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If you’ve ever shipped items to a US territory, you know how difficult the process can be. You think, why is it so much harder to ship to such a destination?
If you’ve ever shipped items to a US territory, you know how difficult the process can be. You think, why is it so much harder to ship to such a destination? It can’t be because they’re islands. After all, shipping to Hawaii is treated the same as shipping to any other state such as Alaska. Furthermore, Puerto Rico is much closer to the mainland than Hawaii.
Some carriers, such as FedEx and UPS, even require you to use the territory’s name in place of the country name. Furthermore, carriers may even require you to fill out customs forms (Commercial Invoice). Despite this caveat, these shipments are still treated as domestic shipments. Even though these shipments may never go through customs, they frequently in this weird grey area where they still need to have the same documentation as an international shipment. So let’s go over what’s needed when shipping to a territory.
When shipping to Puerto Rico, USPS does not require customs forms, while FedEx and UPS require customs forms.
Yes, USPS requires customs forms for shipments to Guam, while they are not required for Puerto Rico.
Both USPS and FedEx require customs forms when shipping to American Samoa.
No, USPS does not require customs forms for shipments to the US Virgin Islands, but FedEx and UPS do.
You can save on shipping by signing up for a free trial with ShipStation, which offers discounted rates and efficient shipping solutions.
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James Messer is a copywriter specializing in shipping, logistics, and ecommerce.