The Non-Resident Importer IEEPA Refund Trap

This post walks through why NRIs are uniquely exposed to this issue, the exact sequence of steps to take before filing an IEEPA refund declaration, what to do if you're already outside the correction window, and how to recover a refund that's already been rejected by ACH.

Why NRIs can't just "give CBP a bank account"

As of February 6, 2026, CBP issues essentially all refunds electronically via ACH into a U.S. bank account. Paper Treasury checks are no longer the default; they require an approved waiver under 31 CFR 208.4. That change flows from the Electronic Refunds Interim Final Rule and Executive Order 14247 (Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank Account). The practical effect: if you don't have a U.S. bank account enrolled for ACH in the ACE Portal, CBP has nowhere to deposit your refund.

That's a problem for foreign companies, because U.S. banks operate under Section 326 of the USA PATRIOT Act (31 U.S.C. §5318(l)) and the Customer Identification Program (CIP) rules. Those rules require banks to obtain, verify, and record identity information for anyone opening an account — and in practice that has meant most traditional U.S. banks will not open a business account for a foreign entity that has no U.S. physical presence, no U.S. principals, and no U.S. tax residency. It isn't a flat legal prohibition; it's that the CIP verification requirements are hard for a true non-resident entity to satisfy. The common workarounds — forming a U.S. subsidiary, obtaining an EIN and using a fintech platform (Mercury, Relay, etc.), or using a U.S.-based agent — all require meaningful setup and time.

For an NRI that hasn't built that infrastructure, the fix that most brokers actually recommend is simpler: designate your customs broker as the notify party so the refund can land in the broker's ACH-enrolled account, and the broker remits to you. That's allowed and it's how CBP Form 4811 (Special Address Notification) and the notify-party designation in ACE are designed to work. But it only works if the broker is actually on the entry as notify party.

The missing-notify-party problem

When an NRI's original entry summary didn't list a notify party (or listed the wrong one), the refund has no authorized destination. CBP will liquidate/reliquidate and attempt ACH to the importer of record — and if the IOR is a non-resident with no enrolled U.S. account, the ACH rejects. The rejection surfaces on the REV-613 ACH Rejected Refunds report in ACE, and the refund sits there waiting for someone to fix the underlying record.

The clean remedy, if you're still inside the correction window, is a Post Summary Correction (PSC) to add the broker as notify party, followed by a matching designation in the importer's ACE Portal account. Only after both are in place should the IEEPA refund declaration (CAPE) be submitted.

The correct order of operations

For any eligible IEEPA entries where notify party was left blank or lists a party who can't receive ACH:

1. File a Post Summary Correction on each eligible entry to add your broker (or another ACH-enrolled U.S. party) as notify party. PSCs must be filed within 300 days of the date of entry, and no later than 15 days before the scheduled liquidation date, whichever is earlier.
2. In the importer's ACE Portal account, formally designate the broker as notify party for refunds. This is what authorizes CBP to route ACH refunds to the broker's account.
3. Confirm the broker is enrolled in ACH Refund via the "ACH Refund Authorization" tab in the ACE Secure Data Portal.
4. Only then file the IEEPA refund declaration through CAPE.

Skip any of those and the refund may be issued, rejected on ACH, and land on your REV-613 report. The IEEPA refund itself is not "gone" — but recovering it becomes significantly slower, and the underlying data has to be fixed anyway.

What if you're outside the PSC window?

This is where the issue gets tricky. Once an entry is past 300 days from entry date (or within 15 days of scheduled liquidation), ACE will reject a PSC. The conventional post-liquidation remedy is a protest under 19 U.S.C. §1514, filed within 180 days of the liquidation decision.

A quick correction on a common misconception: protests can cover clerical errors. The statute was amended in 2004 to expressly include "any clerical error, mistake of fact, or other inadvertence … adverse to the importer" in any entry, liquidation, or reliquidation as a protestable matter (19 U.S.C. §1514(a)). So a protest is a legally available tool for a clerical-type error on liquidation.

The practical problem: a missing notify-party designation isn't itself a "decision" of CBP that's easily framed as protestable — it's an administrative detail on the entry, not a liquidation determination about classification, value, or duty. And a protest doesn't create a U.S. bank account for a non-resident; it just preserves the claim. So if you're outside the PSC window, have no notify party on the entry, and have no U.S. bank account, you are in the gap that has no officially documented CBP remedy today. CBP issues the refund, ACH rejects, and the refund sits on REV-613 until the record is corrected or a waiver is granted.

We are actively raising this issue with CBP to get formal guidance on how to claim an IEEPA refund when (a) the notify party was never designated, (b) the PSC window has closed, and (c) the NRI has no U.S. bank account. Until CBP publishes a path, the realistic options are: establish a U.S. banking footprint and enroll in ACH, or pursue a check-waiver request under 31 CFR 208.4 (see next section).

