A customs hold usually means UPS is waiting on something from you. Most often it's a signed Power of Attorney, and sometimes it's information about the shipment. Check your email, including spam, for a message from UPS, and answer it. The package moves once UPS has what it needs.
Your duties and taxes were collected at checkout, so the hold isn't waiting on you to pay them.
What the hold is waiting for
| Hold reason | What to do |
|---|---|
| A Power of Attorney | Sign and return the form UPS emailed you. See why UPS asks for a Power of Attorney. You can clear the parcel yourself with UPS and the CBSA instead. |
| A request for payment | Your duties and taxes were paid at checkout. Before you pay anything, tell us your order number and what UPS is asking for. See what checkout covers. |
| Business details | For a business order, UPS may ask for your Business Number, or for access to your account on the CBSA's CARM Client Portal. Give UPS what it asks for. |
| Information about the goods | Answer the questions from UPS. If UPS asks for something about the order that you don't have, tell us. |
Step by step
- Look up your tracking number on the UPS website. It's in your shipping confirmation email, and the tracking page often says what the hold is for.
- Search your inbox, including the spam and promotions folders, for "UPS" and words like "customs" or "power of attorney".
- If you can't find anything, call UPS with your tracking number and ask what it needs from you.
- Tell us your order number and what UPS said, so we can help with anything that has to come from us.
Don't leave it waiting
UPS doesn't hold packages forever, so answer as soon as you can. If the customs paperwork isn't completed, the parcel is held, returned, or abandoned. Under our Terms of Service (section 21), that isn't grounds for a refund or a replacement, and if the parcel comes back to us, you pay to reship it.