Information needed for importation to US - Advice?

Evitzee

That's not exactly what I'm saying. Usually your shipment will clear as long as customs can figure out the duty, but sometimes (for whatever reasons) they request Form 5106 be filled out. If you are requested to provide Form 5106 you have to do it or the shipment will not clear customs. You really can't talk your way out of it. I was just reviewing Form 5106, it is a four page form and if you are a business there is a lot of data you have to provide to identify the company's officers including passport numbers, SSNs, addresses and the like. A company will also have an IRS number, the EIN. A non-business, personal import individual just needs to fill out name, resident address, SSN, phone contact, date and signature. Perhaps a personal importer can use an EIN, it's not clear. I just can't get too excited about putting my SSN on an official government document, the customs agents doing all this entry stuff probably aren't skimming SSN to sell for profit.

Archer

No, not really. When I have shipped watches back to customers in the US, on occasion FedEx has asked them to fill out this form and provide their SSN.

As you have been told, it’s kinda random...

Evitzee

No, it's got nothing to do with which carrier is importing the parcel, it's based on what US Customs is requiring. None of us know how the mechanism works as to which packages get flagged, perhaps it's all random, but I suspect it has other factors that we aren't privy to. The only time I had to fill out Form 5106 was a FedEx shipment, so it's not shipper dependent.

Perhaps the EIN you provided will suffice and UPS will fill it out for you, acting as your agent. Keep us posted on how it all goes. In any event it's not a big deal.