USPS Tracking “Held in Customs”? What It Means for You

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A “held in customs” message in U.S. Postal Service (USPS) tracking is not, on its own, a reason to assume an international parcel is lost or seized. Packages arriving from abroad can be sent to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for examination, and the tracking record can show arrival at customs without proving the package is still there.

What matters is whether a letter comes. USPS says CBP has 45 business days to process an item and notify the recipient if it is detained, meaning held for a decision, or seized, meaning taken by the government. A detention letter explains the reason and supplies contact information. If no notice arrives in that time, the recipient can contact CBP online.

Customs examination and postal delivery are different jobs

Ordinary parcels arriving from outside the U.S. customs territory, which is the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are subject to customs examination. Incoming international mail arrives at a USPS sorting facility, where initial screening can be followed by examination by Customs and Border Protection. CBP refers products regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to FDA investigators for review.

When CBP formally detains a parcel, its notice identifies the reason for detention, the anticipated length, the tests or inquiries planned, and information that could accelerate a decision. The notice is not itself a final decision on whether the goods may enter.

Why the contents and paperwork matter

Merchandise sent through international mail must have a clear customs declaration describing its contents and value accurately. The declaration must be securely attached to at least one article in the shipment, and placing one on each article expedites examination and release.

A merchandise shipment also needs an invoice or bill of sale, or a statement of its fair retail value in the country of shipment if it was not purchased or consigned for sale. The document must give an accurate description and purchase price and be attached outside the mail article or enclosed inside. If customs asks for these records, contact the seller or sender for the documents that match the actual shipment.

A shipment missing the required declaration and invoice may be subject to seizure and forfeiture, meaning the government can take the goods.

CBP distinguishes prohibited goods, which the law forbids from entering, from restricted goods, which require special federal licenses or permits. Paying a duty does not supply a missing permit or make a prohibited item admissible.

Many fresh fruits, vegetables and dried or processed plant products face import restrictions because they can harbor pests, with requirements depending on the country of origin. Plants and seeds for planting generally require a phytosanitary certificate, a document from the exporting country about plant health, and an import permit from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

An FDA-regulated product that appears to violate FDA requirements and does not meet personal-importation criteria may be detained with a Notice of FDA Action. FDA defines a personal importation as a product not intended for further sale or distribution in U.S. commerce. Personal use alone does not permit admission: FDA says importing drugs or devices for personal use is illegal in most circumstances because many have not been approved for use and sale in the United States.

If the recipient supplies enough evidence for FDA to determine the product complies, FDA issues a release notice and forwards the package. If the evidence is insufficient, FDA refuses admission. Its Notice of FDA Action says whether a refused drug or device will be destroyed or returned to the sender.

When to seek help, and which clock applies

CBP says it has no system for tracking general mail into or out of its facilities. USPS calls its main international-mail processing facilities International Service Centers (ISCs), and uses their scans to produce tracking messages on USPS.com. The International Sorting Center (ISC) is a USPS processing facility, not a CBP one, and an entry scan without a recorded exit is not proof that a package remains in CBP’s area.

For a long-overdue parcel, CBP directs recipients to submit a Missing Mail Search Request through USPS.com, with the tracking number, mailing date, sender and recipient addresses, and a description of the contents and packaging. The postal search and the later CBP inquiry serve different purposes: locating delayed mail and checking a possible customs hold.

USPS directs recipients who have no detention or seizure notice after 45 business days from the arrival scan into customs to contact CBP through help.cbp.gov. For that inquiry, provide the sender’s and recipient’s names and addresses as shown on the package, its tracking number, and specific contents, including quantity, manufacturer and value. That inquiry has a limit: CBP says it cannot find a package without a Notice of Detention, even one it is holding. The 45 days mark when an inquiry can begin; they are not a promised delivery date or a reason to ignore a letter that arrives earlier.

A formal detention has its own legal timetable, which runs from the day the goods are presented for examination, not from the arrival scan. Under the CBP merchandise-detention regulation, CBP must decide to release or detain within five business days after goods are presented for examination. Presentation means the goods are in a condition an officer can view and examine; merely presenting the container does not start that clock.

The regulation calls for a final admissibility decision within 30 days after presentation for examination. A failure to decide within that period, or a longer period specifically authorized by law, is treated as an exclusion that may be protested. Exclusion means the goods are refused entry; a protest asks customs to review that decision.

This CBP timetable does not apply to a detention carried out for another federal agency that has authority to decide admissibility.

If a parcel arrives damaged or with missing contents, present the parcel, container, wrapping and remaining contents to a Post Office immediately for inspection. For an inbound damaged or incomplete shipment, USPS recommends asking the foreign sender to file an inquiry with the postal administration where it was mailed. Payment of an eligible inbound claim goes to the sender unless the sender waives that right in writing in favor of the recipient.

Small purchases can owe duty; genuine gifts have different rules

A CBP rule indefinitely suspends the duty-free de minimis exemption for international postal imports valued at $800 or less. De minimis was the low-value exemption; a small purchase should no longer be assumed duty-free just because its price falls below that amount.

