Hello! So I came back from Paris to Newark in the beginning of March. We went through customs as usual and the agent let me and my sister through without having to pay duty fees (he looked at our passports and saw my sister's birthday had just passed so he let us go). However, passing through baggage claim and trying to leave the airport, there were 2 agents at the exit doors checking everyones passport. That is where got stuck with an agent who said "you need to pay duties for these" and sent us to the area where someone calculates how much you owe. In all my times of travel, I nor anyone I know has ever been stopped by an agent right at the door to exit the airport. Has this ever happened to anyone? I thought there was no security required after baggage claim and leaving the airport.
Duty | Tax | Customs for International shopping {VAT refund}
- Thread starter ivivi
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Whoa! What sort of form do Americans have to hand over when you're exiting baggage claim from international arrivals? In Canada, they would normally pull us aside to pay duties right when we go through customs, not after baggage claim, although they could (and will) pull people while exiting baggage claim if they think something seems suspicious - i.e. you haven't declared something properly. I think it depends on how the customs officer "marks" your card? I wonder if yours marked it improperly? What a bummer.
That's just it! I don't believe you have to show any forms when exiting baggage claim. I and everyone I asked about this has always just gone through baggage claim (and collected my bag if I had checked luggage) and then exited. But there were 2 agents at the exit checking everyones passport. And my sister and I had our shopping bags out and showing (too large to fit into our luggage) because during the ACTUAL customs process, we declared what we had and weren't trying to hide anything anyways. But then the agent at the exit saw our shopping bags and sent us back to pay duties. To clarify again, we weren't randomly picked to show our passports. There was a line of people because everyone had to show theirs before leaving the airport.
This is always the case. When you go through customs and they take your passport and grant you access into the country they do not care about your purchases. Then you pick up your bags (if you have any) and that is where you have to declare. There is a green lane and red lane and the green is for nothing to declare and the other one is if you need to declare something (food, purchases etc). If you go through the green nothing to declare and they catch you with something, this is where the fine you.
Hm, this is not how the process was for us. It was we got off the plane, went through customs (where we did declare our items), agent said we can just go since it was my sisters birthday but not before asking to see our items and receipts, followed the signs to baggage claim/exit, then there was a line at the exit door where agents checked everyones passports, this agent said we have to pay duties on our purchases, we paid, and then finally left through the door they were originally checking peoples passports. We did not go through this process with the intention of lying and trying to not pay our fees (again, we declared our goods but the very nice agent let us go the first go around) and there were also no green/red lanes. I was just curious about there being a "security" check AGAIN right before leaving the airport (literally right in front of the exit) since I've never seen that. (This was at Newark, USA)
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I was not implying that you were trying to deceive the agents so hope my last message didn’t come off as that. I fly international 3-5 times a year and have always had the same process...get off the plane and line up for customs or if you are global entry then u go to a machine and get a piece of paper. Then everyone ends up together again and you collect your bags and before leaving the baggage area you have to go past customs again...sometimes there is a line but usually not and if so it moves very quickly. This is where I hand them my global blue piece of paper that came from the machine and they can see if I have anything to declare by looking at how I filled out the form. The form they hand out on the plane is similar and they take those as well for people who don’t have global entry. Are you saying there was a customs agent after this?
That's so crazy! So when you guys exit baggage claim, there isn't a receipt or form you have to hand over? How did the officer know you hadn't paid already? In Canada, when you exit international baggage claim, there's a form (stamped/initialled by the customs officer you passed through) you need to hand over before you're let out. (But Canadians are pre-cleared by US customs in Canada and land in US domestic terminals so I've never had to exit through US international arrivals before!)
No, I apologize, I didn't interpret your last message like that! I was just clarifying that there weren't red/green lanes and I didn't go through the green lane when I should've gone through the red lane (had there been red/green lanes). But, very interesting. So for the first customs, everyone goes to those machines. It asks me if I have anything to declare. I say yes and type in how much. It takes a picture of me. It prints out a paper with my picture. I wait in line for an agent. There, I give the agent the paper and my passport. The agent says "you said you have something to declare?" So we show him the items/receipt. He lets us through without having us pay anything! So I had assumed this is the end customs process since he asked to see the items/receipt. Previous to this February/March trip, the last time I had been on an international trip was ~1 year ago. So maybe I'm remembering incorrectly? Then, after baggage claim and when everyones meet up again, was the line literally right in front of the doors? And why do they ask you again if an agent asked before? I believe you mentioned before that for the first round of customs, they do not care about your purchases but that was different for me. I just for the life of me cannot remember ever interacting with an agent right before I exit the airport haha. Thank you also for your input!
After discussing this with @KensingtonUK, I must be remembering all the other times I travelled internationally incorrectly!!! Because both of you have said you have to show a form to leave the airport and I genuinely cannot remember ever doing this. I don't see the point in having agents check my declared goods twice? So yeah, I was just bummed that the first agent let us go but then the second agent at the door made us pay because we got excited. Thanks for your help/input!
