You need DD Form 1252, and this page gives you the blank plus the steps for handling it. Start with what the form does: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Declaration for Personal Property Shipments - Part I. Its official title is DD Form 1252, US CBP Declaration for Personal Property Shipments - Part I, February 2006.
Then look at the edition date: not stated, publisher status not stated. After that, ask whether the form covers your situation. It almost certainly does regardless of your branch — DD forms run Department-wide rather than through a single service.
Once you know the form fits, find out when you file it. not stated sets the requirement, and not stated maintains the form itself. Your own command or agency adds local timing on top of that, so ask your administrative office if the deadline matters to you.
Finally, decide how you will complete it. You can type into a fillable file or print a blank and write by hand, and the rest of this page walks you through both paths in order.
Now fill it in. Work from the top of the page downward, and do not jump ahead — the identifying block comes first, the substance of your entry second, the certification last. Later boxes often depend on what you put at the top.
Check the edition before you type a word. The date appears on the face of the form; it should read not stated. When it does not, discard the file and take a fresh copy from this page. Department-level revisions replace the blank across all services simultaneously, which means an old printout can be out of step everywhere.
Work through the fields one at a time and leave nothing blank. When a box does not apply to you, write N/A rather than skipping it, so the reviewer can see you read the question. Follow the date format printed beside each date field instead of the one you normally use.
When you reach a Privacy Act Statement, read it before you continue. It tells you the legal authority for collecting your information, what the Department does with it, who else may see it, and whether you have to answer at all. That last point is worth knowing before you supply personal identifiers, not after.
Sign last, and sign properly. On paper that means ink in the signature block. Electronically it means a digital signature, usually applied with your Common Access Card in a reader that supports it. Typing your name into the field does not sign anything. Then add the date beside your signature — an unsigned or undated form is the most common reason one comes back.
Then check your work against the usual failures: an obsolete edition, empty required boxes, handwriting nobody can read after scanning, wrong date format, missing signature or date.
For questions about a specific entry, check the form's own instructions, and if that does not settle it, open not stated. The directive controls where they differ.
Download the form
First, look at what you can download. The set covers PDF, the form runs 1 pages, and you will complete roughly 23 fields.
Choose pdf as your default. Next, click inside a box. A fillable pdf responds by outlining the field and letting you type; the text stays in the document when you save it. A printable pdf does not respond, which tells you to print the page and complete it by hand.
Go with the typed route whenever the choice is yours. Consider what happens after you submit: the copy gets scanned, forwarded and filed, and each pass costs handwriting some legibility. Block letters help if you are stuck with a pen.
Handle xfdl in two steps. First confirm you have IBM Lotus Forms Viewer or a compatible reader on your machine; ordinary pdf software will report the file as broken. Once the viewer is running, download and fill the form.
All of it downloads free. When you are ready to work, do this: save the file locally, then open it in a full pdf application. Browsers often ignore field properties, and you can lose everything you typed.
What the form asks for
- Customs declaration number.
- Part 1 - Household goods, unaccompanied baggage, and privately owned vehicles. 1. To: (overseas POE/APOE).
- 2. From (military customs inspector).
- Section A - Owner's customs declaration. 1. Name (last, first, middle initial, print or type).
- 4. Grade.
- 5. Social security number. Do not include dashes.
- 6. Unit address overseas (include A P O number).
- 7. Address in U.S. (include zip code).
- 8. Declaration for: Press space bar to mark X if Household Goods.
- 8. Mark X if Unaccompanied Baggage.
- 8. Mark X if privately owned vehicle.
- Number of members of family.
- Amount of alcohol beverages.
- Number of cigars.
- (7) I have been serving overseas under competent US Government orders and was: Press space bar to mark X in first box if assigned to permanent duty overseas, second box if required to perform temporary duty overseas for 140 days or more, third box if assigned to temporary duty overseas under orders, fourth box if directed from one overseas duty station to another, fifth box if directed to evacuate to the United States, or sixth box if directed to ship personal property in advance of travel orders.
- 10.a. Signature of owner.
- 10.b. Date (4 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day).
- 11. Remarks.
- 12. For use of U.S. CBP officers.
- 13. Name of carrier.
- 14. Voyage or flight number.
- Copy designation. X appropriate box: 1 - Attach to manifest, 2 - Place in envelope affixed to No. 1 cargo container, 3 - Origin transportation office file, or 4 - Owner.
- Press this Reset button to clear the data from all fields.
Submit the completed form through the channel not stated or your local guidance specifies. Save a copy for yourself before it leaves your hands, whether that means a scan, a photograph or a duplicate file.
When DD Form 1252 references another form, search on the series and number. Because DD numbers are common to every military department, the number by itself identifies exactly one document.
Be careful when a procedure pairs this form with a service form. Read the prefix, not just the digits. Service forms answer to a service proponent, while DD forms answer to not stated or an equivalent Department office, and the two sequences were never aligned. Grabbing the wrong prefix gets you a form that has nothing to do with your task.
Do not archive this file and reuse it in a year. Forms are reissued as directives are revised, as data requirements shift, and as statutory notice text is amended. Your protection is simple: download fresh each time and confirm the edition date.
One thing this page does not do: tell you whether your submission will be accepted. We publish the document and explain how to complete it, and that is where our role ends. Nothing here is legal advice. Take questions about eligibility, applicability or procedure to not stated, to your servicing personnel office, or to the office named in not stated.
Questions and answers
- What is DD Form 1252?
- DD Form 1252, US CBP Declaration for Personal Property Shipments - Part I, February 2006
- Which edition is current?
- Not stated by the publisher
- Who is responsible for this form?
- Not stated
- In which formats can it be downloaded?