Visiting the US - Customs Regulations for Nonresidents
» Household Effects
Guide Sections ...   • Introduction   • Your Exemptions   • Personal Effects   • Alcoholic Beverages   • Tobacco Products   • Vehicles   • Household Effects   • Professional Equipment   • Gift Exemptions   • Duty-Free Shops   • Other Exemptions ...   • Articles Free of Duty Under Trade Agreements   • Articles Subject to Duty   • Household Goods ...   • Prohibited & Restricted   • Visas   • Sales Tax Questions You may import furniture, dishes, linens, libraries, artwork, and similar household furnishings free of duty. To be eligible for the duty-free exemption, the articles must have either been available for your use, or used in a household where you were a resident member, for one year. The year of use need not be continuous, nor does it need to be the year immediately preceding the date of importation. Household effects from the country where these effects were used and meeting the above criteria may be entered into the United States within 10 years after your last arrival in the United States. Household effects may not be entered under your duty-free exemption if they are for another person or for sale.