CBP Form 3461: Entry, Immediate Delivery and ACE Cargo Release

CBP Form 3461 is the entry document that asks CBP to release imported merchandise from customs custody, and 19 CFR 142.3 still names it, or its electronic equivalent, as the first item of entry documentation for a formal entry. Its title on the current paper version (revision 01/25) is Entry/Immediate Delivery, because the same form serves both an ordinary release and an application for a special permit for immediate delivery. In practice almost every 3461 is now transmitted electronically as an ACE Cargo Release transaction, and the form is about to change: a CBP interim final rule adds importer-of-record declarations to Forms 3461 and 7501 effective January 5, 2027.

This guide covers what the 3461 asks for, the release and entry summary clocks it starts, the electronic version, what causes CBP to hold cargo after it is filed, and the data that has to carry through to the entry summary. The full sequence from arrival to liquidation sits in our guide to customs clearance procedures. Rules verified against the eCFR, CBP forms and the Federal Register as of November 13, 2026.

What the 3461 Entry Asks For and When It Is Filed

The 3461 identifies the shipment, the importer, the bond and the goods at a level CBP needs to decide on release, not to compute final duty. The paper form’s header asks for the port of entry, bond type (single transaction, continuous or no bond required), importer number, entry number and type, bond value, entry value, port of unlading, mode of transportation, location of goods (FIRMS code) and conveyance or FTZ zone ID. Header or line parties cover the manufacturer, consignee, buying party and selling party. Each line carries the HTS number, description, quantity, value and country of origin, plus fields such as country of harvest and vessel IMO number that apply only to certain products.

Under 19 CFR 142.3(a) the 3461 travels with evidence of the right to make entry, a commercial invoice (or a pro forma invoice where 141.83(d) allows), a packing list where appropriate, and whatever other agencies require for that commodity. Release also requires a bond on file under 19 CFR 142.4, a single transaction or continuous bond with the 113.62 conditions; the choice between them is covered in our comparison of single vs continuous customs bonds.

Entry must be made within 15 calendar days after the goods land, under 19 CFR 141.5, or after arrival at destination for in-bond cargo. The 3461 can be filed before arrival, but under 141.68(e) CBP will not authorize release until the merchandise has arrived within the port limits with the intent to unlade. The 3461 is not always needed: when the importer files the entry summary at the time of entry, 142.3(b) lets the CBP Form 7501 serve as both entry and entry summary. The 3461 also carries informal entries in some cases; the dollar lines that decide formal or informal treatment are in our explainer on formal vs informal entry.

Immediate Delivery and the 10-Day Entry Summary Clock

Filing the 3461 separately from the entry summary starts a clock: the entry summary, with estimated duties deposited, is due within 10 working days after the time of entry under 19 CFR 142.12(b). For an ordinary 3461 release, 141.68(a) sets the time of entry at the moment CBP authorizes release, or, at the importer’s request, at filing or arrival when the entry was filed in advance. That date matters beyond the 10 days, because it also starts the one-year period after which an unliquidated entry is deemed liquidated under 19 CFR 159.11.

Immediate delivery is the special-permit version of the same form. Under 19 CFR 142.21, a port director may release merchandise before entry documentation is complete in defined cases: land arrivals from Canada and Mexico, fresh fruits and vegetables from those countries, shipments to US Government agencies, trade fair articles, quota merchandise, split shipments released incrementally, unassembled entities on multiple conveyances, and other cases Headquarters authorizes. The application is made on the 3461 under 142.22(a), and a commercial invoice is not required at that stage; a pro forma invoice or waybill with an adequate description and approximate values is enough.

Goods released under immediate delivery remain legally in CBP custody until the entry summary or another listed document is filed, under 142.22(b), and 142.23 sets the same 10 working days from release for that filing. Here the time of entry moves: under 141.68(c) it is the moment the entry summary is filed with estimated duties, not the moment of release.

The 3461 also drives the foreign trade zone weekly entry. Under 19 U.S.C. 1484(i), a zone operator or user can file one estimated 3461 entry, on or before the first day of a seven-day period, covering all withdrawals in that period (19 CFR 146.63(c) provides a narrower weekly entry for goods manufactured or changed in the zone) and then a single entry summary for what actually left; how zones use this is covered in our guide to the foreign trade zone.

