Moving abroad is represents a great opportunity to advance in your career. Also, you get to know other corners of the world. Furthermore, your kids will get an opportunity to experience what it is like to live and study in a different culture. Plus, many of them are very different from the one that they are accustomed to. One of the best things about living abroad with kids is the fact that both they and you will be able to learn a new language. Therefore, once they are grown up, their business opportunities will be better than the rest. They even may decide to go and live abroad themselves. Still, what happens when you decide to come back home? You need to understand the US customs procedures. And they are not always very easy to understand. That is why we have prepared a US customers procedures guide for you.
Expats coming home from abroad often have a lot of luggage and heavy belongings with them. Therefore, in this text, we are going to focus on the paperwork you need to prepare in order to get your items into the country. Still, given the fact that you are going to need to organize the move back where you live and then get that stuff once it arrives into the United States, we would like to suggest contracting professional moving company to help you with it. In particular, if you are moving to Lousiana, try contracting some of the local movers to help you get your stuff back home. In order to be sure that you are contracting a reputable moving company, check moving companies reviews.
Coming back home
Coming back home is awesome. There are so many people hoping to see you as soon as possible. If you haven’t sold your house, surely it will feel great to spend time on it. After all, it is the place that feels most like home. Some would say that coming back to your home can feel like a therapy. Still, there is going to be a lot of stuff that you will need to take care of. Importing your belongings and going through the US customs procedures can take time and energy. Not to mention that you are going to need help to move all of your stuff.
Coming back home is awesome, therefore enjoy it
Therefore, we would like to suggest that you hire a professional moving company to assist you with the move. I mean, after all, that you have achieved in the past years, you could surely use a helping hand in the time of need. Therefore, forget about moving back home yourself and contact Indiana long distance movers to make your move as simple as possible.
Getting through the US customs procedures
This is probably the biggest issue that you are going to face. The US customs procedures are not as complicated as they might seem to be. Still, they are, sometimes, difficult to get a hold of. Therefore, you are probably going to need help getting through them. We are going to try to point out the most important aspects of clearing US customs procedures.
Depending on the means of transport, you might need different paperwork
The US customs procedures are different depending on the means of transport that you will be using. What is going to be the same is one important document: a packing list of the goods. However, bear in mind that this document is not mandatory. Still, it can prove to be quite a handful to have it on hand, so we would strongly suggest having it ready just in case.
Shipping by sea
If you are shipping your items by ship, get ready to gather all the important documents. You will find them below
In case that you will be shipping your items by sea, there are four documents that you or the shipping company, should take care of:
- Commercial Invoice (you should get this from either the manufacturer or the supplier)
- Bill of Lading (provided by the supplier or the shipping company) – this document will showcase the route that the shipment has taken, the costs of shipping it and can be used as the proof of ownership
- Importer Security Filing information (provided by the supplier)
- Arrival notice (provided by the freight forwarder)
Air shipping
Shipping by air means different documents
When you are shipping your items by air, you should have to follow the two documents in order for items to clear the customs:
- Commercial Invoice (provided by supplier or manufacturer)
- Airway Bill (provided freight forwarder)
Customs bond
Customs bond is a document that you are going to need to have before your shipment leaves for shipping. You are going to have to have it no matter how you are shipping your items. It is mandatory in the case when your shipment’s value exceeds $2,500. In case it does not, you do not have to it. In this case, you can import your goods under an informal entry. However, if you would like to do it this way, bear in mind that you are going to need to manually submit paperwork. Therefore, you may even choose to import your items as a formal entry as well, no matter what their value is less than $2,500. While the customs bond for such cheaper belongings is not mandatory, it does not mean that you cannot file it.
In order to obtain a customs bond, you will need to get in touch with the customs brokerages. You will be offered a choice between a single-entry and continuous-entry bonds. As the name says, the single-entry bond is intended for those people who are coming back into the USA to live there. If you are going to be bringing more stuff in the future, you might want to opt for a continuous-entry bond. It is valid for a year and can facilitate your move a lot.
Hopefully, you have got a hang of what it would be like to import items into the USA when coming home. US customs procedures are obviously more complex than what we have been able to present here. In order to get all the details, we would suggest visiting the US Customs and Border Protection website. You will find a lot of detailed information there.