If CBP has seized your cash at an airport or border crossing, the decisions you make in the days and weeks that follow will determine whether you get your money back — and how much of it. This page walks through what to expect, what your options are, and why getting an attorney involved immediately is the single most important step you can take.
What Documents You Should Have Received — and What Is Coming
At the time of the seizure, CBP should have given you a Custody Receipt for Seized Property and Evidence (CBP Form 6051S). This document is your proof that the seizure occurred. It identifies what was taken, who took it, and includes an FPF Number that tracks your case at the Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures office. Hold onto this form — it is the starting point for everything that follows.
Within approximately 60 days of the seizure, CBP’s FP&F office is required to send you a formal CAFRA Notice of Seizure — the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act notice — by certified mail to the address CBP has on file for you. This is the document that starts your legal clock. You have 30 days from the date on the letter — not the date you receive it — to respond. That distinction matters enormously. CBP can mail the notice on a Monday after dating it on a Friday, and every day of mail transit counts against your response window.
If you have not received the notice within 7 days of the seizure, contact an attorney immediately. We can request a copy of the notice directly from CBP, ensure a timely response is made, and if necessary request an extension of time to respond. Waiting passively for the notice to arrive is a mistake — the deadline runs regardless of when or whether you receive it. We have written separately about cases where mail delays caused travelers to miss the CAFRA deadline and the very limited options that remain after that happens.
What the CAFRA Notice Contains
The CAFRA Notice is a formal legal document — not a form letter. It sets out the date and place of the seizure, the surrounding circumstances, and the specific facts CBP alleges as the basis for the seizure. It will cite the applicable statutes — most commonly failure to report under 31 U.S.C. § 5316, bulk cash smuggling under 31 U.S.C. § 5332, or structuring under 31 U.S.C. § 5324 — and outline your options for responding.
How and when you respond to the CAFRA Notice will determine the outcome of your currency seizure case. This is not an exaggeration. The election of proceedings form enclosed with the notice requires you to choose a path forward, and different paths have dramatically different implications. Choosing the wrong option — or missing the deadline entirely — can cost you the case even when the underlying facts support return of your money.
Your Options for Getting Seized Currency Back
The CAFRA Notice includes an Election of Proceedings form listing your options. Those options are:
- Filing a Petition for Remission or Mitigation — An internal CBP review requesting full or partial return of the seized funds. This is the most common path and keeps the matter within CBP’s administrative process. A successful petition can result in return of all or most of the money. After CBP’s first decision, you also have the right to file a supplemental petition arguing for a more favorable outcome.
- Pay the Full Appraised Domestic Value — In certain situations involving seized property other than currency, this option allows release of the property upon payment. In pure currency seizure cases this option is less commonly applicable.
- File an Offer in Compromise — A negotiated settlement proposing partial return of the funds in exchange for resolution of the forfeiture. Appropriate in certain circumstances where a full return is unlikely.
- Institute Judicial Proceedings (CAFRA Seized Asset Claim) — A formal legal challenge demanding that the government file a civil forfeiture complaint in federal court within 90 days or return your money. This shifts the burden of proof to CBP. It is the right choice in specific circumstances — particularly when the amount is large or the facts strongly support a defense — but it is not always the best strategy.
- Abandon the Property — Signing away your rights to the seized funds. This is almost never the right choice and should not be done without fully understanding its consequences.
- Do Nothing — CBP proceeds with administrative forfeiture and the money is permanently forfeited. This is the worst possible outcome and is exactly what happens when people miss deadlines or ignore the notice.
Why the Petition Is Usually the Right Starting Point
In most currency seizure cases, a well-prepared petition for remission or mitigation is the best initial path. The petition we prepare for our clients is not a personal letter or an apology — it is a legal memorandum. It contains a detailed factual narrative presenting our client’s account of the seizure and the circumstances surrounding it, a review of the applicable law and regulations, an analysis of CBP’s own published mitigation guidelines, and where the facts support it, a strong argument for full return of the money. Even when there is a valid basis for the seizure, a well-structured petition argues for return of the funds upon payment of the smallest possible fine rather than complete forfeiture.
There are cases where the judicial proceedings route makes more strategic sense — when CBP’s position is legally unsupportable, when the amount is large enough to justify federal litigation, or when the administrative process has been exhausted without a satisfactory result. A qualified attorney can help you evaluate which option fits your specific facts before you commit to a path that is difficult to reverse.
Do Not Contact CBP Without an Attorney
We cannot emphasize this enough: do not contact CBP on your own before speaking to an attorney. Any statement you make to CBP — whether during the initial detention at the border, on the phone with the FP&F office, or in a letter you write yourself — can be used against you in the forfeiture proceedings. People who call the FP&F office to explain themselves often inadvertently make admissions, provide inconsistent accounts, or say things that CBP interprets as evidence of wrongdoing. That makes the petition harder to win and the outcome worse.
The time to talk is in a well-prepared legal document, drafted by counsel, that presents your story in the most favorable accurate light and addresses the legal standards CBP applies in evaluating remission and mitigation. Not on the phone, not in a letter written without legal guidance, and not during a follow-up visit to the port.
Contact Us Today
Great Lakes Customs Law assists clients with currency seizures nationwide — Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Dulles, Philadelphia, and ports across the country. Call us at (734) 855-4999, send a text message, or reach us on WhatsApp. You can also contact us online. Read our full customs money seizure legal guide and see our currency seizure case outcomes before reaching out.