A customs broker timely and properly filed entry documentation (CBP Form 3461) for imported merchandise, without also filing an entry summary (CBP Form 7501), on September 15, 2025, and requested the time of entry to be on that same date. The merchandise, which was transported via vessel, had an estimated date of arrival of September 16, 2025. The merchandise arrived within the port limits on September 17, 2025. The merchandise was offloaded from the vessel on September 18, 2025. What is the time of entry?
How to get there
19 CFR 141.68(a)(2)When the entry documentation is filed in proper form without an entry summary, the "time of entry" will be: … (2) The time the entry documentation is filed, if requested by the importer on the entry documentation at the time of filing, and the merchandise already has arrived within the port limits …
19 CFR 141.68(e): When merchandise has not arrivedMerchandise will not be authorized for release, nor will an entry … be considered filed or presented, until the merchandise has arrived within the port limits with the intent to unlade.
The broker asked for the filing date (September 15) as the time of entry, but (a)(2) only works if the goods are already within port limits. They weren't, and under (e) the entry isn't considered filed until they arrive. The vessel arrived within port limits on September 17: C.
Why the other choices are wrong
A) September 15: the filing date. It can't be the time of entry because the goods hadn't arrived.
B) September 16: only the estimated arrival date. Time of entry turns on actual arrival.
D) September 18: the unlading date. The trigger is arrival within port limits with the intent to unlade, not the unlading itself.
Trap!"Requested the time of entry on the filing date" sounds decisive. Check whether the goods had arrived within port limits on that date. Estimated arrival and actual unlading are both decoys.
Source: 19 CFR 141.68(a), (e) (eCFR).
CBP answer key: Answer C · 19 CFR 141.68(a)(2); 19 CFR 141.68(e)Source: CBP past exams ↗