AliExpress tracking status
AliExpress “Your package is being inspected by customs”: what it means
The short answer
Keep an eye on itCustoms in your country is checking your package before releasing it. AliExpress gives no time for this, customers report two weeks or more, and its help page says the buyer is the one who clears customs.
When to act: If it still says this after 7 days and nobody has asked you for tax or a document, file a complaint and we send it to AliExpress.
What to do now
- 1
Look through your email, text messages, spam folder and mailbox for a request about duty, tax or a document.
- 2
Before you pay anything, check that the request names your tracking number.
- 3
Have your order confirmation and the price you paid ready, in case customs asks what is inside.
- 4
Note the delivery window at the top of the tracking page and any refund date under it.
- 5
Keep screenshots of the tracking page with the dates.
- 6
Still not sorted? File your complaint here. We write it with you and send it to AliExpress, so you do not have to chase it yourself.
What does “Your package is being inspected by customs” mean?
AliExpress shows this line under the heading 'Customs update'. It usually comes after 'Your package arrived at local airport', where 'Import customs clearance completed' would otherwise follow. In one US history a customer shared, it appeared two days after the local airport line and was still the latest line two weeks later. AliExpress does not say what the inspection involves.
AliExpress's help page on packages held by customs says the buyer is obligated to do the customs clearance, and gives two reasons for a hold: an import tax or document is required, or a document from the seller is missing. The line on its own does not mean you owe anything, and it does not mean the package was refused. Customers report 18 days and three weeks on it, one of them with no request for payment.
Why does AliExpress show it?
- A check by customs, which can be routine
- Import tax or duty to pay
- A document customs wants from you or from the seller
- A customs backlog
How long does it last?
The next line should be 'Import customs clearance completed', often under the heading 'Customs complete', then the local carrier's lines. If customs needs something, expect a request about tax or a document. If the delivery window passes first, AliExpress's Buyer Protection covers an item that did not arrive within the guaranteed delivery window on your order page.
Other AliExpress statuses
Who is responsible for a late or missing package from AliExpress?
If you bought on AliExpress, AliExpress's own rules decide refunds, whichever seller you bought from. Its Buyer Protection page covers an item that did not arrive, or was lost in transit, within the guaranteed delivery window on your order page, and an item that does not match its description or arrived damaged, within 15 days of receiving it. Many orders also show a refund date on the tracking page for a package that has not been delivered by then. For a UK order from a seller who is a trader, the Consumer Rights Act, section 29, keeps the goods at the seller's risk until you have them.
If you sent a parcel yourself, AliExpress was not your carrier: it is a marketplace, not a delivery service you book, so the carrier you chose and its terms apply. A return you send back through AliExpress's own return process falls under its return rules, and its Buyer Protection page says the refund follows once the returned items have been checked at the warehouse.
Questions about “Your package is being inspected by customs”
What does your package is being inspected by customs mean on AliExpress?
Customs in your country is checking the package before releasing it. AliExpress does not say what the check involves, and the line alone does not mean you owe anything.
How long does a customs inspection take on AliExpress?
AliExpress gives no figure. Customers report two weeks, 18 days and three weeks on this line. After 7 days with no request for tax or a document, file a complaint and we send it to AliExpress.
Do I have to pay customs on an AliExpress order?
It depends on your country and the order. AliExpress's help page says the buyer is obligated to do the customs clearance, including any import tax or document that is required.
Does being inspected by customs mean my AliExpress package was seized?
Not by itself. It means customs has not released it yet. AliExpress's help page names a required tax or a missing document as the reasons for a hold.
Based on
- AliExpress Help Center: What if the package is held by customs?
- AliExpress: Buyer Protection (an item that did not arrive within the guaranteed delivery window)
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: two weeks on 'Your package is being inspected by customs' under 'Customs update'
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: 18 days in a customs inspection with no request to pay
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: three weeks on 'Your package is being inspected by customs'
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: 'Customs complete' above 'Import customs clearance completed'
- AliExpress: Buyer Protection (an item that did not arrive within the guaranteed delivery window, 15 days for an item not as described, returns)
- AliExpress.com Terms of Use (an e-commerce marketplace; AliExpress is an Alibaba Group trademark)
- legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Rights Act, section 29 (goods stay at the seller's risk until they reach you)
- Reddit r/Aliexpress: a US tracking page with a refund date for no delivery