United States — AMS / ISF
Advance filings for ocean imports into the United States — the Importer Security Filing (ISF, "10+2") and the Automated Manifest System carrier filing (AMS) — filed to US Customs and Border Protection.
Read Customs filing first for the flow. This page covers what is specific to the United States.
When the card appears
On any shipment discharging in the United States.
What you can file
Type | Full name | What it is |
|---|---|---|
ISF | Importer Security Filing (10+2) | The importer's advance security data, due 24 hours before loading at the foreign port |
AMS | Automated Manifest System | The carrier's advance manifest for the cargo |
Both are per house bill.
The US filing card, carrying a submitted ISF awaiting CBP
What you need to have ready
The shipment answers around six in ten fields.
For an ISF: master bill, house bill, shipper, consignee and HS code.
For an AMS: master bill, house bill, vessel, voyage, port of loading and port of discharge.
And, per shipment:
Your bond — bond holder and bond type. These are the same for every house bill on the shipment and are entered once.
Importer of record — this one is per house bill, because the importer differs by consignee. Do not assume it carries across.
Country of origin for the goods.
The US-specific fields — bond holder, bond type and importer EIN
The 24-hour rule
An ISF is due before the cargo is loaded at the foreign port, not before it arrives. That is the deadline that catches people out, and it is why this filing usually happens at booking rather than at shipping.
Late ISFs carry penalties from CBP directly. The filing screen will not stop you filing late — it has no way to know the loading time reliably — so this is on your operating procedure, not on the system.
What comes back
There is no draft mode for a US filing. Unlike Singapore or the Philippines, a US submission goes straight to CBP — there is nothing to review first. Get it right before you press submit.
When the filing is accepted for transmission you get a transaction reference on the record, and the status moves to Awaiting customs response.
Where you read CBP's answer today. The transaction reference is your handle: CBP's accept-or-reject, and the notification statuses that follow, are visible in your GeTS account. Automatic status return into this screen is being built — until it ships, a US filing will sit at Awaiting customs response here even after CBP has answered. Check the reference in GeTS rather than waiting on this page. We will say so here the moment that changes.
CBP normally answers an accept or reject within about 5 minutes, and the notification statuses 1 to 2 hours later. Times vary with CBP's own system load.
Watch for the milestone that clears the cargo to load. An AMS filing needs notification statuses 1Y and 3Z; an ISF filing needs S1. Until those arrive the cargo should not be loaded, whatever the initial acceptance said.
If it is wrong
You can cancel and re-send an AMS, or update an ISF. Which one applies depends on the field at fault, so read the rejection before deciding.
Watch for the milestone that clears the cargo to load. An AMS filing needs notification statuses 1Y and 3Z; an ISF filing needs S1. Until those arrive the cargo should not be loaded, whatever the initial acceptance said.
If it is wrong
You can cancel and re-send an AMS, or update an ISF. Which one applies depends on the field at fault, so read the rejection before deciding.
A submitted ISF record showing its declaration reference and awaiting-CBP status
Before you can file
Two things have to be in place before your first US filing, and neither is quick.
1. A customs bond. A continuous bond or a single-transaction bond has to exist and the details go into the filing. For an AMS you also need a SCAC code and an FMC licence; for an ISF you need a filer code. These are between you, your surety and CBP — not something we can arrange.
2. A Letter of Intent, approved by CBP. You complete an AMS and/or ISF LOI, we lodge it, and CBP takes roughly 3 to 5 working days to approve it. A filing sent before that approval is rejected by CBP's own system, so there is no point starting early.
You can keep filing through whatever platform you use today while this is set up, and cut over once your submissions here have settled. There is no need for a hard switch.
Get in touch and we will send you the LOI forms.