ACE Cargo Release as the Electronic 3461

ACE Cargo Release, formerly called Simplified Entry and transmitted as the SE transaction, is the electronic equivalent of the 3461 that 142.3 allows. CBP’s ACE Cargo Release implementation guide (Version 40, July 1, 2025) lists the key elements: importer of record number, buyer, consignee number, seller, manufacturer or supplier, 10-digit HTS number, country of origin, bill of lading or house air waybill number, bill of lading issuer code, entry number, entry type and estimated entry value, with ship-to party, consolidator and container stuffing location as optional.

The electronic route has limits written into the guide. It accepts entry types 01, 02, 03, 06, 07, 11, 12, 21, 22, 23, 52 and 86, only a continuous bond or an electronically filed single transaction bond, and no unassembled or disassembled entities. Partner government agency data is accepted only for agency filings CBP has announced as supported in the cargo release dataset.

For ocean cargo, the cargo release can be combined with the Importer Security Filing in one Unified Entry transmission, provided the importer of record and ISF Importer are the same entity, the entry covers the full manifested bill of lading quantity and one bond covers both. The ISF side of that filing is explained in our guide to ISF filing.

What Triggers a Hold After the 3461

A 3461 that is accepted is not the same as a release, and the paper form’s own CBP block (block 27) lists the three outcomes that stop goods: CBP examination required, other agency action required, or entry rejected with a reason. Electronically, the same decisions come back as status messages against the entry and bill of lading.

An examination hold follows CBP’s targeting, which draws on the cargo release data, the manifest and, for vessel cargo, the ISF. CBP’s ISF guidance warns that importers with late or missing filings should expect release delays and more intensive examination, and a shipment that arrives without an ISF can be held until one is filed. Agency holds come from the partner agencies regulating the commodity, such as FDA for food, drugs, devices and cosmetics, and they clear only when that agency releases. A rejected entry has to be corrected and retransmitted, and the 15-day entry deadline keeps running while it is.

Data quality drives most of these outcomes. A manufacturer identity that does not match the ISF, an HTS number that triggers an agency requirement the filer did not anticipate, or a bond that is insufficient for the duties at stake will all stop release. Busy gateways such as those our New York customs broker team handles see the effect quickly, because storage and demurrage start accruing while the hold is worked.

The 3461 Data That Must Match the Later 7501

The 7501 entry summary does not replace the 3461 data; it builds on it, and CBP compares the two. The entry number, importer of record number, consignee, bill of lading, HTS numbers, country of origin and parties declared at release carry through to the summary, which adds the duty computation, rates, fees and the declaration that makes the filing final. If the 7501 changes a classification or origin that drove release, CBP can ask why, and the original admissibility review was made on the earlier data. Block-by-block content of the summary is in our guide to the CBP Form 7501 entry summary.

New importer-of-record fields from January 5, 2027

CBP’s interim final rule Heightened Requirements for Foreign Importers of Record (CBP Dec. 26-19, FR doc 2026-22735, published November 6, 2026) implements Executive Order 14411 and adds data to both forms. From the January 5, 2027 effective date, each 3461 and 7501, and their electronic equivalents, must declare whether the importer of record, or the principal on the broker’s power of attorney, meets the U.S. Importer of Record criteria in new 19 CFR 110.2: a yes or no field electronically, a checkbox on paper. Two further fields follow: an “Acting on Behalf Of” indicator when the broker lists itself as both filer and importer of record for a principal, and, when a broker that is not CTPAT validated acts as importer of record, a “Principal on Power of Attorney” field carrying the principal’s IOR number (SSN, EIN or CBP-assigned number) linked to its CBP Form 5106.

The declaration matters because the rule bars foreign importers of record that are not CTPAT validated from entering goods unless they use a CTPAT-validated licensed customs broker, and CBP’s implementation page lists penalties, live-entry requirements and loss of immediate delivery privileges as possible responses to an inaccurate declaration. Comments are due January 5, 2027, and brokers must be in full compliance with their verification duties by May 6, 2027. Non-resident sellers who act as importer of record should review the structure now; our foreign importer of record service covers the options under the new rule.

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