Telescope Import to USA

My long awaited APM 152ED OTA has arrived at the New Jersey port-of-entry - thanks Markus!

The Customs and Border Protection (CPB) snail-mailed me a form indicating the shipment has to go through a Formal Entry process before its released to the USPS for delivery to me in California. Does anyone know if I have to do anything at this point and how long it takes to get through Formal Entry? The form is ambiguous about this.

I ordered this OTA before OPT became the US dealer for this scope so I guess I'm considered the importer.

Thanks, Tom

Thomas Bennett said:

My long awaited APM 152ED OTA has arrived at the New Jersey port-of-entry - thanks Markus!

The Customs and Border Protection (CPB) snail-mailed me a form indicating the shipment has to go through a Formal Entry process before its released to the USPS for delivery to me in California. Does anyone know if I have to do anything at this point and how long it takes to get through Formal Entry? The form is ambiguous about this.

I ordered this OTA before OPT became the US dealer for this scope so I guess I'm considered the importer.

Thanks, Tom

It may take 2-3 weeks to get through customs in New Jersey and find its way into the mail system. That was my experience with a part I ordered last March. Sometimes they will also assess the 8% import duty, but (knock on wood) it might slip through duty-free if you're a non-commercial entity and they're feeling lazy that day.