes that I sent through Post Office by surface mail (sea) have been delivered to me finally - on 7 different days stretching through 3 weeks. The boxes were obviously scattered when they sent through sea shipment. From the tracking, it showed that they went to different USPS facilities in different states before finally delivered to my address. The sea shipment itself took around 2.5-3 months.

[TBoneTX 45,324]

Thanks for this illuminating update.  If you finally have everything, you can quit worrying.  In hindsight, would you repeat this shipment method?

[Sofitalian 134]

On 2/3/2021 at 2:41 PM, TBoneTX said:

Thanks for this illuminating update.  If you finally have everything, you can quit worrying.  In hindsight, would you repeat this shipment method?

I will. The boxes all came intact except one that broke out a little at the corner. Everything was ok. Boxes were not opened. No issue with Customs.

Since I'm not near any port, if I had gone through international shipping companies, that would be much more expensive.