[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 19, Volume 2]
[Revised as of April 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 19CFR148.2]

[Page 134]
 
                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
 
  CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
 
PART 148--PERSONAL DECLARATIONS AND EXEMPTIONS--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart A--General Provisions
 
Sec. 148.2  Residence status of arriving persons.

    (a) General. Persons arriving from foreign countries shall be 
divided into two classes for Customs purposes:
    (1) Residents of the United States returning from abroad, and
    (2) All other persons, hereinafter referred to as nonresidents.
    (b) Status as returning resident. Citizens of the United States, or 
persons who have formerly resided in the United States, (including 
American citizens who are residents of American Samoa, Guam, the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands of 
the United States) shall be deemed residents of the United States 
returning from abroad within the meaning of ``residents'' as used in 
Chapter 98, Subchapter IV, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
States (19 U.S.C. 1202), in the absence of satisfactory evidence that 
they have established a home elsewhere. For this purpose, the residence 
of a wife shall be deemed to be that of her husband unless satisfactory 
evidence is presented that the wife has established a separate residence 
elsewhere. The residence of a minor child shall be presumed to be that 
of his parents.
    (c) Status as nonresident. Any person arriving in the United States 
who is not a resident of the United States or who, though a resident of 
the United States, is not returning from abroad, shall be treated for 
the purpose of these regulations as a nonresident.
    (d) Optional claim of nonresident status. Any person arriving in the 
United States who would otherwise be considered a returning resident, 
may claim at his option the status of a nonresident if he intends to 
remain in the United States for only a short period of time before 
returning abroad. If the status as a nonresident claimed by an arriving 
person is allowed, the procedures in Sec. 148.8 shall be followed.

[T.D. 73-27, 38 FR 2449, Jan. 26, 1973, as amended by T.D. 78-394, 43 FR 
49788, Oct. 25, 1978; T.D. 89-1, 53 FR 51263, Dec. 21, 1988; T.D. 97-75, 
62 FR 46441, Sept. 3, 1997]