Navigating Passenger Processing
Passenger Processing Overview
• If entering the United States by air or sea, you will receive en route a CBP Declaration Form 6059B and, if you are not from a Visa Waiver Program country, a CBP Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record. Complete all sections of the forms.
• On your U.S. arrival, go to the primary CBP passport control area. The CBP officer will ask to see all of your travel documents and the completed CBP forms. The officer may refer you for a secondary screening.
• Proceed to baggage claim to pick up luggage. Go Navigating Passenger Pr to the CBP customs inspection checkpoint and show your declaration to the CBP officer, who may examine your bags and refer you for a secondary inspection.
• Pay duty, if applicable.
• Depart airport or seaport or connect to your next flight. See Connecting Flights on page 16.
Before Your U.S. Arrival
Review the brochure CBP Traveler Entry Forms about completing forms.
CBP Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record. If you hold a nonimmigrant visa, you must complete a CBP Form I-94 while en route to the United States. This form has two perforated sections.
• The top is your arrival record. Your CBP officer will collect this when you arrive.
• The bottom is a departure record which must be returned upon exiting the United States. Follow the directions on the back of this portion of the form.
CBP Declaration Form 6059B. which is required for each person or family group. You must declare:
• Items you bought in duty-free shops, on the ship, or on the plane. Duty-free items are only duty free in the country you bought them in. You may have to pay duty on them when you arrive in the United States.
• Items you are bringing for someone else.
• Items you intend to sell or use in your business.
• Food, both processed and unprocessed, whether for human or animal consumption. Failure to declare all food items can result in a minimum $300 fine.
• Plants and all plant products.
• If you and your travel companions together are carrying $10,000 or more in cash or other negotiable instruments such as endorsed checks, you must declare it. If you do not, it is subject to forfeiture. Your money is not subject to taxation or duty.
You are not required to declare personal items that you are bringing for your use as a visitor except for food, alchohol or tobacco, which must all be declared. You must state how much you actually paid for each item in equivalent U.S. dollars, including all taxes. If you don’t know for sure, estimate.
• As a nonresident, you are allowed to bring in up to $100 worth of merchandise, free of duty and U.S. internal revenue tax, as gifts for other people.
• Do not gift-wrap your articles because they must be available for CBP examination and may be opened.