The customs entry process: entry, entry summary, and the 10-working-day window (Parts 141 and 142)

Entry is the transaction the whole exam is built around, so knowing its mechanics cold is worth a block of easy points. The rules live mostly in 19 CFR Part 141 (“Entry of Merchandise”), Part 142 (“Entry Process”), and Part 143 (“Special Entry Procedures”), sitting on the statutory duty in 19 USC 1484. This guide walks the process the way CBP structures it: the two steps of entry and entry summary, when each is due, and how the formal and informal tracks divide. For where these Parts sit among the others, see the corpus map; the glossary defines entry summary and liquidation.

What is the difference between “entry” and “entry summary”?

This is the distinction the exam tests first, because candidates who blur the two get a run of questions wrong. CBP splits the import transaction into two documents that do two different jobs, defined in 19 CFR 141.0a:

• Entry is the documentation or ACE data filed “to secure the release of imported merchandise from CBP custody,” or the act of filing it. Its job is to get the goods off the dock. Historically this is CBP Form 3461, “Entry/Immediate Delivery.”
• Entry summary is the additional documentation or data “necessary to enable CBP to assess duties, and collect statistics.” Its job is to declare the value, classification, and duty owed. Historically this is CBP Form 7501, “Entry Summary.”

Read them as release first, reckoning second: the entry answers “may these goods come in?” and the entry summary answers “what is owed on them?” In modern practice both are filed electronically through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), but the two-role structure and the form numbers are still exactly how the exam frames it.

Who may make entry, and with what care standard?

Under 19 USC 1484, only the importer of record may make entry, and the importer of record is the owner or purchaser of the goods, or a licensed customs broker appointed by one of them. The statute imposes a reasonable care standard: the importer of record must use reasonable care both in making entry (filing the information CBP needs to decide on release) and in completing the entry summary (declaring value, classification, and rate so duties are assessed correctly and statistics collected). Reasonable care is the thread that ties entry to a broker’s Part 111 supervision duty and to the penalty exposure covered in the penalties guide: a careless declaration is what a 19 USC 1592 case is built on.

When is the “time of entry”?

The time of entry matters because deadlines and the applicable duty rate run from it. Section 141.68 sets it, and the answer depends on how the paperwork was filed:

• When entry documentation is filed without an entry summary, the time of entry is generally the time CBP authorizes release of the merchandise. The importer may instead elect the time the documentation is filed (if the goods have arrived) or the time the goods arrive within port limits (if filed before arrival).
• When an entry summary serves as both the entry and the entry summary, the time of entry is when that entry summary is filed in proper form with estimated duties attached.

One hard limit cuts across all of it: merchandise is never “entered” until it has arrived within the limits of the port with the intent to unlade.

How long do you have to file the entry summary?

This is one of the single most-tested numbers in the category. Under 19 CFR 142.12(b), when the entry documentation is filed first to get the goods released, the entry summary documentation must be filed, with estimated duties attached, within 10 working days after the time of entry. Count working days, not calendar days: weekends and holidays do not run against the window.

The importer may collapse the two steps by filing the entry summary at the time of entry, in which case the single filing serves as both the entry and the entry summary (142.12(a)(1)). Either way, the estimated duties travel with the entry summary, not with the release.

Filing choice	What it does	Deadline
Entry documentation first, entry summary later	Release now, duty declaration later	Entry summary within 10 working days of the time of entry
Entry summary at time of entry	One filing serves as both	Filed at entry, with estimated duties

What is the difference between formal and informal entry?

The formal/informal split is set by the value of the shipment and governed by 19 CFR Part 143, Subpart C. The threshold is $2,500:

• Formal entry is required for commercial shipments exceeding $2,500 in value. A formal entry generally requires a customs bond to secure the estimated duties and to guarantee compliance, and it is the full two-document process described above.
• Informal entry is available under 19 CFR 143.21 for shipments not exceeding $2,500 in value, plus a set of specific categories regardless of the general rule (household and personal effects, certain U.S. goods returned for repair up to $10,000, commercial samples, and others). Informal entry is a lighter process and usually needs no bond.

Two exam traps live here. First, certain merchandise is pushed to formal entry regardless of value, including articles classified under HTSUS Chapter 99 subchapters III and IV (some trade-remedy goods). Second, the $2,500 line is “exceeding,” so a shipment valued at exactly $2,500 still qualifies for informal entry. Know the number and know which side of it “exactly $2,500” lands on.

Practicing the entry process for the exam

Entry questions reward two habits: knowing the fixed numbers (10 working days, the $2,500 formal/informal line) and knowing which Part answers a given question (141 for entry, 142 for the process and deadlines, 143 for special and informal procedures). Drill the lookups in the navigation trainer, place Parts 141 to 143 among valuation, classification, and drawback in the corpus map, race the deadline citations in the citation race, and test recall with the free practice test. For what happens to an entry after it is filed, see the guides on protests and post-entry corrections and recordkeeping. Both entry forms, and every other form the exam names, are collected on the forms reference; the 10-working-day and $2,500 numbers sit alongside every other exam deadline and threshold on the key deadlines reference.

Sources: 19 CFR Part 141 (Entry of Merchandise), sections 141.0a and 141.68; 19 CFR Part 142 (Entry Process), section 142.12; 19 CFR Part 143 (Special Entry Procedures), section 143.21; and 19 USC 1484 (entry of merchandise), as published on the Legal Information Institute mirror of the CFR and U.S. Code (law.cornell.edu), cross-checked against the eCFR (ecfr.gov/current/title-19). CBP Form 3461 (Entry/Immediate Delivery) and CBP Form 7501 (Entry Summary) are CBP's published entry forms (cbp.gov/newsroom/publications/forms). Reviewed 2026-07-24. Thresholds and filing windows change; confirm the current text before relying on it.