So you are headed to America, the land of opportunity, congratulations. No matter if you are part of a corporate relocation, returning home after living in Canada or just heading out to try your luck at the American dream, getting you and your families’ possessions safely and smoothly across the border and to your new home in the USA is our number one priority.
Trans Canada Movers specialize in long-haul cross-border moves. We have the knowledge, equipment, contacts, and personnel to make sure your cross-border move comes off without a hitch. When you hire Trans Canada Movers to take care of your move from Canada to the USA, you not only get all our logistics skills and quality professional moving personnel and equipment, but you also get our twenty-plus year track record of no-hassle, on-time, on-budget cross-border moves.
Not all moves are the same, and not all moving companies are created equal so if you are moving from Canada to the USA make sure you choose a moving company that knows how to do it right.
All shipments of household goods and personal effects entering the United States, whether the effects of a Returning U.S. Resident or Non-Residents entering the United States, must be entered utilizing Department of Homeland Security and Border Protection form No. 3299 (Declaration for Free Entry of Articles Not Accompanying a Resident or Non-Resident)
Also, a supplemental declaration providing additional information about the contents of shipment is also required.
Although Form No. 3299 is a straightforward form, it is the main document, which allows you to ship personal, household possessions into the US duty-free. If the document is completed incorrectly or is incomplete, there will be issues at the border. To help make the process a bit easier for our clients, we’ve created a video to help guide you through the process.
Problems with household goods can be costly as the shipment may be turned back at the border or sent on to the destination “in bond”.
Once a shipment is marked to be put “in bond” at the destination, it may be unloaded into a bonded warehouse. Storage charges will be applied, and once the paperwork is sorted out, you will also have to pay for the reloading and delivery of the shipment to your new residence. This situation can easily be avoided with a little bit of attention to the paperwork.
Form No. 3299 should be filled in well in advance of the load date. If you are going to the US on a visa such as the L1, H1 then that number should be noted on Form No. 3299. Sometimes the visas are not issued until just before the move takes place. You should make a photocopy of this visa and attach it to Form No. 3299.
“Household Effects and Tools of Trade or Occupation” which you had initially taken out of the United States free of duty when 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 it meets a few key conditions:
First off, the items can not be imported for another person or sale.
Second, the items must have been used abroad (in Canada or a country other than the USA) 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.
However, there is a catch as 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. So for example, if you lived in Canada for three years and stored a BBQ for one of those years but used it for two, it would be free of duty. Shipping time cannot be included in the computation of the one year in use.
If you are Canadian moving to the USA, the same rule applies. Non-residents entering the United States are subject to the same core principles as a returning resident, specifically as applies to the one year of possession of articles before entry.
To assist you in complying with U. S. Government requirements, Trans Canada Movers will work with you to complete the forms and can provide instructions, templates and phone-based help.
If you are importing an automobile bought in Canada, you will also need the United States EPA Declaration Form.
Please note that while Trans Canada Movers tries to maintain the most current information possible to provide our customer’s precise instructions and assistance, we cannot guarantee that the specific items mentioned will be the actual items dutiable at the time of entry.
If you have specific questions concerning an Individual item, for example, a work of West Coast Native art that contains whalebone we recommend that you discuss these with the U.S. Consulate or border agents before your time of entry. Only an authorized US Government representative can give a definitive answer on how a unique item may be treated for purposes of duty or importation into the United States.
You can reach us at:
US and CANADA TOLL-FREE – 1-888-433-1335
