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License to import?


colliju

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I am hoping someone can shed some light on my question.  We recently visited Europe, and purchased a piece of art glass as a souvenir.  It was shipped to Guadalajara through DHL, but they would not deliver it.  They called me and said I would have to apply for a special "license", and that it could take up to three months.  They asked me to verbally agree to send it back.   The DHL caller had only a basic command of English, and I am afraid my Spanish is rudimentary.  Does anyone know what this license is called, and who I would have to contact in order to get it?  

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It happened to me once. It was a higher value item. Shipped DHL. Stuck at customs at the airport. My Spanish is horrible. I emailed the customs supervisor after many angry phone calls to DHL. I was spinning wheels. Eventually. I was given a timeline. I emailed the supervisor again at customs and he emailed me back and didn't understand what I didn't understand. Then I called an talked to an agent. What was needed in my case was the exact dollar value of the item on a revised customs form and a signed declaration that I have no intentions of starting a business or selling the item and it's for personal use. 

I do know that once the package hits customs no shipping agency can do anything. It's between you and customs. On the bright side. All my angry phone calls to DHL gave me a refund on shipping which was a blessing when I got the import fee

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We ordered some special room deodorant gel from the U.S. via DHL. It arrived the DHL "Dra. No" person in Guadalajara said that it was not a fluid, but a gel - that was too confusing. We could ask for a special import policy that would take about two weeks to complete - but by that time DHL's policy was to return to sender. This was an item already landed in Guadalajara, waiting customs clearance.We did get a full refund though. No wonder so many Amazon and Ebay vendors say "does not ship to Mexico" - too much mystery and misunderstanding. What a waste of jet fuel.

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In the past I was under the impression Mexican customs were lax. They definitely stepped up their game and hired more staff. No more are the days when you put "stuff" on the customs form and price of "less than a dollar". I appreciate the due diligence. Except when it works against me

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Anything by air is not lax. All the carriers, including customs, X-Ray multiple times. I believe, but am not sure, they have some sort of artificial intelligence scanner, where something as obvious as a pistol and bullets would get flagged right away. Ground freight, such as Estafeta, Red Pack or TNT are less stringent, but still seems to open nearly everything. The most lax is correo public mail. They say only one in every thirty is opened, which seems about right. USPS only xrays packages addressed to Federal addresses. International airmail, even though there is air travel involved, does seems more lax from the U.K., Australia, and China. I have been waiting 3 months now for a package of garden seeds, all properly documented and invoiced, from Poland. They have cleared customs, and shipping in progress but-??  I mean who steals garden seeds - the postie must have been after some Polish stamps for their collection.

Also Bajabrady you were very lucky to get your item. A big deal with customs all over the world is that the officers are not allowed to change anything. If even one number is off, the whole document is rejected.

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Estafeta USA then transferred to regular Estafeta in Laredo via ground continues to be a perfect way for us to get anything and everything. Liquids, gels, meds and innumerable things Amazon says do not ship to Mexico continue to be sent via Mariana in Houston. We average a 20-40 lb. box every 6-8 weeks. Never a problem.

PS. For anyone with a mail consolidating and forwarding service in the US, Walmart.com has some incredible buys on men's t shirts. Free shipping with a $35 order, I picked up 7 for $36.10 with free shipping and a 15% discount they have going and the sales tax. They will be in our next box along with a new laptop for my wife. Got an incredible buy on Fry's.com.  Sign up and get daily discounts. Now if they could just ship that 65" tv that's on sale! LG, $599.

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My bank in the states changed all the bankcards to the new modern chip. Therefore, I had to have the new card shipped. I decided to ship Fed-Ex to Ishop.. The envelope was hung up in customs because my daughter in law sent her homemade soap in with the debit card. Customs threatened to send it all back stating the tea tree oil(in the soap) was illegal. Luckily, I was able to avoid the threats of fines, notaries and other circus acts. This is because of being able to write in Spanish to the customs agent. It took a week of emails, but I finally convinced him to throw away the soap, separate the bank card and send it on to Ishop. Ishop also helped and supported the process.

If you can get the email address of the agent, you can say what you like and put it through a Spanish translator online. Easy to find that by googling. You can solve these problems with diplomacy at times if the problem is not too extreme, like a gift attached to a bankcard. I was lucky as sometimes they have issues with bankcards themselves.

To have my family dole out another 75 dollars to re-send seemed un-do-able, and the agent understood that.

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Communication is key. If you make an honest mistake, customs, at least in my case, and it appears as in yours too, worked with to resolve the situation and a time frame in which to do so. Contact information is added to the package in just those instances when you need to be contacted. I don't think customs has a vendetta and have the ability to make decisions on how best to things on a case by case bases. 

I don't necessarily think having a number off could warrant having a package returned. Not saying it couldn't happen but I've never heard of that. Customs just wants to know what's inside, is it legal and can they tax it. 

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