There isn't a "first" or a "second" customs; there's Immigration and Customs. Before you get your bags, you go through Immigration control ("first customs") where, as a previous poster said, they just check that you're legally allowed to enter the USA. They have lines for US Citizens/Green Card holders and lines for visitors (as well as lines for airline crew and diplomats). From what you described, you have Global Entry, which allows you to go thru immigration quickly at one of those kiosks instead of waiting to see an Immigration officer. That agent that collected the slips is working Immigration and not in charge of collecting duty on purchased goods -- passengers have not collected all their checked stuff!
After Immigration, you collect your checked bagged from the carousels and that's when you're at Customs. This is where they look at the stuff/goods you're bringing back and make sure you're 1) not smuggling in illegal/prohibited stuff and 2) [in your case] pay duty/tax on goods that over the allowed limit. Customs is always after you collect your checked bags because the agents need to be able to verify the items for duty (or look for illegal stuff).
Since both Immigration and Customs are run by ICE agents, it's easy to think they're the same -- and usually the Immigration officer does an initial pass at your customs declaration and [should] tell you what to do once you reach Customs. Whether they charge/how much duty they charge is at the discretion of the individual officer (and sometimes how busy they are). Twice I've declared purchased: the first time, I was only ~$200 over the limit and the officer just waived me thru; the second time, they had me pay the max although they were nice and thanked me for "doing the right thing and declaring." Even though you had to pay, it's good that declared your goods. If you hadn't declared and they caught you, they could confiscate your purchases AND you lose your Global Entry.
Thanks for the detailed response!!! Completely understand now. My problem was I thought IMMIGRATION was CUSTOMS (so I was wondering what the point of going through the process twice was because the IMMIGRATION agent had acted like he was letting us through without having to pay) and also I could not remember ever having to go through customs right at the exit (but this is my first time coming back from Europe, only have been out of the country when visiting Mexico, Canada, or Asia, and a couple of those times have been on connecting flights so maybe it’s different arrival terminal processes?) Anyways, yes, we declared because I simply cannot handle the anxiety of trying to lie and the possibility of getting caught.
Just one more question if you don’t mind so I can be more prepared in the future— I don’t believe I have Global Entry. Because although I went to a kiosk where I enter how much l am declaring/that takes your picture, I still had to wait in line to talk to an IMMIGRATION agent. Is this the normal process for those who do not have Global Entry? Also, isn’t Global Entry something I’d know if I did have it? Thank you so much again
Thanks for the detailed response!!! Completely understand now. My problem was I thought IMMIGRATION was CUSTOMS (so I was wondering what the point of going through the process twice was because the IMMIGRATION agent had acted like he was letting us through without having to pay) and also I could not remember ever having to go through customs right at the exit (but this is my first time coming back from Europe, only have been out of the country when visiting Mexico, Canada, or Asia, and a couple of those times have been on connecting flights so maybe it’s different arrival terminal processes?) Anyways, yes, we declared because I simply cannot handle the anxiety of trying to lie and the possibility of getting caught.
Just one more question if you don’t mind so I can be more prepared in the future— I don’t believe I have Global Entry. Because although I went to a kiosk where I enter how much l am declaring/that takes your picture, I still had to wait in line to talk to an IMMIGRATION agent. Is this the normal process for those who do not have Global Entry? Also, isn’t Global Entry something I’d know if I did have it? Thank you so much again
I believe all international airports in the US now have kiosks where you scan your passport and answer the required customs and immigration questions (including declaring purchase) before lining up to see an Immigration Officer. These kiosks replace the old paper forms that needed to be completed and submitted to the Immigration Officer when returning to the US. Global Entry is a paid program that expedites the Customs and Immigration process for US citizens returning to the US. There is an application process, background check, interview, etc., so you would know if you had it. There are separate kiosks for Global Entry members since they are approved “known travelers”. HTH
The vast majority of the time, you go through US Immigration and Customs at your first US destination, aka "port of call," after an international flight. These flights arrive at terminals where they can funnel passengers to the airport's International and Customs areas. The connecting domestic flights are not subject to that.
The biggest exception probably is that most/all major Canadian airports have US Customs and Immigration pre-clearance for their US-bound flights. So there, you get cleared by US officers in a secure area before getting on the plane. (I remember doing this in Vancouver and Montreal) Then the plane can land at the domestic terminal of the US destination airport since all the passengers have already been screened. Airports in Shannon, Ireland (a common place for refueling for smaller planes flying across the Atlantic) and Abu Dhabi also have US pre-clearance.
I remember they stopped giving out those paper forms on my int'l flights in 2019, but I didn't realize what the process is now since I have Global Entry.
Just one more question if you don’t mind so I can be more prepared in the future— I don’t believe I have Global Entry. Because although I went to a kiosk where I enter how much l am declaring/that takes your picture, I still had to wait in line to talk to an IMMIGRATION agent. Is this the normal process for those who do not have Global Entry? Also, isn’t Global Entry something I’d know if I did have it? Thank you so much again
Side note, would highly recommend getting Global Entry or Nexus if you travel often. So useful for getting TSA Pre-Check, and faster customs clearance (when the kiosks are working!).