Guide: What to do if your ACH refund has already been rejected

If a refund already shows up as rejected on your REV-613 report, CBP's Replacement Refund Instructions page is the definitive source (we've summarized the current process below, but always confirm against CBP's page, which is updated frequently).

• Identify the rejected refunds. Pull the REV-613 ACH Rejected Refunds report in the ACE Portal using your Trade Account ACE ID. This lists every refund that was returned because the payee isn't enrolled in ACH or the account on file is invalid.
• Fix the underlying cause first. Enroll the correct payee in ACH Refund via the ACE Portal's "ACH Refund Authorization" tab, or file the PSC/notify-party correction if the rejection was caused by a missing notify party. CBP will not reissue successfully until the record can route somewhere.
• If ACH truly isn't possible, request a check waiver. Send a written waiver request to CBP's Revenue Division at FRN-ACHREFUNDSUPPORT@CBP.DHS.GOV. The request must identify the importer, the specific pending refund(s), and the exact provision of 31 CFR 208.4 the importer is relying on (for example, hardship or absence of a U.S. account under the available criteria).
• Include supporting documentation. Reference the entry numbers, liquidation dates, refund amounts, and — if asserting a non-U.S.-account waiver — documentation supporting why ACH enrollment isn't available.
• Follow up. Replacement checks are issued as U.S. Treasury checks only where the waiver is granted, and timelines vary. Track status through the Revenue Division and through your REV-613 report until the rejected refund clears.

CBP's official page with the current instructions is here: Replacement Refund Instructions for Returned Checks and Rejected ACH Refunds.

One important note: getting a replacement check handles the symptom for that one refund. It does not fix the underlying entry data. If the root cause is a missing notify party on a series of entries, every future refund on those entries will hit the same wall until the record is corrected.

Action checklist for NRIs and their brokers

• Audit every IEEPA-eligible entry for a notify party. If it's blank, flag it.
• For each flagged entry inside the 300-day/15-day-pre-liquidation window, file a PSC to add the broker as notify party.
• In ACE, add the broker as notify party at the importer account level.
• Confirm the broker's ACH Refund enrollment in ACE.
• File the IEEPA refund (CAPE) declaration only after the above is done.
• Pull your REV-613 report now and on a recurring cadence — rejections are easier to resolve early.
• For entries already outside the PSC window, preserve protest rights where appropriate (within 180 days of liquidation) and track CBP guidance on the non-notify-party / no-U.S.-account scenario.

The bottom line

IEEPA refunds are a real opportunity for NRIs, but the procedural plumbing — notify party, ACH enrollment, and the correction window — determines whether the money actually reaches you. File the PSC, fix the ACE designation, confirm ACH enrollment, then file the refund. If you're already past the window and in the gap, document everything now; CBP guidance on that specific scenario is still evolving, and we'll update this post when it drops.

How Pax can help

Pax works with non-resident importers and their brokers to close every one of these gaps before an IEEPA refund is ever filed. Our NRI IEEPA Assist workflow covers:

• Notify-party audit. We review every IEEPA-eligible entry for a missing or incorrect notify party and flag each one that needs a PSC before the refund is filed.
• PSC and ACE designation support. We coordinate with your broker to file PSCs inside the 300-day/15-day-pre-liquidation window and confirm the matching notify-party designation in the importer's ACE Portal account.
• ACH routing check. We verify that the designated party is enrolled in ACH Refund via the ACE "ACH Refund Authorization" tab so the refund actually lands when CBP releases it.
• REV-613 monitoring and recovery. If a refund has already bounced, we help pull the REV-613 report, fix the underlying record, and prepare a 31 CFR 208.4 check-waiver request where ACH truly isn't available.
• CAPE filing on a clean record. Once the plumbing is verified, we help sequence the CAPE Declaration so the refund consolidates and pays out the first time, not the third.

Book a call to walk through your NRI entries before you file your next CAPE Declaration.

Sources and references

• Electronic Refunds Interim Final Rule — Federal Register (Jan. 2, 2026)
• CSMS # 67270895 — Electronic Refunds IFR Effective Feb. 6, 2026
• CBP — ACH Refund program
• CBP — Post Summary Corrections overview
• CBP — IEEPA Duty Refunds
• CBP — Replacement Refund Instructions (Returned Checks and Rejected ACH)
• 19 U.S.C. §1514 — Protest against decisions of Customs Service
• 19 CFR Part 174 — Protests
• FinCEN — USA PATRIOT Act Section 326 / CIP guidance
• 31 CFR 208.4 — Waivers for electronic funds transfer requirements

Disclaimer: This post is general information from a customs-brokerage perspective and is not legal or tax advice. Consult counsel for specific facts and circumstances.