Customs Broker Career Guide
What the job involves day to day, and how people get into it.
Customs Broker License
Customs Broker License: The Exam, Pass Rates, Cost And Steps
How to become a licensed customs broker: who can sit CBP’s exam, how many pass, what the fees add up to and how you keep the license.
By the Supply Chain Degree Programs editorial team Updated
What A Customs Broker License Is
A customs broker license is the credential U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issues to people and companies who clear imports for someone else. A licensed broker files the entry, classifies the goods under the tariff schedule, works out the duty and pays it to CBP on the importer’s behalf, and charges a fee for doing so. Without the license, that work is open only to the importer itself.
The license belongs to a person first. A brokerage company holds its own license too, but CBP requires every company license to be backed by at least one licensed individual among its officers or partners. CBP counts 14,454 active licensed brokers in the United States.
Who Can Get A Customs Broker License
CBP sets two sets of conditions, one for the exam and a stricter one for the license:
- To sit the exam: a U.S. citizen, 18 or older, and not employed by the federal government, all on the exam date.
- To get the license: a U.S. citizen, 21 or older when you apply, not a federal officer or employee, of good moral character, and within 3 years of passing the exam.
That gap means you can pass at 18 and apply once you turn 21, as long as it is within three years of the passing letter. CBP asks for no degree and no work experience.
How To Become A Licensed Customs Broker
- Register for the exam on CBP’s eCBP portal and pay the $390 fee. Registration opens about ten weeks before the exam and closes about six weeks before.
- Sit the exam at a test center, with photo ID and proof of U.S. citizenship. CBP says problems with those documents are the most common reason people miss the exam.
- Get your results by email, two to three weeks after the exam. A score just short of passing can be appealed (see below).
- Apply for the license on eCBP within three years, paying the $300 application fee and the $10 fingerprint fee.
- Pass the background check. CBP reviews your application, any interview, your business integrity and financial responsibility, and your character, then decides.
If you will work for a brokerage that already holds a national permit, the license is the end of it: CBP says an employee doing customs business for a licensed employer needs no permit of their own. Brokers who set up on their own also need a national permit (see the cost table).
The Customs Broker Exam
The Customs Broker License Exam (CBLE) is given twice a year, on the fourth Wednesday of April and October. The next one is on October 28, 2026. It has 80 multiple-choice questions and runs 4.5 hours on a computer. A passing score is 75 percent, which is 60 correct answers.
It is open book, and the books are the law itself. CBP usually lists these reference materials, with the editions set for each exam:
- Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)
- Title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations
- ACE Entry Summary Instructions
- Right to Make Entry Directive 3530-002A
- ACE Entry Summary Business Rules and Process Document
CBP groups the questions into categories that include entry and entry summary, classification, valuation, appraisement and duty assessment, broker compliance and practical exercises. Classification and valuation are the core of the job: finding the right line in the tariff schedule for a product and working out the value the duty is charged on. CBP posts past exams with their answer keys and a sample exam about ten weeks before each sitting, and many candidates prepare with them.
Customs Broker Exam Pass Rate
CBP publishes a pass rate for each exam, counted before appeals are decided:
| Exam | Passed Before Appeals |
|---|---|
| April 22, 2026 | 22% |
| October 22, 2025 | 12% |
| April 23, 2025 | 30% |
CBP, Customs Broker License Exam page, read October 9, 2026.
Across the last three exams the rate ran from 12% to 30%. In other words, most people who sit it fail. The figure moves a lot from one exam to the next, so a single sitting says little about the next one.
Appealing An Exam Score
Starting with the April 2026 exam, only people who come close can appeal. You need at least 57 of 80 correct, within three questions of passing, and you can then appeal up to four questions. First appeals are due 60 days after the results letter.
CBP set the line from its own records: 97 percent of people who passed on a first appeal had been three questions or fewer from passing. Anyone below 57 retakes the exam instead, and pays the $390 fee again.
What A Customs Broker License Costs
All of CBP’s fees, from the exam to running your own brokerage:
| Fee | When | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Exam | Each time you sit it | $390 |
| Individual license application | Once, after passing | $300 |
| Fingerprint processing | With the application | $10 |
| Triennial status report | Every three years | $100 |
| National permit application | Once, to run your own brokerage | $100 |
| National permit user fee | Every year, with a permit | $190.88 |
| Company license application | Once, for a brokerage company | $500 |
CBP, Customs Broker Fees, read October 9, 2026. The permit fee is the rate from October 1, 2026.
For someone who will work for an existing brokerage, getting licensed costs $700 in CBP fees if they pass the first time, plus $390 for each retake. Setting up on your own adds $290.88 for the permit in its first year. Prep courses are a separate cost, sold by private firms and trade associations, not by CBP.
Keeping The License
Every three years each licensed broker files a triennial status report on eCBP and pays $100. Individual brokers also certify 20 hours of continuing education, taken from CBP-accredited providers, and keep the certificates for three years in case of an audit. The current cycle’s credits are due by January 31, 2027, and the report window runs December 14, 2026 to February 28, 2027.
Missing either one gets the license suspended and then revoked by operation of law, and a revoked license can’t be reinstated. A broker who isn’t using the license can suspend it voluntarily instead, which still requires the report but not the education hours.
Do You Need A Degree?
No. CBP sets no education requirement at any step, and the exam tests the tariff schedule and the regulations rather than coursework. The degree helps with the job around the license: trade compliance, international logistics and how goods move through ports. The customs broker career guide covers how people get into the work, and the bachelor’s in supply chain management ranking covers the degree route for anyone who wants both.
FAQ
How Hard Is The Customs Broker Exam?
Hard by any measure. CBP reports a 22% pass rate for the April 22, 2026 exam before appeals, and 12% for October 22, 2025. It is open book, but 80 questions in 4.5 hours on the tariff schedule and the customs regulations leaves little time to look things up.
How Much Does A Customs Broker License Cost?
For an individual, $700 in CBP fees: $390 for the exam, $300 for the license application and $10 for fingerprint processing. After that, $100 every three years for the status report. Prep courses are extra and are sold privately.
When Is The Next Customs Broker Exam?
CBP gives the exam on the fourth Wednesday of April and October. The next is October 28, 2026. Registration opens about ten weeks before the exam and closes about six weeks before, on CBP’s eCBP portal.
How Old Do You Have To Be To Become A Customs Broker?
18 to sit the exam and 21 to apply for the license. Either way you must be a U.S. citizen and not a federal employee.
How Long Do You Have To Apply After Passing?
3 years from the date on your passing letter. After that you have to pass the exam again.
Do You Need A Degree To Be A Customs Broker?
No. CBP sets no education requirement for the exam or the license. A degree in supply chain management or international business covers the trade side of the work, but the license is what lets you file entries for clients.
Keep Reading
Customs Broker Salary
What customs work pays, and which figures stand in for it.
Freight Forwarder Career Guide
The job on the other side of the border paperwork.
Bachelor’s In Supply Chain Management
The degree route into trade and logistics work, ranked.
Sources
- 1 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs Broker License Exam (CBLE): dates and pass rates Read .
- 2 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, General CBLE Information Read .
- 3 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBLE Registration Information Read .
- 4 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBLE Appeal Information Read .
- 5 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs Broker Fees Read .
- 6 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Becoming a Customs Broker Read .
- 7 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs Broker Frequently Asked Questions Read .
- 8 U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Triennial Status Report and Continuing Education Requirements Read .