Travelling to USA from EU with prescribed medication

Travelling to USA from EU with prescribed medication - Low angle of road sign with Route 66 End of the Trail inscription located near fast food restaurant against cloudy evening sky on Santa Monica Beach

I will be travelling to USA with prescribed medicine and I found vague information online. U.S. Customs and Border Protection website says:

A valid prescription or doctors note is required on all medication entering the U.S.

But there is no information on how a valid prescription looks like. What should the doctor's note contain?

Also, I'm not even sure that my doctor speaks english, what if she refuses to write me a note?

In my case, the pills are packaged like this:

enter image description here

The only difference is that the labels are in my local language. Do you think it would be possible that the customs officer would just wave me through? Do they really check every single piece of over the counter medication?

UPDATE: TSA didn't even look at my medicine, even though they did a full bag search for unrelated reasons. Immigration officer didn't ask for medicine either.



Best Answer

I always travel with medications which require prescription, but I never had any prescription with me, since my doctor wouldn't be able to write them in english.

I declare them in the Customs Declaration Form, and no one ever cared about them.

I remember that in New Zealand I asked to the officer "do you want to see my medications?". No, he wasn't interested at all. In the US I didn't even ask.




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Can I take my prescription medication to USA?

In general, you should have with you a valid prescription or doctor's note\u2014written in English\u2014to bring medication to the U.S. The medication should be in its original container with the doctor's instructions printed on the bottle.

Can you fly internationally with prescription meds?

Medication should be brought abroad in carry-on luggage. If you use equipment such as syringes, make sure to pack your own sterile supply. It may be illegal to send some prescription medications to certain countries through the mail. Check with the postal service and customs office before doing so.

Do you have to declare prescription drugs at customs?

If your medications or devices are not in their original containers, you must have a copy of your prescription with you or a letter from your doctor. A valid prescription or doctors note is required on all medication entering the United States.

Are foreign prescriptions valid in the US?

It's a legal issue, foreign prescriptions are not recognized in the US. All prescriptions has to be on official prescription forms now with sequence number.



Traveling with Medications ~ #smhTopTips




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