Sen. Sullivan Gets CBP to Replace Problematic Customs Form 4457

Thanks to Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reposted to their website a Customs Form 4457 without the problematic expiration date that SCI warned hunters about last month.

In a blog post this past May, SCI alerted hunters to a problem with the version of the Form 4457 newly posted on the CBP website. That form would be problematic for hunters headed to South Africa later this year because of the expiration date printed in the top right corner. That’s because South African authorities responsible for issuing firearm import permits to visiting hunters will not accept a Form 4457 with a past expiration date. The new form posted to the website would have expired at the end of September 2024. Historically, it has taken up to six months or more for a new form with a future expiration date to be available for US travelers. That would leave many hunters with safaris to South Africa without the ability to take their own firearms. This is despite the expiration date being strictly for internal use by the US government and not intended to indicate validity for the traveler.

SCI had previously raised this issue with Senator Sullivan in 2022.  Following direct outreach from Sen. Sullivan, CBP posted a form without the expiration date. When the same problem reoccurred in May 2024, SCI shared member issues with the Senator, who immediately came through for US hunters once again.