No, you do not need any experience in the industry in order to succeed. The Customs Broker License Exam (CBLE) requires different skills than day-to-day work in the industry builds. You'll want to focus on your test-taking habits and gaining familiarity with the paper resources whether or not you work in the industry.

We currently offer a 16-week online course leading up to each exam. There are additional materials available to students before and after the official course dates.

Yes! The course is time-intensive and focused because the exam is difficult. It's the only way to learn what you need to pass the exam. Having said that, it's completely doable if you work hard and are committed. We excel in breaking down complex topics into layperson language that makes them understandable. If there are areas where you are struggling, our team is available for discussion via the course instant-messaging platform to help you grasp the concepts.

The weekly lessons are prerecorded and can be viewed anytime.

The week before the course begins, you will be given access to our Introduction lesson in the online Learning Management System (LMS). Once the course officially starts, a new lesson will launch each week on Thursdays. That lesson covers 1-3 topics from the CBLE. Each lesson contains a recording about the topic along with multiple material handouts that you can study, print for your exam-room binder, or use to help complete the homework. There are also lists of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) sections that are usually tested in this topic, and you're responsible for familiarizing yourself with those sections. Each week comes with homework in the format of the exam (multiple-choice questions delivered electronically). The penultimate lesson comes with a comprehensive timed exam to simulate the CBLE experience. Please see the current schedule for the most up-to-date information. Once you complete the course, whether or not you take the exam, you have the opportunity to earn a certificate of completion.

Each week consists of a recorded webinar that lasts 1-2.5 hours. In addition to webinars, we assign weekly readings and homework. Most lessons have homework that consists of 50 questions to complete and submit and also have a voluntary practice option. Students typically take about 20 hours per week to listen to the webinar and do the homework and also probably spend an additional 10 hours per week on readings and study outside of that. It’s important to note that this is an average, so some weeks will take longer and some shorter, and the same goes for individual students. The course is self-steered - it's up to you to determine how much you want to put in. The more time you spend now familiarizing yourself with the regulations and building your test-taking skills, the more likely you are to succeed.

The course includes a lot of reference materials, but it does not include paper copies of the reference materials required to take the exam. The specific list of materials required varies slightly between each exam, but generally CBP requires:

• 19 CFR
• Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, Basic Edition
• ACE Entry Summary Instructions
• ACE Entry Summary Business Rules & Process Document
• Right to Make Entry Directive 3530-002A

After decades of experience, we strongly recommend paper copies of the reference materials during your study and at the exam. Digital copies are provided via our LMS, and you may choose to print them yourself. The CFR and HTS are many pages long, so most students opt to purchase them elsewhere. The last three items on the list are approximately 150 pages altogether and can be printed easily.

Starting on the October 2020 exam, CBP offered digital copies of the reference materials to use built into the exam software. Many of the test-takers who used these digital versions experienced computer problems while taking the exam. Many of these issues were resolved by the April 2021 exam, allowing test-takers to search electronically within resources. Now test-takers are struggling with the poor search function and finding that while ctrl+f works well while studying, it is not effective in the exam. This increases anxiety, slows answering questions, and generally is a high factor in student failure.

We highly recommend each person take a hard copy of all materials to the exam. Students should be familiar with these materials and have indexed them in a way so that can readily find the needed information.

No, however, we have recommendations for vendors that are responsive as well as suggested organization methods in the Materials Brochure. Please email us for the Materials Brochure if you would like a copy.