Moving from Tianjin to San Francisco, USA

Service Route: Tianjin to San Francisco, USA;
Service Mode: One-stop door-to-door moving service;
Case Overview: Ms. Li entrusted Seapoe Relo to ship furniture and personal belongings from her Tianjin home to San Francisco, USA.

Ms. Li, who lives in Tianjin, is being relocated to San Francisco, USA, for work. She plans to move there with her whole family. After completing the relevant procedures, she prepared to pack up most of the furniture and personal belongings in her Tianjin home and ship them to San Francisco, which would save the cost of buying everything anew in the US, since these items are not cheap there. Ms. Li found Seapoe Relo through an online search. After reviewing our international moving cases and service introductions, and discussing her situation with our staff, she decided to have Seapoe handle this ocean moving shipment—after all, professional matters should be left to professionals, which would also save her a lot of worry.

When moving from Tianjin to San Francisco, shipping by sea is much cheaper, though it takes longer. In addition, the various handling and loading/unloading during transit will inevitably cause bumps and knocks, so ensuring the safety of the items in transit is crucial! For this international move, Ms. Li chose Seapoe's one-stop door-to-door dual-customs-clearance service. On the pickup day, Seapoe's packing team arrives with packing materials and carefully wraps the items. Every item is handled strictly according to international moving standards, and each item's outer packaging is labeled (room name, fragile) along with the item name written on it. Ms. Li doesn't need to lift a finger—she just watches the movers work. Below is the packing scene from that day:

As one of the developed countries, the United States holds a pivotal international position, leads the world in resources such as education and healthcare, and offers a good social living environment—all of which attract more and more Chinese people to move to the US. So, if you are a new immigrant preparing to go to the US, what should you pay attention to?

I. US Customs Duty-Free Policy for Immigrant Moves
1. The US government stipulates that new immigrants or citizens residing overseas may bring into or back into the US, duty-free, personal items and property they have owned and used for more than 12 months at their place of residence.
2. US Customs regulations require that brand-new items or items used for less than 12 months be truthfully declared on the Unaccompanied Articles form (Form 3299). After declaration, customs will levy duties based on the type and value of the items.
3. Due to counter-terrorism requirements, all items entering the US must be declared to the US Customs system via AMS 48 hours before the vessel departs, and ISF 24 hours before departure. Delayed declaration may result in penalties of up to USD 5,000.

II. Points to Note When Moving to the US
1. For immigrant moves, US Customs generally imposes no time limit on when items arrive; as long as your visa or green card meets the requirements, you can clear customs for personal items.
2. US Customs duties on ordinary brand-new items are about 6%, but anti-dumping duties are levied on brand-new textiles, bedroom furniture, etc., typically around 30-45%. Of course, for personal effects, if a reasonable quantity of new items is brought for personal use, customs often will not levy duties.
3. The US railway system is highly developed and has numerous inland ports, but for items destined for inland cities, most choose to clear customs in Los Angeles and New York, because the clearance time at base ports is much longer than at inland ports.