One of the required forms to fill for most of the travelers entering US by either air, land or sea at the US Port of Entry as part of the procedures is to fill out a Customs Declaration form. You will be given Custom Declaration from 6059B in the flight or sea vessel or bus by the transport provider, if not, you can pick one at port of entry.
Some of the processes like I-94 Arrival Departure Card is pretty much automated to be electronic, but customs declaration form is not fully electronic yet for all the visa types entering US. You need to fill out physical customs form at Port of entry for most of the visas as foreigner, unless you arrive in US and use the Automated Passport Control Process (APC) Kiosk as B1/B2 Visa Holder, US Citizens, Green card holders, Canadian citizens, and users using ESTA ( visa waiver program), or D Visa.
You will be required to fill out the form with all the correct details as described below and CBP officer will stamp the same and give it to you. You will need to hand it over at the exit point after you collect your luggage. You maybe asked to show your luggage to verify the contents. So, be truthful and declare everything. You will need to fill out both front and back part of the US Customs Declaration form. Below you have a real sample from us, used and stamped by CBP office. We have below complete guide on how to fill it under the forms.
You need to fill out using capital letters to avoid confusion. You can also check out Samples of US Customs Declaration Forms PDF, CBP Stamped
1.Family Name : Enter your Surname / Family name / Last name as in Passport and Visa
2. First ( Given ) name : Enter Your first name or given name as in visa and passport.
3. Birth Date : Enter Your date of birth
4. Number of Family Members Traveling with you : You need to mention, how many family members are with you. If no one, say zero. If with spouse, say one. If with kids, add their number and put in total count.
U.S. Street Address ( Hotel/ destination): You need to enter US address, where you will stay. If you are staying in hotel, put in hotel address or if you are at your relatives place, put that address. It usually has a number and street name
City and State : City and state tied to your address, where you will stay in US
5. Passport Issued by : Enter your country of citizenship, which issued your passport.
6. Passport Number : Enter your passport number
7. Country of Residence : Your resident country, where you currently live.
8. Countries visited on this trip prior to U.S. Arrival. : If you did a stop over or exited airport during your trip as part of transit or your overall trip, you should enter such countries names here. If you just came through the transit in airport and did not get out, then you should answer as ‘none’.
9. Airline / Flight No or Vessel Name : enter the Flight Name, number or Sea vessel name.
10. The Primary purpose of this trip is business : If you are entering US on Business visa like B1 for conference, or meeting customers, then you should select Yes check box and put a Cross mark as in the sample form. If your purpose is tourism or others, then put a check mark for No.
11. I/ We are bringing : You will need to read and declare what all you are getting. Let’s say you are bringing fruits, vegetables, or soil, etc. you need to say Yes and put a check mark in Yes column.
12. I have been in close proximity of livestock :If you are from Farm and were in contact with livestock like cattle, poultry, etc. then you should indicate Yes here. If not, it is a No check mark.
13. Carrying currency : if you are carrying over 10,000 USD, you need to check YES, if not NO. Credit card or debit cards money does not matter. only if you have cash in hand, it counts and you need to select YES.
14. Commercial Merchandise : If you are bringing anything for sale like samples, you need to say Yes, if not NO.
15. Declaration of Value of Goods : You need to declare how much value of items that you are bringing as visitor or resident. You need to put in approximate value of the items bringing. If you are not bringing anything, you put the value as Zero as in screenshot.
