3461
Entry / Immediate Delivery.
CBP Form 3461 gets the cargo off the terminal. It is release — not liquidation. The facts on the file still have to hold.
Entry preparation & filing
3461 releases the crate. 7501 liquidates the file.
The entry is the last step of a data process. Classification and PGA first. Then CBP Form 3461 for release and CBP Form 7501 for the summary. A licensed Customs House Broker still signs every ACE filing.
Book a consultation Free Entry AuditLanded cost on the dashboard before the doors open.
Houses that draft an entry before the heading and the PGA packet are settled pay for it in CF-28s and census errors. 3461 gets the crate off the terminal. 7501 rolls the lines by HTS and origin and computes duty, tax, and Census. Neither form invents the facts.
We build the entry as the invoice is read. If the line is not ready, we pause. Nothing transmits until a licensed broker reviews and signs it.
01 · The method
Release. Summary. Sign.
7501
Entry Summary.
CBP Form 7501 rolls lines by HTS and country of origin. Duty, tax, and Census ride on that summary. A vague line is a pause.
Dashboard
Landed cost before the doors open.
The drafted 7501 sits on the dashboard so the importer sees the picture before the aircraft opens. Estimates on this site are not rulings.
Signature
A broker still signs.
Nothing transmits until a licensed Customs House Broker reviews and signs the ACE filing. AI assists. It does not replace the signature.
02 · The real cost
An unsigned transmission is not speed.
Census errors and CF-28s attach when the entry is treated as a typing exercise. The expensive filing is the one you cannot defend. We would rather pause than transmit a 7501 that still owes a heading or a PGA fact.
The GRI rationale and the agency packet sit in the vault with the draft. A protest package is not reconstructed from memory after liquidation.
03 · On the file
The entry is built as the invoice is read.
Entry preparation is desk work. Classification and PGA first. Then 3461 and 7501. The dashboard shows the draft before ACE. A licensed broker still signs.
04 · What we need
Send the invoice. We will say if the draft holds.
- Commercial invoice Lines that can be classified. Values that can split. Origin on each line.
- Heading notes Or enough facts that we can assign GRI without inventing a suffix.
- PGA packet Every declaration the invoice earns — in the vault before we transmit.
- IOR identity The same legally responsible importer on the 5106, the invoice, and the bond.
- Bill of lading / AWB The transport document that matches the file — not a different story at the door.
On the same file
The desk around the entry.
Classification
Tariff classification
Heading and notes first. Then the statistical suffix.
PGA
PGA clearance
The packet sits in the vault before ACE.
Bonds
Customs bonds
Sized to the duty. Named to the same IOR.
Questions we actually get
The file before the appointment.
What is the difference between 3461 and 7501?
CBP Form 3461 (Entry / Immediate Delivery) releases the cargo from the terminal. CBP Form 7501 (Entry Summary) liquidates the file — lines, duty, tax, and Census. Both sit on the same licensed desk.
Do you transmit before a broker reviews?
No. Nothing transmits until a licensed Customs House Broker reviews and signs. Classification may be AI-assisted. The signature is not.
When is landed cost visible?
The drafted 7501 sits on the dashboard before the aircraft doors open when the invoice is complete. Estimates on this site are not binding CBP rulings.
Can we file without PGA?
Not if the invoice earns an agency fact. We will not transmit a 7501 that still owes Prior Notice, eDec, Lacey, TSCA, or Kimberley.
The desk
Bring one messy invoice.
A consultation returns classification notes, PGA flags, and a flat fee. If the draft is not one we can sign, we will say so in the memo.