Information and Instructions for Compliance with U. S. Customs Regulations

  • Used Household Goods
  • Personal Effects
  • Private Automobiles

All shipments of used household goods and personal effects entering the United States, whether the effects of a Returning U.S. Resident or Non-Resident entering the United States, must be entered utilizing the Treasury Department Form No. 3299 (Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles for Resident or Non-Resident). In addition, a Supplemental Declaration providing additional information relative to the owner of the property is also required. As to the definition of Used Household Goods and Personal Effects, the U.S. Government provides the following:

“Household Effects and Tools of Trade or Occupation” which you take out of the United States are duty free at the time you return if properly declared and entered. All furniture, carpets, paintings, tableware, linens, and similar household furnishings acquired abroad may be imported free of duty, if:

They are not imported for another person or for sale.
They have been used abroad by you for at least one year or were available for use in a household in which you were a resident member for one year. This privilege does not include articles placed in storage outside the home. The year of use need not be continuous nor does it need to be the year immediately preceding the date of importation into the United States. Shipping time may not be included in the computation of the one year in use. Non-residents entering the United States are subject to the same basic principles as a returning resident, specifically as applies to the one year of possession of articles prior to entry.

To assist you in complying with U. S. Government requirements, Grace International Relocations provides instructions and information for completion of these forms when downloading them from the US Import Documents section of our website. Also in this section you will find the United States EPA Declaration Form (for importing automobiles).

While Grace International Relocations tries to maintain the most current information possible to present to you, our customer, we cannot guarantee that the specific items mentioned will be the actual items dutiable at the time of entry. Should you have specific questions concerning an Individual item, we recommend that you discuss these with the U.S. Consulate at your point of time of entry. Should you have specific questions concerning an individual item, we recommend residence abroad.