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Nonresident importer in the United States: what the rules require today, and what is changing

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IORUSA
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Commercial invoices, a passport, and a laptop on a desk, the paperwork a nonresident importer handles for United States entry

In brief

A nonresident importer needs a resident agent, a bond with a resident surety, and a Form 5106 that names its own address and contacts. Since September 18, 2026 CBP voids IOR numbers that fail that test, and the 2026 enforcement order points at foreign entities directly.

A nonresident importer is a company with no United States presence that acts as its own Importer of Record (IOR) for goods it brings into the country. The arrangement has been permitted for decades under conditions set out in regulation. It is also the arrangement that the 2026 customs enforcement order and CBP’s Form 5106 enforcement point at most directly. This page sets out what the rules require today, from the regulation and the notices, and what is changing.

If you are the foreign company in this situation

A company with no United States presence has two lawful routes. It can meet 19 C.F.R. §141.18 itself, with a resident agent, a bond from a resident surety, and a Form 5106 that names its own address and contacts. Or it can use an independent United States Importer of Record that assumes the role under 19 U.S.C. §1484, so the entry, the bond, and the duty sit with a party inside the country, with entries filed by licensed customs brokers. The second route is the one this site describes. Tell us what you import and how your entries are filed today, and we’ll show you where you stand. See if you qualify or read how it works.

What the regulation requires today

The governing provision is 19 C.F.R. §141.18, entry by nonresident corporation. A nonresident corporation may enter merchandise for consumption only if it meets two conditions. First, it must have a resident agent in the state where the port of entry is located who is authorized to accept service of process. Second, it must file a bond on CBP Form 301 with a resident corporate surety to secure payment of any increased and additional duties that may be found due.

Behind that provision sits the entry statute. Under 19 U.S.C. §1484, entry is made by a party qualifying as importer of record, in person or through an agent authorized in writing, using reasonable care. The parties are the owner or purchaser of the merchandise, or a licensed customs broker designated by the owner, purchaser, or consignee. A nonresident company that owns the goods it ships is the owner, so it holds the right to make entry, subject to the conditions in §141.18. The right to make entry is covered in its own post.

A nonresident importer also needs an IOR number. It obtains one by filing CBP Form 5106, the Importer Identity Form, either directly or through a broker holding its power of attorney. That form is where the enforcement change described below lands.

What the Importer of Record carries, resident or not

The role does not get lighter for a company outside the country. The Importer of Record owes the duties, tariffs, and fees on the entry. It is responsible for the accuracy of the declared value and classification under the reasonable care standard in 19 U.S.C. §1484. It keeps the entry records for five years under 19 C.F.R. Part 163 and produces them when CBP asks. The bond stands behind the duties, and the surety can pursue the principal.

What is in effect now: Form 5106 accuracy enforcement

On August 19, 2026, CBP published a Federal Register notice implementing Section 2(e) of Executive Order 14411, Strengthening Customs Enforcement. Enhanced enforcement under that notice, including immediate voiding of IOR numbers with inaccurate Form 5106 information, commenced on September 18, 2026.

The notice’s requirements fall hardest on nonresident arrangements, because the details it singles out are the ones a company without a US address most often delegates:

  • The physical address on the Form 5106 must be the actual physical location of the business. The notice states it cannot be a registered agent, customs broker, freight forwarder, P.O. box, business service center, or the address of another person or entity.
  • The email address and phone number must belong to the Importer of Record, not to a broker, forwarder, or other third party.
  • A broker filing the Form 5106 must hold a power of attorney executed directly with the Importer of Record, not through a freight forwarder or other intermediary.

A nonresident importer whose Form 5106 lists its US resident agent, its broker, or its forwarder as the physical address is the profile the notice describes. Where CBP finds the information inaccurate or incomplete, it voids the IOR number and sends written notice to the email on file. A voided number cannot enter merchandise. Reestablishment requires contacting CBP with corroborating identity information.

What is changing: the 2026 customs enforcement order

Executive Order 14411, signed June 3, 2026, directs the Department of Homeland Security and CBP to require that Importers of Record maintain a minimum level of tangible domestic assets, bonding, or both; to impose heightened requirements for formal entry by foreign entities; to limit informal entry to United States Importers of Record; and to establish a good standing requirement with increased vetting.

Each of those directives runs through rulemaking and none is in effect. CBP has said it is revising importer eligibility regulations, guidance, and policies under Section 2 of the order, and it opened an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on supply chain disclosures on September 2, 2026, with comments due December 1, 2026. On October 8, 2026 CBP published a separate proposed rule on informal entries of $2,500 or less that would require a bond before release and a licensed broker as Importer of Record where the consignee is not the owner or purchaser, with comments due December 7, 2026; it is not in effect and does not address the order’s foreign IOR direction. The tracker page carries the current position of each directive.

Read together, the direction is plain. A nonresident importer today needs a resident agent, a bond with a resident surety, and a Form 5106 that names its own address and contacts. The order points toward a future in which it also needs tangible domestic assets and passes a good standing review, and in which informal entry is no longer available to it at all.

The facts that decide where a nonresident importer stands

  • Whether the company is named as Importer of Record on its entries, or whether a supplier, forwarder, or customer is
  • Whether it has a resident agent in the state of the port of entry, authorized to accept service of process
  • Whether its bond is a continuous bond or single transaction bonds, and who the surety is
  • What physical address, email, and phone appear on its Form 5106, and whose they are
  • Whether the broker filing on its behalf holds a power of attorney executed directly with the company
  • Whether any of its volume moves under informal entry

A company that can answer those six questions from its own files knows where it stands today and what the order would change. The breakdown by situation describes the alternatives, including a United States Importer of Record structure for companies that would rather not carry the role from abroad. Companies that want to know whether they qualify for that structure can see if they qualify or write to ship@iorusa.com.

Related

Sources

This post summarizes publicly available federal actions for general information. It is not legal advice. Requirements are subject to rulemaking and change. Verify current requirements against the Federal Register and CBP guidance.

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Tell us what you import and how your entries are filed today, and we’ll show you where you stand. We reply to your work email within one business day. The full form has room for more detail.

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