The entry filer can be the owner or purchaser, or a licensed customs broker designated by the owner, purchaser or consignee; under this postal process, duties are not collected from the addressee on delivery. For an eligible postal shipment worth $2,500 or less, a party with the right to make customs entry must transmit the entry and pay the applicable duty. Customs entry is the information filed with customs to account for the imported merchandise. Informal entry is a filing route generally available for eligible shipments of $2,500 or less; formal entry is required above that value and for certain goods. The duty rate is the rate in effect when the entry is properly transmitted to CBP.

This postal informal-entry process took effect July 24, 2026. The authorized entry party must send payment through Pay.gov by the seventh day of the month following the shipment’s arrival. That deadline is for whoever files the entry; it is separate from any payment instructions addressed to the recipient.

Beginning October 22, 2026, more categories of mail are excluded from the postal informal entry process. Chapter 98 covers special classifications that can reduce or waive duty; chapter 99 contains temporary changes to duty treatment. The affected categories include mail subject to another government agency’s requirements, merchandise subject to duties under tariff chapters 98 or 99, and certain duty-free claims under chapter 98 or a free trade agreement. CBP’s Entry Type 13 test lets filers submit an informal entry electronically for qualifying international mail valued at $2,500 or less, including shipments subject to other agencies’ data requirements or additional tariff-chapter duties. Because of that test, a parcel in an excluded category does not automatically need formal entry. The electronic alternative changes the filing method; it does not remove the need to satisfy import requirements and pay applicable duties.

Antidumping duties address sales at less than fair value; countervailing duties address subsidies. Shipments subject to antidumping or countervailing duties, or quotas, remain ineligible for that test and require formal entry. CBP may also require formal entry of any mail shipment, regardless of value, when necessary to protect the revenue. If an entry notice arrives, use its instructions to determine the required filing for that shipment.

USPS also collects a postal clearance and delivery fee from the addressee on items for which customs duty or Internal Revenue tax is collected. Before making a payment, identify who issued the assessment and which shipment it covers.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service warns that an unsolicited USPS-themed text with an unfamiliar link can be a package-tracking scam called smishing. Do not click a suspicious link to settle a supposed customs payment. Report USPS-related smishing to spam@uspis.gov with the copied text, a screenshot showing the sending number and date, and the reporter’s name.

The postal de minimis suspension leaves the separate exemption for genuine gifts unchanged. A separate exemption covers genuine gifts sent from a person abroad to a person in the United States, up to $100 in total fair retail value received by one person in one day. For gifts sent from the Virgin Islands, Guam or American Samoa, that ceiling is $200. Alcoholic beverages and the specified tobacco products are excluded from the gift exemption.

A shipment with gifts worth more than the applicable $100 or $200 aggregate limit generally loses the exemption. An exception covers gifts consolidated abroad into one shipment. Each gift must be worth no more than $100 ($200 from the Virgin Islands, Guam or American Samoa), individually wrapped and addressed to its recipient, marked on the outside as a gift within that limit and separately listed on a shipping document. The consolidated shipment must travel in a cargo van or similar container consigned to a carrier or distribution agency. Putting several gifts in one parcel does not, by itself, meet that exception.

An addressee may pay the assessed duty, take delivery and file a protest. For mail entries made on or after December 18, 2004, the protest must be filed within 180 days after payment. When CBP instead gives written notice excluding the merchandise, the 180-day period runs from the date of that notice.

A protest can use CBP Form 19 in four copies or a CBP-authorized electronic submission. File it with CBP at the port of entry or electronically. Keep the assessment and proof of payment if the amount is disputed.

A seizure notice needs its own response

A CBP seizure notice can offer relief through a petition, a compromise, or a claim leading to judicial forfeiture proceedings. Forfeiture is the process through which the government takes ownership of seized property.

A claim contests the seizure and asks to pursue the matter in court, while a petition seeks administrative relief instead of contesting the forfeiture through that claim process. Choose the procedure described in the actual notice; a petition and a court claim should not be treated as interchangeable forms.

A petition for relief from seizure generally must be filed within 30 days from the mailing of the seizure notice. The Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures officer can grant an extension when circumstances warrant. In certain cases nearing the statute of limitations, the notice can set a shorter reasonable filing period, but not less than seven working days. Read the notice promptly and use its contact information.

For a parcel sent abroad, start with the destination and sender

For mail leaving the United States, the destination country assesses customs duties, taxes and fees, and USPS recommends that the sender or addressee contact the local customs office for specifics. USPS Customs Forms Online and its Individual Country Listings provide destination prohibitions, restrictions and observations. Check the destination’s conditions before sending replacement goods or another parcel.

Only the U.S. sender can start a USPS online inquiry to begin an international claim for an eligible shipment sent abroad. USPS measures filing periods from the mailing date on the receipt, with different windows for different services.

USPS does not accept inquiries for ordinary First-Class Mail International letters without Registered Mail, and ordinary First-Class Package International parcels without Registered Mail cannot use the online inquiry process. Use the service shown on the mailing receipt when choosing an inquiry window.

An online inquiry needs the USPS label or tracking number, sender and recipient contact details, mailing information, contents description and supporting records. USPS accepts a mailing receipt, customs form or other listed records as proof of mailing, and documents such as a sales receipt or invoice as proof of value. If the inquiry qualifies for a claim, USPS sends an email saying it has been sent for review, then sends the results after processing.

Keep the mailing receipt, proof of value and agency notices together until the shipment’s inquiry or claim is resolved. For the broader postal role, read about USPS beyond delivering mail.