The clearance process looks opaque from the outside, but it is a fixed sequence of eight steps. Here is what happens to your container, in order, and where first-time importers usually lose time.
Your first import consignment is the one that teaches you how much of customs clearance happens before the ship arrives. The filing itself is fast. Everything that makes it slow — a missing licence, a classification nobody verified, a certificate that takes three weeks to obtain — was decided when you placed the order.
Here is the sequence, in the order it actually happens.
Before the shipment: two registrations
1. Importer Exporter Code (IEC)
Issued by the DGFT, the IEC is a ten-digit code linked to your PAN. Without it you cannot file an import declaration at all. The application is online and usually issued within a few working days.
2. ICEGATE registration
ICEGATE is the Indian Customs electronic gateway. Registration links your IEC to a digital signature and lets you (or your customs broker acting on your behalf) file declarations, pay duty online and track assessment status. Get this done well ahead of your first shipment — it is not something you want to be arranging while a container accrues demurrage.
When the goods ship
3. Documents from the supplier
You need, at minimum:
- Commercial invoice — with correct incoterm, currency and unit values
- Packing list — matching the invoice line for line
- Bill of Lading (sea) or Airway Bill (air)
- Certificate of Origin — required for preferential duty under a trade agreement
- Product-specific approvals — BIS, FSSAI, WPC, EPR, drug licence, as applicable
The single most common cause of delay is an invoice that does not match the packing list. Check them against each other the day they arrive, not the day the vessel berths.
4. Arrival and IGM
The carrier files an Import General Manifest declaring what is on board. Your consignment becomes visible in the system once the IGM is filed, and the Bill of Entry can be lodged against it.
At the port
5. Bill of Entry filing
The Bill of Entry is the formal import declaration. It carries your HS classification, assessable value, duty calculation and the licences you are relying on.
You can file a prior Bill of Entry up to thirty days before arrival. Use it. Prior filing is the cheapest single thing you can do to compress your clearance timeline, because assessment can begin before the vessel docks.
A classification you assumed rather than verified will surface here — as a query, a reassessment, or a penalty. Confirm the HS code before the goods ship, not after.
6. Assessment
Customs verifies your declared classification, valuation and duty. Most consignments now go through faceless assessment, where an officer at any location in India may handle your file. If a query is raised, you respond through ICEGATE; each round trip costs a day or more.
7. Duty payment
Basic Customs Duty, IGST, Social Welfare Surcharge and any anti-dumping or safeguard duty are computed on the assessable value. Payment is made online through ICEGATE.
8. Examination and Out of Charge
Depending on risk profile, your consignment may be examined physically. Once customs is satisfied, Out of Charge is granted. The shipping line then issues a Delivery Order against payment of their charges, and the container can leave.
Where the time actually goes
In our experience, a clean consignment with complete paperwork and no examination clears in 24 to 48 hours after filing. When clearance takes two weeks, the cause is nearly always one of four things:
- A product approval — BIS or FSSAI — that was not applied for in advance
- A classification dispute triggered by a vague product description
- An invoice and packing list that disagree
- A Certificate of Origin that arrived after the vessel
None of those are port problems. They are order-stage problems that show up at the port.
The practical takeaway
Do the compliance work when you place the purchase order. Confirm the HS code, identify every product approval that applies, and check that your supplier's documentation set is complete before the goods are loaded. The clearance itself is the easy part.
If you are importing into India for the first time and want the document list confirmed against your specific product, send us the invoice and we will tell you exactly what you need.
